Gosford Park
Directed by: Robert Altman
Cast includes: Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie
Smith, Jeremy Northam, Alan Bates, Helen Mirren, Kelly Macdonald...
It is 1932. Gosford Park is an English country house, owned by Sir William McCordle (Gambon). He and his wife Lady Sylvia (Thomas) invite family and friends to a weekend of hunting, dining, gossiping and scheming in full traditional English country house style. This includes a murder mystery.
The plot is rather classic, but the interest lies in the style and presentation rather than the whodunnit or even the characters. The period detail is lavish and appears well-researched, and many of the more central characters are not the lords and ladies "above stairs" but their servants and staff "below stairs." Much of the interest of the film lies in watching this detail and how the master-servant relationship is played out — there is also a small amount of commentary on the class system and social situation of the era.
We are introduced to the film and its characters through the viewpoint of Mary Maceachran (Macdonald, of Trainspotting) as she accompanies her new employer, Constance, Countess of Trentham (Smith) — Lady Sylvia’s aunt — to the gathering. She must quickly start learning her way around the warren of servants’ quarters and service rooms as well as the hierarchy and politics of the way a large house is run.
However, one of the problems with the film is precisely the size of it, in terms of cast. There are thirty six characters and none of them are extras. Three quarters of the film is spent introducing them, trying to characterise them and their relationships with the others and still, with the cast list in front of me, I have trouble telling who’s who. For a full appreciation, good deal of concentration is required (may appeal to murder mystery buffs) or else multiple viewings (for Robert Altman fans). Altman indeed has done a number of films in this "ensemble cast" style (Nashville, Short Cuts, Pret-a-Porter) and picked up a Golden Globe for best director for this one, but the danger is a tendency towards leaving the audience out of the picture and a feeling that the director and cast are having more fun than the viewer. Fortunately here, while the result is nothing outstanding or at all new, the setting is intriguing and stylish and enough of the cast has sufficient presence to keep interest from flagging.
For those who need a head start with the who’s who, here’s a bit on some of the thirty six characters not mentioned above. The McCordles have a daughter, Isobel. Her suitor, Lord Rupert, is invited. Lady Sylvia has two younger sisters, Ladies Louisa and Lavinia, married, respectively, to rich Lord Stockbridge and broke Commander Meredith. The other couple are the Nesbitts, apparently not family, also not rich and seeking favours from Sir William. Grounding the piece in the period is British composer and film idol Ivor Novello (played by Northam, who does his own piano and singing), a historical figure and cousin to the fictional Sir William. He has invited the token American, (fictional) Morris Weissman, producer of the (actual) Charlie Chan films, to highlight and contrast with the Britishness of the rest of the characters (most of the cast have a background in British theatre and/or the BBC).
"Below stairs" is headed by Jennings, the butler (Alan Bates), Mrs Wilson the housekeeper and Mrs Croft the cook. These each have their underlings, notably smirking George the footman and Elsie the head housemaid who befriends the young Mary. The visitors’ servants include, as well as Mary, Robert Parks (Lord Stockbridge’s valet) and Henry Denton (Weissman’s snooping valet).
Bring out the Cluedo.
