Synopsis: Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight.

The Academy Award® winner for Best Original Screenplay, Gosford Park is a whodunit as only director Robert Altman could do it. As a hunting party gathers at the country estate, no one is aware that before the weekend is over, someone will be murdered – twice! The police are baffled but the all-seeing, all-hearing servants know that almost everyone had a motive.

This critically-acclaimed murder mystery features a who’s who of celebrated actors. With a diverse cast of characters – all with something to hide – it’ll keep you guessing right to the surprising end. Gosford Park proves that murder can be such an inconvenience.
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Gosford Park 8.25

You have to be in a particular mood to watch many of Robert Altman’s films.

For starters, you frequently have to want to watch an ensemble cast, seeing as many of his films are packed to the gills with familiar actors. For some, this may be overwhelming. To me, it’s a big plus, because he usually makes the most of each of them; it’s like a buffet with only the best food – only in smaller quantities.

You also have to be comfortable with a relatively slow pace; character development is often of greater importance than plot in his films. Even in the ones that aren’t a smorgasbord of actors, Altman usually takes his time delving deeply into his characters, getting us to know them as human beings, more so than as sketches on a page.

And top it all off, you have to expect a lot of movie for your cinema-going (or DVD-buying 😉 dollar. While this is not always the case, many of his films run in the 120 minute-range (versus the comfy 90-100 range of most movies). Some run even longer. Combine this with a slow pace and you’ll be able to blink many times before it’s over.

Altman’s career has decidedly been hit and miss. For every ‘MASH’ there is a ‘Popeye’. For every ‘3 Women’ there is a ‘Quintet’. When he’s on, his films are a total treat. When’s he’s off, they can be droning bores.

‘Gosford Park’ is one of the wonderful ones. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s the standout film of his final 12 years of filmmaking (he passed away in 2006, at the healthy age of 81). It weaves its numerous characters and various storylines so brilliantly, effortlessly, that it’s like being a fly on the wall.

And what a sight it is! Set in a humongous English country house, the audience gets an intimate glimpse at a lifestyle that probably very few will have the chance of experiencing in their lives. Julian Fellowes was apparently chosen to write the screenplay because of his in-depth knowledge of British classes and society and he puts that in full display.

I found it utterly fascinating to see the way this country house functioned, between the upper classes, and the formalities by which they entertained, and the help, who were only considered their masters’ shadows. The rules by which they all had to play were often at odds with their innermost desires: the well-to-do would remain mired in trivialities when they had in fact more urgent agendas, whereas the servants were constantly under pressure, detracting from more personal matters.

‘Gosford Park’ is half-period drama, half-whodunit: the first hour of the film is focused on setting up the characters and class dynamics, while the second one gets involved in a murder mystery. They blend together very well because, after getting to know all the players for an hour, we have a lot of potential clues to work out.

The script is sharp: not only does it leave us clues whilst not giving away the mystery, it manages to keep us distracted with a number of different stories at once and keeps the barbs coming from all sides. However, I constantly felt as though many of the references were lost on me, being unaware of societal convention in the UK at the time nor in that particular context. Given a proper contextual understanding, I have no doubt that this would be a total delight (and that my rating would be higher).

As can be expected from Altman’s films, we are treated here to a phenomenal ensemble cast.  If I knew British filmmaking more, I’m sure that I would have recognized most of the three dozen actors on hand. I was familiar with quite a few, mind you: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander, Bob Balaban, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Emily Watson, Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi and Richard E. Grant.

Helen Mirren was my favourite of the lot. She is simply AMAZING. Even with a cast such as this one, she managed to be the standout. She got a terrific part, of course, but I tried to imagine someone else in her place and I’m convinced that others would have done well, but not quite like she did; they would have supported the role, but not made it the quasi-centrepiece.

Stephen Fry was another favourite of mine. He only has a small part as the inspector who is sent on the case, but he makes the most of his devilishly funny lines like few would – he plays him like a good-natured, but vain man, who is more clueless than he cares to admit. Apparently Kenneth Branagh was originally lined up for the part, but I suspect he would have played up the pomposity and toned down the inspector’s foolishness.

My least favourite was, inevitably, Ryan Philippe, who kept popping up everywhere, delivering lines as though he’d just come out of the dentist’s chair. His presence was quite alright, actually, but his delivery bothered me to no end. I’ve seen him do worse, of course (the very cruel ‘Cruel Intentions’ for one), but I would have preferred any number of actors in his stead.

Finally, ‘Gosford Park’ was awash in a sumptuous score by Patrick Doyle. I had quite liked his score to ‘Henry V’, but had since been unimpressed by his work – it had always been good, but unremarkable (at least, what I’ve heard/noticed). But, right from the first notes in ‘Gosford Park’ I found myself lifted by its remarkable beauty. I’m sure I’ll buy the CD someday.

All in all, ‘Gosford Park’ shows Altman in fine form. It’s undeniably not a film for everyone (it comes nowhere come close to car chases, transforming robots and/or laser gun battles), but it’s rich in texture and will appeal to anyone who like their films “British”. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes Merchant Ivory productions (though I must admit that I’m not enough of a connoisseur to vouch for their similitude).