After thirty-four episodes across three seasons, the Australian made international television hit Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries based on the twenty Phryne Fisher novels written by Kerry Greenwood, has finally made it to the big screen in Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears.
For those who are not familiar with the classy Melbourne production series allow me to briefly bring you up to speed.
Miss Fisher (Essie Davis) is an extremely rich 1920’s socialite sleuth who lives in Melbourne, Australia. With the cutting wit and sophisticated suaveness of a female James Bond mixed with the exasperating persistence of a fashion-conscious Miss Marple, she manages to continually out detective the local police, namely the hopelessly smitten Detective Inspector Jack Robinson (Nathan Page).
Elegantly overdressed for every encounter Miss Fisher has taken her ability to cause havoc to Morocco where she manages to aggravate, elude and out-wit the local, slightly corrupt authorities.
Within first 20 minutes or so our Miss Fisher gracefully struts her stuff like an Indiana Jones in high heels. With unshakable poise, she scales walls, dodges bullets, busts a young girl Shirin (Izabella Yena) from prison and leaps onto the roof of a moving train. Charastically achieved without a hair out of place.
I don’t want to be a ‘spoiler’ and reveal the storyline beyond this point, but I will say that anyone who is a fan of the cult series and is eager to see the sometimes sultry Phryne do her thing will not be disappointed,
With an additional supporting cast of John Waters, John Stanton, Rupert Penry-Jones, Miriam Margolyes, Jacqueline McKenzie to mention only a few this is a beautifully filmed production that features some of Melbourne’s exquisite locations such as the iconic Werribee Park Mansion
This is certainly not a film for adrenalin junkies who feed off high powered action CGI special effects. It is a delightfully well-dressed romp into the sophisticated world of the prim and proper wealthy elite who don’t mind occasionally slumming it.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the romp into the genre, it does lack a few action elements that I feel would have helped to strengthen its appeal to a younger audience. Considering this is her first venture into the international world of cinema I think it would have packed a little more punch if Phryne displayed some Emma Peel (The Avengers) like karate moves or even impressed us with a touch McGyver ingenuity.
Having said that I have to acknowledge that she is in every way a delightful society suffragette of the 1920s. Her style is sometimes sweet and always reserved, not like the liberated modern heroine that we find in characters such as Laura Croft.
I am now a Miss Fisher fan eagerly awaiting the fourth series.
Photo Concept&Design By Beata Gombas (c) 2020
CLICK the link below to view the trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eZbZ0gK0Fk
