Gosford Park

Just what I wanted

While taking all those guided tours through cavernous estate houses in England and Ireland (and even a few on the north shore of Long Island), I always wondered what it was like to live that lifestyle. But of course, walking around those still houses doesn't really tell you about the people who lived there anymore than a stage tells you about its actors. However, Gosford Park was a great way to fill in those blanks. The way it pulls you into the world of 1930's English high society and all its pretense and hypocrisy is great. This movie definitely enlivened my understanding of class in old European societies.The reason Gosford Park has such great insight is the film's screenwriter, Julian Fellows who himself grew up as part of the English aristocracy. Much of what makes this film fun is the idiosyncrasies of its characters and their world that Fellows has personal experience with. A maid and driver stand in the pouring rain until their mistress gets in the car. Servants only refer to each other by their master's name, and they maintain the same hierarchy as their masters so that a duke's servant is treated better by other servants than a baron's. Only married women are allowed to have breakfast in bed; unmarried women must go to the dining room. What a strange world they lived in, especially to someone like me who grew up in a middle class New York neighborhood.The spine of Gosford Park is, without question, NOT the murder mystery. In fact, the murder mystery plot is about 5% of the movie-if that. It's what's known in film lingo as a McGuffin, a device that helps propel the plot in a story but is of little importance in itself. If a viewer turns to the murder mystery plot for what this movie is all about, they will most likely be sorely disappointed, seemingly like many of the negative reviewers here were.The key to enjoying this movie is to think about what it's like to live in a society that is extremely oriented by class. What must it take to keep it going? As I alluded earlier, pretense and hypocrisy grease the gears of high society. From scene to scene, we peep around corners and into bedrooms to see characters trying to hide one secret or another. And in the end, we see the unpleasant consequences of this duplicity.This is definitely not a film that lays out its purpose before the audience. Since the almost 60 characters (for a chuckle, look under product details above for the colossal cast list) each add something unique to the larger picture, and since the audience is usually only told something once, you definitely have to be your own detective. However, Julian Fellows does a brilliant job interweaving these characters into a solid whole, and he definitely deserves the Oscar he received for the screenplay.Since this is a complex and subtle film, multiple viewings are helpful, but unlike some other reviewers, this is something I really enjoyed. Like a good album, each time with it reveals another layer and increases your appreciation. Robert Altman, the director, says in his DVD commentary (which was boring except for a few insights, but Julian Fellow's commentary was excellent) that the film is "like looking in through the windows of a house, you only get part of the picture at a time." I think this analogy fits nicely, especially since the film is set in a house. Altman also acknowledges what some of the negative reviewers complain about, saying he meant the audience to be left wondering after the first viewing. He didn't intend this movie for the "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" set. In fact, Altman went out of his way to insert curse words, guaranteeing an R rating so that "14 year old boys couldn't walk off the street and watch it."And of course, last but not least, the acting was great. Gosford Park has an excellent ensemble cast with not a single weak link. Maggie Smith as the snobbish Aunt makes you smile; Kelly MacDonald as the Aunt's young, innocent maid makes you want to give her a big wet kiss (maybe that's just me); and Clive Owen's cool restraint as a mysterious footman keeps you following him around the screen.All through, Gosford Park is a movie very well done.

This movie was funny in places. Historical in places. Very British in all over. It kept moving so you didn't get bored but also entertained you. It is worth seeing. I was shocked to see Ryan Phillipe in it. Clive Owen always seems to over power his characters with his deep voice and very confident demeanor but he was so thin back then.The drawbacks for me were1) I cannot understand what some of those people were saying with their thick accents (even after seeing it 2 times), especially the daughter that was sleeping with that one woman's blond husband.2) I think it is weaselly of Hollywood (even if it may be due to free trade pacts) to "throw an American" in a British setting just because it is an American film. Americans don't have to be everywhere.3) It had too many minor characters getting in the way to where I was asking "Who is that?". I don't mean the extras . . . obviously there was a need for them . . . it was a mansion with lots of "help" running around. I mean the blond guy and black headed guy who came late. Who were they? And the one maid who swore her allegiance to the drunken head butler. Who was she? What was all of that about? And for that matter what was the drunken head butler's problem? And which was the head butler? The drunk at the end or the older blond headed guy sobbing over the dead body? It was a little confusing. But not enough to be a distraction. Maybe some of those other characters mentioned who they were and I just couldn't understand them.4) It seems that all movies like this (British, set in a previous error, of high society, very Hollywood centric, etc) (e.g. A Room with a View, Another Country, Atonement, Damaged, etc) seem to insist on showing British folks fornicating in stairways, libraries, cellars, basements, bushes, weeds, fields, etc. Perhaps the point is that they are not as sophisticated and refined as they pretend. But does it have to be a part of every one of these movies? Showing the kitchen maid and that black headed dude doing it in the kitchen and then in some random servant's room etc didn't add anything here.5) And the staid examples of the snobby rich being mean to the lowly poor. We get it. The British have a class system. We know already.Even so it was a good movie.

