A review of the film by Chris Koh:

I need to lay my cards on the table and confess that I was able to read the script for Gosford Park a few months ago. It’s a dense read because there are so many characters and interconnected storylines. However, this gave me an advantage in navigating the wide array of characters and knowing the “plot” before hand. However, this is a Robert Altman movie – which means that texture and feeling has greater emphasis than linear storytelling and “plot” points. Altman’s naturalistic/improvisatory approach can yield highly erratic results – sometimes it’s genius and other times merely frustrating and indulgent. He seems to alternate between extraordinary films and extraordinarily bad films (Dr. T any one? Yech!) Fortunately, this time Altman and his cast hit the mark perfectly.

I also happen to love Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game – from which Altman drew heavy influence. That film foreshadowed the explosion of WW2 by attacking the European class system through a densely layered farcical plot that borrowed heavily from Beaumarchais & made famous use of Renoir’s deep focus long shots. Altman has been quoted in interviews as saying how he’s long admired Renoir’s film and been obsessed with equaling its density and depth. In many ways, Rules of the Game is the movie Altman (along with Woody Allen) has been trying to make his entire career. I’m happy to say, that Altman has succeeded in making a film worthy of this pedigree.

Let me address the visual style of the film. Altman has been also been quoted as saying that he believes that film should be closer to painting as an art form than literature or theater (with the emphasis on narrative and advancing a plot forward with words). As a result, Altman creates these murals where the actors represent one piece of the tapestry. He favors long takes that are punctuated by tracking movements that follow his large ensemble casts around and likes to punctuate the action with pointed zooms. My favorite Altman film is still McCabe & Mrs. Miller – mainly because it created a sensual, mysterious world through Vilmos Zsigmond’s raw cinematography and the layered sound design. When I first heard that Altman was doing a British period piece, I wondered what kind of visual approach he would take. Those expecting a glossy, Merchant-Ivory sheen will be startled by the raw sensuousness of the film’s look. Andrew Dunn’s unvarnished cinematography manages to strip away false veneers (much as Altman strips away at social pretenses) while remaining elegant and warm. There’s an organic beauty to the film’s widescreen compositions that I haven’t really experienced since Barry Lyndon.

The demands of creating a British period piece have disciplined Altman in extremely beneficial ways. However, the material hasn’t tempered his intensity or commitment to pushing the boundaries of naturalism. There’s a human heartbeat that invigorates this movie, which keeps it from ever becoming as staid and complacent as those goddamn Merchant-Ivory E.M Forrester adaptations. In many ways, I was reminded of Mike Leigh’s Topsy Turvy. Both films are exceptionally nuanced and assiduously adhere to period details. And both films force their filmmakers to deal with language and text in a more precise, articulate fashion than in previous efforts. Nevertheless, both films are ultimately auteur-pieces that reflect the directors’ passionate, gritty commitment to human truth.

In some of his work, Robert Altman can be overly indulgent to his cast or go off in improvisatory tangents that ultimately have no satisfying substance. But a carefully mapped out screenplay and the demands of the British class system circa 1932 have forced Altman to focus. As a result, you could say this is the most British American film ever made – or the most American British film. It possesses virtues of both styles – the raw, passionate naturalism and dynamism of American cinema & the attention to social nuance and precision of language more characteristic of British cinema.

The entire cast is superb, but I had my own favorites. Maggie Smith is pretty delicious as the doyenne snob of the group. Clive Owen finally has a worthy follow-up to his work in Croupier and the BMW Films series. Emily Watson does some of her most disciplined work and effectively both distinguishes herself from the crowd and makes a convincing ensemble player. Kelly Macdonald serves as the audience’s stand-in in many ways, guiding us through the twists and turns of this complex universe. But it is perhaps Helen Mirren who owns the heart and soul of this movie. She gets the film’s most moving moments & executes them with enormous grace and restraint.

In any case, I hope this film gets the attention it deserves. It addresses all of Altman’s key concerns – group dynamics, how sexuality manages to both bridge and widen the gap between people, and how men are often scumbags. All of this is addressed with Altman’s characteristic skepticism and humor. However, there’s ultimately a deep sense of warmth and sadness that emerges from the film. Long after the credits roll, the film’s emotional impact resonates.

From Karyn, a Jeremy Northan fan who attended the NYC premiere of Gosford Park:

The movie itself could have been better. In true Altman style there was a veritable slew of
characters. It was difficult to figure out who was who, who was related to who, who was sleeping with who . After the movie, we all had time to look at the programs we received. Basically, it was set up as sort of a organizational chart and showed a picture of each actor, their name, the name of the character and something about each character. Someone said that it would have helped if we had read the program BEFORE seeing the movie. The problem is that when the movie is released no one would have a program that illustrates who's who. That should be apparent in the movie and the story telling. It wasn't - all of the time. And it was long. Long isn't always bad but when it feels long, that's another story and this felt long.

JN was great in his scenes. Of course, with a cast this large and a story this sprawling, we didn't get enough of him. I enjoyed his voice and you do get to hear a lot of it in one crucial scene. I enjoyed how several of the female characters kind of swooned over him. I really enjoyed his interactions with Maggie Smith's character. She really did have all of the
best lines, . many of which were directed to or about the Ivor Novello character.

