 | Gosford Park Starring: Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson, Bob Balaban, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Michael Gambon |
A week in the country estate of the ruthless Sir William McCordle (Gambon) with his assorted guests and servants sets the scene for a jolly good time of gossip, intrigue and murder. It's all terribly British and terribly good. Replete with trysts, shooting parties, and even a bumbling police inspector, "Gosford Park" takes the standard English clichés and turns them inside out in a most fresh and amusing way. In his new film, Altman has returned to what he does best, ensemble acting. As an attempt to combine the qualities of Britain's 1971 TV series, "Upstairs, Downstairs," and an Agatha Christie murder mystery, "Gosford Park" is only partially successful. The murder is never really compelling and the pretentious attitudes of the upstairs folk appear shallow and rather boring. If Altman were not such a good director this material would have fallen flat on its face. The secret here is Altman's control and Andrew Dunn's roaming camera. The film takes on a life of it's own, as we, the audience, become voyeurs eavesdropping freely between these two societies coexisting under one massive roof. We follow the maids, servants, cooks and butlers into the lower depths of the mansion with its low ceilings, overhead pipes and sparse trappings. We sense the claustrophobic atmosphere of this highly organized society dependent totally on the arrogance and whims of the plush upstairs class. Altman connects these two worlds by never allowing us to hear a conversation by the upstairs people unless a maid or servant is seen within earshot of the action. Even in the most static scenes, Altman keeps the camera slowly moving to create a documentary flow to the movie. It becomes readily apparent that the upstairs is equally dependent on the downstairs for its survival. The two classes feed on each other to self-perpetuate their existence. As we become slowly drawn to the lives of the inhabitants, the dissimilarities between the two classes began to fade. We get strong, realistic doses of the flaws inherent in both societies. "Gosford Park" is a fascinating and enjoyable class study of English life circa 1931. It all sounds terribly boring but with a director like Altman and a cast such as this, the impact is charming and delightful. The cast commits the only real crime here as they unashamedly attempt to steal scenes from one another. This outrageous behaviour by Britain's top performers is a large part of the fun of "Gosford Park". This does, at times, create a few uneven performances but how else does an actor get attention in a large cast of Britain's finest performers? Chewing the scenery becomes the order of the day as each performer makes the most of his or her limited time on screen. Standouts are Alan Bates as the head butler, Jennings, Emily Watson as the earthy head maid, Elsie, Clive Owen and Kelly Macdonald as new members of the downstairs team. "Gosford Park" is the ensemble genre taken to wonderful extreme and only Altman could have pulled it off with such brilliance. Not surprisingly, "Gosford Park" has made its impression on the Oscar nominations. While everything about the film seems vaguely familiar, Altman serves this feast with a fresh, new flair and garnishes it with a lusty, new found energy. It's great to see Altman back in top form. |