Underplayed Gems

Desyat Negrityat (1987)

Desyat Negrityat poster
Original title
Десять негритят
Directed by
Stanislav Govorukhin
Genre
thriller film, detective film
Country
Soviet Union
Runtime
2h 17m
Rated
16+
Rating
7.5 of 10 from 82 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Ten strangers are lured to a remote island mansion under false pretences. They are accused of past crimes by a mysterious host and begin dying one by one according to a nursery rhyme.

tensesuspensefulbleakclaustrophobicslow-burngrimunsettlingmethodical

What happens

Desyat Negrityat (Russian: Десять негритят, 'Ten Little Negroes') is a 1987 Soviet mystery thriller film adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel of the same name, now known as And Then There Were None. It was directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, who also penned the script. This version was, upon its release, unique in that virtually no part of the novel is altered (although a sexual relationship between Vera and Lombard is introduced, and the latter's revolver is changed into a small automatic pistol). Unlike the previous Hollywood/British adaptations of the story, none of the characters or their respective crimes are altered in any way and the film concludes with the grim finale from Agatha Christie's original novel, rather than the upbeat ending from the 1943 stage version that most other adaptations chose to follow. The Soviet adaptation is a bit more fanciful in that the murderer expounds at some length, in solitude, about their methodology and the critical twist (aloud instead of on paper as in the novel). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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