The acting was very good. Clive Owen was brooding. Emily Watson was compelling. Maggie Smith was enjoyable. Tom Hollander suitably desperate. And Ryan Philippe good as the arrogant imposter. Bob Balaban for an Oscar? I just don't see it. His part was neither relevant nor substantial enough to merit even the discussion of a nomination.

All in all, I think it was better than most but not as good as what I was expecting."....KARYN BEACH]

Used with permission. Photo by YaLuMa

. "Gosford Park"

In this Robert Altman upstairs/downstairs drama the fun of the opening is identifying which cream-of-the-crop British actors are playing the roles, which Americans, and who tops whom. For an industry audience it's fair to say Maggie Smith takes it away, but then she's got some of the more delicious lines. But, that's not to say other players don't rise to the top when the drama or irony requires.

Always a director for an ensemble cast, Altman here gives it new meaning in sheer numbers as he weaves his familiar web of stories. This time, the occasion is a hunting weekend at Gosford Park, a palatial English manor with extensive grounds, accomodations for a very large assemblage of the English elite and with downstairs quarters for all the servants, cooks, drivers and valets necessary for the comfort of those above.

The setting provides ample opportunity for intrigue, gossip, sexual pairings, blackmail, lust, moral weakness and the inevitable murder. It could be an Agatha Christie tale, though its police investigator, Inspector Thompson (Stephen Fry) is off the charts for bumbling. In fact, he's not the only stereotype in the bunch but is clearly the most extreme of them. And, perhaps, the point of it all, if not the fun, is in the stereotyping. At least Altman seems to have thought so and his cast superbly fleshed it out in magnificent costumery while relishing their sumptuous meals and slashing snobbery.

It's 1932 and lord of the manor, Sir William McCordle (spot on Michael Gambon), a subtly domineering type with a past so unscrupulous it borders on evil, has invited some of his social peers, as well as a few Americans for color, for a weekend of hunting birds as well as all the social enjoyments such a gathering promotes. His much younger and incredibly more handsome wife, Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas at her period classiest) is behind the enterprise as well.

As the picture opens on a typically rainy day on the English countryside, Constance, Countess of Thentham, (Maggie Smith, typically inimitable) leaves her own manor and mounts her private carriage with her personal servant. Scarcely has there been a better representation of an English countryside morning than this, so patiently depicted and superbly photographed.

The Americans, who pull alongside the countess on the way, are Morris Weissman, Esq (Bob Balaban), a Hollywood producer of Charlie Chan mysteries, and Ryan Phillippe about whom we can say nothing except that when an actor plays an actor playing a part... well, he's a study in pretend modesty alternating with utter self confidence in womanizing. Accompanying them is the English matinee idol, Ivor Novello, Esq. (Jeremy Northam) who can also sing and play piano and who will earn his invitation.

Add to this an ever more exquisite Emily Watson as the efficient head housemaid Elsie, Derek Jacobi as Sir William's Valet Probert, Alan Bates as butler Jennings, Helen Mirren who seems to be the overboss of the downstairs workers Mrs. Wilson, Clive Owen who proves again, even in these overcrowded circumstances, the value of charismatic weight. Somehow, when he's on screen he imparts an air of impending drama even when things are going so routinely.

So weighty a cast list could threaten the vitality of a drama but with the pen of Julian Fellowes and Altman's taste for the mob, this one maintains animation along with the animosities. The pacing and clarity are worthy of a director who has become something of an icon in American filmmaking. His tackling of a fully staffed English whodunit (based on an idea by him and Bob Balaban) proves a challenge that falls within his considerable capabilities, resulting in his best film since "The Player" and one that will take a respected place on his filmography, discounting the recent failures of "Kansas City" and "Pret-a-Porter".

There's a lot said about the social classes in this place where the Haves and Have-Nots are in such close and common contact. Barriers are ignored when sex is the object, for one. Then there's the line from the valet who remarks that his master thinks he's God Almighty and a cook with requisite experience responds as though she's speaking for a cross section of the lower classes, "They all do".

As with any meeting of elites, this one includes a few captains of industry, not the least of which is the host, who not surprisingly holds the fate of Lieut. Commander Anthony Meredith (Tom Hollander) in his hands and cares little about it. Meredith's pleadings for rescue from imminent bankruptcy proves to be a principal plot line and provides one possible motive, among others, for the murder that occurs. The revelation of other motives leads us into a dark and tragic past.

It's all a lot to tackle and may be worthy of more than one viewing to get it all straight. But it's there, along with a fastidious authenticity for the manners, mores and styles of the time. Production designer Stephen Altman, Robert's son, creates the magnificence of the manor by combining two country homes and constructing a set for servants quarters below that accomodates frantically moving staff through its many rooms and corridors.

It's all convincingly photographed by cinematographer Andrew Dunn ("Practical Magic", "Liam") as he captures the inescapable grey moods of England outdoors and the bright and shadowy variations inside. Flawless period costumes are outstandingly wrought for the classes and the occasions by Jenny Beavan.

The film runs 137 minutes but you, surprisingly, don't hear me complaining.

~~ The Filmiliar Cineaste

Thanks, Erica