- Do you think the overall portrayal of religion, and especially Catholicism, in the film was favorable or not and why?
There are 3 major religious players in the movie: A) Poirot (Shown praying his Rosary - which he turns to often in the movie - and praying a prayer of thanksgiving to God for making him Catholic;
B) Mr. Ratchet - the murder victim - who is viewed at discovering God, but only as “extra insurance” kind of like “carrying an extra gun” the character comments. But we also hear Mr. Ratchet saying that he’s on the train for “penance” that there’s something he must do when he reaches his destination. He fears someone is out to kill him, before he is able to complete his penance, but he doesn’t know who they are. Later, the night of the murder, we see Mr. Ratchet praying for God to forgive him and keep him safe that night.
C) Greta, a Swedish Missionary, non-Catholic (though she wears and kisses a St. Christopher medal while boarding the train) who “found Jesus” after the murder of the 5 y.o. girl - she turns out to have been the girl’s live-in nurse - and detests Catholicism for having “priests who forgive what not even God can forgive” - maybe hinting that she believes Mr. Ratchet was forgiven in confession.
Certainly, Greta’s style of Christianity is not portrayed favorably. It is portrayed as black / white thinking only - too simplistic - a means to justify whatever she has already decided is right, and making her (and those on her side) better than anyone else.
After taking a day to think on it, I believe Catholicism is actually portrayed very well: Poirot is obviously going through a period of questioning, burnout and weariness in his life. He turns towards his faith to help him at the beginning of the train trip, as he tries to figure out what to do and as he agonizes over his decision at the end. While he never defends the Catholic belief in God’s forgiveness and mercy (given to all who are sincerely repentant and ask for it) I believe given the way Greta is portrayed and how she acts while denouncing that belief, speaks volumes to the audience.
Mr. Ratchet is confusing to me. I believe he’s an example of a “work in progress” (aren’t we all?) He’s Italian and the inference is that he’s Catholic, though this is never expressly stated. It’s inferred that he’s confessed the murder of the 5yo girl - and the subsequent deaths as a result. But he states that he used to not believe in God, but now he does, yet he sees belief in God as extra insurance or protection like an extra gun; yet later we see him, alone, praying fervently - presumably sincerely - for forgiveness and protection.
He also says he is on the train to complete his penance, though never elaborates. It is hinted that it is related to the large amount of money he has in a suitcase. I extrapolated it to be that the money he has is the ill-gotten ransom money he got after demanding ransom for the 5yo girl he had already killed.
Some people - on another discussion forum I briefly read - thought there was a writing error, a disconnect between Mr. Ratchet’s stated beliefs and his later prayer. I see it more as a work in progress: Mr. Ratchet may have recently come back to the faith and is in process of purging his life, and figuring out where God fits in his life. I think the prayer and the statements can fit a more complicated person than what some people like to see in a movie. Mr. Ratchet had just dismissed his bodyguard and secretary (both actually in on the plot) and so he has no protection for the night, besides a pistol. Knowing that many people are out to kill him, he is very scared. Fear has a way of making our prayers more fervent, more real, more raw.
The pinnacle scene comes when Poirot gives the solution with all present. The 12 people involved in the cold, calculated, premeditated murder of Mr. Ratchet - each person stabbing him while he is paralyzed, but awake (as helpless as a child) by a poison in his whiskey, while the elder woman taunts him with the murder he committed and got away with - are pleading with Poirot that since they were denied justice they are justified in administering justice (i.e. murdering) on Mr. Ratchet.
Poirot denounces them soundly saying that if their “kangaroo” justice is allowed, then we are no more than savages. If justice falls and fails us, then we do not take it into our own hands except to lift it higher than it was before. Greta tries to tell Poirot that this was God’s will, God’s justice. Poirot rightly yells at her, “Then you let HIM administer it, not you!”
Greta - I believe - says that Christ says that any without sin can throw the first stone. Greta then says, “We were… I was without sin.” implication I got is she recognized is now they have sinned; also misunderstanding Christ’s message and the end of that biblical story: “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
The solution and Poirot’s discussion with the passengers, I believe, make this film from excellent to superb, until the ending, but I’ll discuss that later.
In a much less angry discussion, another woman approaches Poirot to plead for him to let them go. She says she believed that killing Mr. Ratchet would make her complete and everything alright again. Poirot asks her, if she now feels complete. She doesn’t answer the question but instead she says she prayed to Jesus to tell them what to do about Mr. Ratchet. She says Jesus told her “do what is right.” She then states “I did what was right” but the body language is such that, to me, it seems as if she’s no longer sure.
All in all, I think Catholicism comes away looking good while whatever version of Christianity Greta espouses (not named, and I don’t think it’s meant to be a portrayal of one particular denomination - nor do I believe she has a true faith in Christ) comes out looking very bad.
Spoiler Alert
