Gosford Park
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Movie Reviews of Gosford Park
Movie Review: Great Character-Driven Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is not for those with short attention spans or those who are held by a great plot. Not to say that just because you aren't captivated by this movie you're automatically stupid... but a great many people won't have the same capacity for enjoying this movie that I had.Some people thought that the huge number of substantial characters prevented them from being developed well, but one of Altman's great strengths as a director is to give a character no more than 10 minutes of significant screen time but still tell you their whole life story and make them incredibly moving. The best examples of this in the film are the characters of the thoughtful, plaintive Ivor Novello, the neglected, looked-down-upon Mabel, and the weasely but sympathetic Commander Meredith, three characters that I'll admit had little impact on me upon first viewing but grew on me greatly as I watched more and more.
Which brings me to an important point... this movie MUST be watched more than once to be appreciated. Don't expect to get everything the first time, and don't make the mistake of watching the movie as a murder mystery, waiting for the crime to be committed. This is not the point of the film, and the crime is not committed until more than halfway through the film.
The show is stolen though, by those performances who really do make a big impact on first viewing: namely, those of Maggie Smith as the delightfully snobbish Countess of Trentham, Kristin Scott Thomas as the husband-loathing, cold-but-sexy Lady Sylvia, Kelly McDonald the understatedly charming lady's maid Mary, and especially Helen Mirren as the head housekeeper with a sordid past, Mrs. Wilson (a performance that deserved the Oscar it was nominated for... though a smaller role, Mirren's performance towers over the generic Jennifer Connelly, who robbed her of the Oscar).
In short, if you're looking for fun, wit, humor, intrigue, mystery, tragedy, and a wealth of great characters, then Gosford Park is a cinematic experience that will not be forgotten!
Movie Review: More than just a classic murder mystery. It's wonderful!
Summary: 5 Stars
This 2001 award-winning film takes place in 1932 in a country house in England. Guests have assembled for a shooting party and the servants are busy. It's a perfect setting for a classic murder mystery. But Robert Altman is the director, and so the limitations of the genre disappear in a multi-layered story with a cast of no less than 35 characters. Each character shines for a brief moment as this very interesting tale moves back and forth between the guests and the servants, making a joke out of upper class snobbery while, at the same time showing how dependent they are on the servant class.Julian Fellowes received an Academy Award for the screenplay, which was based on an idea by Robert Altman and Bob Balaban, who also appears in the film in a comedic role of a Hollywood producer. It's fun to watch all the characters interact as little by little we learn how they are all connected. Each one is in a life and death struggle for something. And each one has some sort of secret. As the film progresses, I found myself saying "ah ha" a lot at each sign of recognition.
The cast is terrific: Maggie Smith as a countess who is dependent on her brother, the lord of the estate, for her income; Kristin Scott Thomas as the wife of the rich man; Helen Mirren as the housekeeper with a deep secret; Emily Watson as a maid; Alan Bates as the head butler. Accolades could just go on and on. There's masterful acting here.
The DVD is full of interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits as Robert Altman describes the process for getting the best performances from the actors. There's even a whole section devoted to the film's authenticity as some real-life servants who worked in an English country house in the 1930s were hired to advise the producers on every detail of service at that time, down to the color of the bow tie that the footman wore.
This film is destined to be a classic in its own right. I give it one of my highest recommendations. Don't miss it!
Movie Review: A World All Its Own
Summary: 5 Stars
I was enchanted with the world Robert Altman has created in Gosford Park from the moment the period music began, and we watched a town car waiting in front of the country house -- the rain pouring down and the young ladies maid standing stoically, dripping wet, waiting for her mistress to come out of the house and get into the car. By the time the car and we had arrived at Gosford Park, and we had met all the upstairs and downstairs people, I didn't want to leave any of them.There were the nasty and the good, the rich and the wannabe rich, the mysterious and the bitter all mixed up together in a mystery plot that was really of no consequence to the story other than to force secrets to be revealed. What a pleasure it was to watch the unveiling of these, layer upon layer.
