MovieChat Forums > Evil Under the Sun (1982) Discussion > why the maggots?!!!!

why the maggots?!!!!

posted 18 years ago by flynnjo1
9 replies | jump to latest

I have loved this movie ever since i first saw it in on HBO in the early 1980s, before i was even a teenager. all the characters are great. the location is great. the story and progression is fun. its one of the best rainy afternoon movies. but everytime i watch it, the scene where maggie smith is walking the trail and runs into the dead cat covered in maggots kills the whole mood for me and it takes a good 5 to 10 minutes to get back into the movie (I have a thing about maggots-- totally gross). why in the hell did hamilton put that in the film? my hunch is that it is symbolic of where there is beauty there is ugliness and death. but he could have done much better than that. my only complaint about the film.

Stay gold Ponyboy... Stay gold. Johnny Cade

[–] MikeGrossman34 18 years ago

It is completely symbolic. It represents death in an otherwise idyllic place. It's an omen of what is about to happen. It was rather unappealing to see, but I think Hamilton really wanted to shock you.

[–] ritamilo 17 years ago

OMG - you said exactly what I was thinking! I always thought they showed that to prove that there is always some form of "evil under the sun" and that many beautiful things have a dark side to them. Great imagery.

"...truth against the world..."

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ritamilo 17 years ago

There might be. The maggot scene takes place, if memory is right, when Maggie Smith is going out to think about her staff meeting. She encounters a dead dog covered with maggots. I think that's it - I don't recall Poirot encountering it, but I could be wrong.

"...truth against the world..."

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rondine 14 years ago

First, I'm glad I'm not the only one that wondered about this. It sticks out like a sore thumb- and I don't find anything inherently evil in maggots doing their job. But I do find them disgusting to look at.

Here's a thought, maybe besides the subliminal "Evil" in the idyllic place, perhaps also there is the foreshadowing of a death about to occur. And I also was wondering (haven't read the book... shame on me) if it had something to do too with Daphne's location - she did an about-face and perhaps that changed the set up of all the alibi that hinged on her.

What do you all think? :)

[–] noom1 13 years ago

Just for the record, it was neither a cat nor a dog but a rabbit. And yes, the scene is pretty jarring, indeed!

[–] ghostfan 12 years ago

Watching this now -- you are correct -- it's a rabbit and Maggie Smith's character found it.

I am irritated though -- I didn't realize this was on or I would have recorded it.

Kind of cool though -- Dennis Quilley was in the other big Christie movie -- Murder on the Orient Express, too!

[–] 12 years ago

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