Gosford Park (2001)

Today, I watched a silly murder mystery film. So I figured I'd follow it up with a serious one. And Netflix came in clutch with Gosford Park (2001).

What's not to like: upstairs and downstairs drama; gorgeous period piece; every famous British actor from the early aughts. Gosford Park has all of that in spades.

I. What Is It?

This is the story of a hunting weekend at the grand Gosford Park estate. There's a curmudgeonly old bastard that winds up dead and a host of characters with ample motive.

II. The Anti-Christie

This is, on paper, your standard Agatha Christie murder mystery. There's a murder, and a cast of colorful characters who almost all could have done it. There are clues sprinkled throughout the opening acts, and there's even an inspector called in from London to suss out whodunnit.

But the devil's in the details. Director Robert Altman and screenwriter Julian Fellowes are more interested in subverting classic tropes and exploring other themes and ideas than they are in presenting a Christie pastiche.

For one, Inspector Thompson, played with relish by the great Stephen Fry, is a bumbling idiot. This is not a whodunnit, one surmises, that will get solved any time soon.

For another, the film explores differences in class and social station with far more interest than it does the murder at its heart. We get to see how both halves live, the servants and the served. The servants are above reproach because they are practically invisible. But these servants are, as one character points out, living their lives through the ones they serve. The servants live to gossip, and adhere to ancient codes of conduct and honor that are laughable to modern audiences. The film makes a poignant point about Ryan Phillipe's character, an actor who masquerades as a servant for a day: when everyone "downstairs" finds out about his play acting, they immediately turn on him and treat him with scorn. One character tells him, curtly, that he doesn't get to have it both ways. You can't exploit these people or pretend to be them for fun. They resent it, and they let you know about it. To the tune of a spilled cup of coffee in the groin. Even the houseguests look down on Phillipe: yes, they treat their servants like non-persons whose only desire is to serve their every whim, but god forbid one would make light of their lives. The scandal of it!

The film's strength lies in its thorough exploration of each and every character: business schemes have gone awry; a Hollywood producer is anxious to get his next film started; the lord of the house is an all-around cad who, from the very first moment, seems to have his murder coming to him; maids play hanky-panky; Dame Maggie Smith serves sass like she invented it (she probably did, for all we know). The film gives us all of these stories, and more, in quick-fire mini-scenes that traverse every square inch of the estate, from the lowly servants' quarters to the grand outdoor hunting scene.

The film even takes perverse pleasure is dropping clues and possible motives: it turns out that everyone is fucking everyone, everyone is losing money, and the house is "lousy with poison." There are guns, silver polish (itself insanely poisonous), and missing knives. Altman and Fellowes want your mind to race. They want you scrambling to pick up the pieces. Even if they have no intention of honoring those things.

The closest thing the film has to a real detective is a maid, Kelly Macdonald, who figures it all out, but decides, for good reason, to keep it to herself. In the end she asks, "And what purpose could it possibly serve?" Some things get to stay buried. And that is very anti murder mystery, indeed.

III. Gorgeous Period Piece

This movie is sumptuous. Robert Altman is a sure-hand, guiding us through the lurid world of British wealth and the people that serve them; Andrew Dunn's photography is sharply composed and shows off the intricately detailed world of Stephen Altman's production design; Julian Fellowes' script is witty, twisty, and fun; Patrick Doyle's score is playful perfection; Jenny Beavan's costumes are lived-in and resplendent. This is a beautiful period piece that looks like it wears every penny of its budget on its well-tailored sleeve.

IV. Every Famous British Actor of the Age

Look at the cast list of this thing: Clive Owen, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Michael Gambon, Emily Watson and so many more. This thing is packed to the gills with talent, and everyone seems to be having a ball. Even Ryan Phillipe got a chance to shine, and I am not a fan of Ryan Phillipe. That scorn seems to work in his favor, here, as he plays a bit of a shit.

This movie wouldn't work with lesser talent. Everyone on screen is doing incredible character work, and pulling their weight. The movie lives and breathes with their effort.

V. A Difficult View

The movie coasts in at two hours and eleven minutes, which makes it a long view. Fellowes twisty-turny script doesn't do the audience any favors, as angles and motives come fast and furious. The fact that the servants are known as their masters' names, also doesn't help. This is a movie that is long, and demanding of attention. If you turn away, or fiddle with your phone, you are apt to miss something important.

I love movies like this, but I know plenty of people who would be flummoxed by it.

Why You Should See It

- Incredible acting, writing and direction.
- It's a lush period piece that spares no expense.
- It's playful, but never silly, and, at times, heart-breaking.
- It pays homage to the murder mystery, while serving something new.

Why You Shouldn't See It

- It is long and it demands your attention. You've been warned.

Miscellany

- Altman added a few F-bombs to the script to earn the R rating, in part because he didn't want kids to see this movie.
- The camera is always moving, in every shot, even if only slightly. This was a choice by Altman.
- The jewelry was all authentic, and had to be escorted to set by armed guards.
- None of the servants wore make-up, so as to add an element of realism.
- Julian Fellowes wanted to do a spin-off of this movie as a television series. It would later become the idea for Downton Abbey. I recognized characters in this film as their counterparts in Downton Abbey: Bates is there, Thomas is there. Carson is there, hell, Dame Maggie Smith practically plays the same part in both. It is fun to watch this movie having seen all of Downton Abbey. Gosford Park is Downton Abbey's urtext, and that's a lot of fun.
- One of Altman's stylistic trademarks is rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue. In order to record all of it, he had his actors, all of them, outfitted with microphones to pick up their dialogue.
- During every scene, Altman had two cameras going, in opposite directions: one to capture the scene proper, and another to get candid shots of everyone else in the room reacting accordingly. This required the cast to "always be on" as it were. 
- The hunting scene uses real birds really being shot. Bonkers.
- The name "Gosford Park" is never said in the film.
- The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and netted Julian Fellows a statue for Best Original Screenplay in 2002. The film was nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards, winning for Best British Film and Best Costume Design. Altman also won the Best Director award at the Golden Globes.
- Patrick Doyle composed the score for the film. He usually worked a score for months. Altman had him score the film in five weeks.