How Altman was able to give each of these talented actors and actresses their place in the sun I will never know. But he did, and we learned enough about the lowliest kitchen maid to the lords of the manor to make each come off the screen and take on life.
Everyone was excellent. I remember particularly Kelly Macdonald as the innocent eyes of the film, Kristen Scott Thomas being beautifully shallow, Charles Dance and Maggie Smith with the best lines in the movie, James Wilby as a slimy wannabe, and Helen Mirren and Eileen Atkins as two warring below stairs combatants. Alan Bates played the butler with a secret of his own and tall Emily Watson, with a backbone like steel, triumphed in the end.
Jeremy Northam as the real Ivor Novello was charming, and has an unexpectedly fine voice. As the cool, still center of the mystery, Clive Owen as Robert Parks was a magnetic presence to watch. He took over the screen in each of his scenes.
Those of us who still remember moments in Nashville, or in MASH, or in any of Altman's other unforgettable films, and those who come new to his directorial skills have to cheer at the world he has created at the age of 70 plus. Bravo to all!
Movie Review: Commit a crime and the whole universe takes into account it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Robert Altman is one of the absolute Direction Masters all over the world. His ironic visions reminds inexorably to Jonathan Swift. His impeccable narrative style, that wonderful movements of camera, the discretely sumptuous stage, the fabulous illumination, the acid handle of the script, the prodigious domain of the British mood, the polish and refined cynicism beneath some lines, and obviously the special care of selection of every one of the characters make of this film an absolute artistic feat.
The movie follows the great tradition of Agatha Christie ` novels. Altman takes all the time of the world to show every one of the personages, their affections and emotive lacks are depicted with unerring clarity. The theatrical mood reveals his deep love for this artistic expression. You can realize how the camera keeps always at a discrete distance from the viewer. All of you know the efficacy to use the staircase as dramatic device and natural frontier between the well defined social classes. This will be precisely the accurate place in which we will tie clues, being able to listen the most hidden thoughts, desires or sudden dates.
It is a superb chamber work, an immense Adagio where all of us must participate in this smart game of shadowy complicities, those little details that progressively will be enhancing the whole canvas.
Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi, Emily Watson and Cliff Owen are fabulous in superlative grade. Because all the cast was splendid too. The zealous search of the artistic direction shines along the film.
There is not any detail to reject. This is a towering, egregious and majuscule film and from its immediate release, a new classic. Altman belongs to a reduced category of out of this world filmmakers, and this work still confirms it, in case there was any person who seriously doubt it.
Movie Review: Intriguing.
Summary: 5 Stars
For my money, no director working today knows better what to do with a huge ensemble than Robert Altman. Regrettably, he didn't win the Oscar this year for Best Director which remains a bit of a mystery (pun intended) to me. "Gosford Park" is arguably his most ambitious work to date. To some viewers, the film meanders quite a bit for more than an hour, flittering back and forth between the frantic work pace and never-ending preparations of the downstairs household staff and their employers lush, opulent living and activities upstairs, all during the course of a shooting weekend in the English Countryside. The standout performances include a devilishly spoiled Maggie Smith (whose character as she puts it 'hasn't a snobbish bone in her body') and Kristin Scott Thomas as the lady of the manor whose icy demeanor is off-putting to most but quite attractive to young fellow posing as a servant (a sly and witty Ryan Phillipe). The murder mystery, it has been reported in the entertainment press, wasn't actually added to the film until about 6 weeks into the shoot but you would hardly know since the gradual buildup to that crescendo is so brilliant and almost off-handed! After watching this terrific cast of A-list actors scurry about thier daily activities and then settle into a game of bridge, Brandy, conversation and music (provided by the dashing and alternately grating Jeremy Northam at the piano) a blood-curdling scream from the study snaps everyone from their selfish state and thrusts the film forward to a surprising and satisfying finish. I won't give away more than that (in case you haven't seen it yet) but I will say that there is another tasty little subplot involving two downstairs service people (a magnificent Helen Mirren and Clive Owen). Special kudos to the set designers and costume department for a job well done and for some of the most lush cinematography in recent film history! Brilliant.