Very disappointed with the sound quality. I saw this film when it came out 16 years ago and enjoyed it. However, I could not understand what they were saying on this DVD, I am a native English speaker, with good hearing. There were no sub-titles. Consequently I fell asleep.

We have watched this film several times on DVD, with respect for Altman and the actors growing each time. But the sound really is a drawback--it is often impossible to hear what has been said and with such a complicated plot, this is a real handicap. With the help of online plot summaries, one can get the idea, but why can't we hear it for ourselves?

This should be a five star rating for a great film and a great DVD edition, but the absence of subtitles is quite inexcusable for a dialogue based film like this which is targeted at a mature audience and will appeal to elderly viewers. Hence the four star rating.The plot centers around a murder during a house party on a large English country estate. The story is rather slow in developing, and it is told, interestingly, from the point of view of the numerous servants in the household. And while the murder mystery is mildly interesting (and well thought through to the end) the real attraction of the film is the stellar cast, both of the gentry upstairs (Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Michael Gambon, Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam and many more) and their servants down below (Alan Bates as the head butler, Helen Mirren as the competent house keeper, Eileen Atkins as the cook, Kelly MacDonald as lady's maid and Ryan Philippe as valet to mention just a few).The real fun here is seeing all the greats of British stage and screen acting, with the odd overseas talent in a suitably 'exotic' role thrown in for good measure, strut their stuff. The dynamics of the large household with all its rules and conventions are well observed with all the actors doing wonderful work portraying their characters' idosyncrasies and mannerisms.The DVD includes the following extra features: - Director's Commentary with Robert Altman - The Making of 'Gosford Park' featurette - The Authenticity of 'Gosford Park' featurette (with retired servants who acted as expert advisers for the film) - Cast and Filmmaker Q & A Session (featuring Robert Altman, Helen Mirren, Kelly MacDonald, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Ryan Philippe) - Deleted Scenes - Trailer

Having read some of the other reviews I cannot agree more about the lack of subtitles. I do not have hearing problems but there is so much movement and background noise that the voices of the actors are lost. I watched some of the film years ago, and was very disappointed, but the second time around I watched it all, and it seemed better. With such a stellar cast I expected more, but it was painfully slow, and with so many characters I was not sure who was who. Of course the hierarchy downstairs was very well demonstrated, and the costumes, props, and scenery were outstanding . The music added to the atmosphere, too. So those were the film’s better points. Obviously it was compared with the long running Upstairs, Downstairs, and the later much acclaimed series of Downton Abbey (?). The interview with Robert Altman was very interesting, and by then I began to appreciate the finer points of directing. Eileen Atkins, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, and the American film person were particularly good. The film showed the snobbish and at times selfish and unpleasant side of the “ upper class “. Usually it is the American actors who mumble their way through a film, but usually the actors in British productions are far more articulate. The overall rating for me would have increased by another star if only subtitles had been available.

The "ArtHaus" remastering of Robert Altman's classic 'Gosford Park' has to be the definitive edition. I bought it to replace an older edition which was sadly overtired by wear and was incredibly impressed. Not only was the picture quality incredibly sharp, but the sound was also impeccable -- the rainfall in the scene when poor Mary (Kelly Macdonald) is waiting on her employer -- the imperious and wonderfully snarky Lady Trentham (a part Maggie Smith was born to play, and seemingly the model for Downton's Dowager Countess of Grantham) -- could have been in the room.The film itself is a multi-layered masterpiece that bears watching several times to get all of the different subplots, interactions, characterisations, and observations. The excellent ensemble cast is at the height of their powers in this murder mystery that's less about the murder than about the mystery, and features Stephen Fry as an excessively deferential detective who would seemingly rather see ten guilty men go free than ever offend the upper classes.I wholly recommend this film and DVD. My one issue is that English subtitles would have been useful for relatives with hearing problems.