Gosford Park

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Gosford Park
Directed by Robert Altman
Produced by Robert Altman
Bob Balaban
David Levy
Written by Julian Fellowes
Starring Kelly MacDonald
Emily Watson
Kristin Scott Thomas
Maggie Smith
Helen Mirren
Clive Owen
Ryan Phillippe
Michael Gambon
Jeremy Northam
Music by Patrick Doyle
Distributed by USA Films
Release date(s) December 26, 2001 (Limited in USA)
January 4, 2002 (USA)
Running time 137 min.
Country Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Language English
IMDb profile

Gosford Park is a 2001 film, directed by Robert Altman. The screenplay was written by Julian Fellowes, based on an idea by Altman and Bob Balaban.

A period piece, the film is set in 1932 at an English country house[1]. A group of wealthy Britons and their American guest—all accompanied by their servants—have gathered at the home of Sir William McCordle for a weekend of pheasant shooting. A murder occurs in the middle of the night. The plot then follows a traditional whodunit format, combining elements of the British murder mystery with those of a comedy of manners.

The film's true central theme, however, is a study of the British class system during the 1930s. In that regard Gosford Park follows in the tradition of Jean Renoir's 1939 film La règle du jeu, as well as the 1970s British television series Upstairs, Downstairs. Many intertwining subplots detail the complex relationships among the characters, both above stairs (the wealthy guests) and below (the servants), and a number of secondary themes are also explored. For example, the film takes a subtle look at sexual mores during the 1930s, and touches on gay issues as well. The film also mentions the decline of the British Empire and the peerage system.

While the story is fictional, the character of Ivor Novello is based on the actor of the same name.

The film stars Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Emily Watson, Camilla Rutherford, Tom Hollander, Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi, and Richard E. Grant.

It won the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Helen Mirren), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Maggie Smith), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Director and Best Picture. It also won the "Alexander Korda award for the outstanding British film of the year" at the British Academy Film Awards in 2002.

The pheasant shooting scene is an homage to the 1939 film La règle du jeu.

Tagline: Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight.

Soundtrack: Composed by Patrick Doyle and Ivor Novello.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • Sir William McCordle, an unsympathetic character, is "new money". He is married to Lady Sylvia, one of three sisters: The Ladies Sylvia, Lavinia, and Louisa. Their father was an impoverished Earl. Sir William is a cad. He is the biological father of Robert Parks with his housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson. Parks was given to an orphanage and only recently understands his birth. McCordle also fathered a child with Mrs. Croft, the sister of Mrs. Wilson, but that baby died.
  • Isobel is the daughter of Sir William and Lady Sylvia and Robert Parks' half-sister.
  • Lieutenant-Commander Anthony Meredith is married to Lady Lavinia. They are the only love match "above stairs". Anthony Meredith has a business deal with Sir William to supply the Sudanese army with equipment, which Sir William is planning to pull out of. The latter's death saves the deal.
  • Ivor Novello, an actor, is Sir William's cousin; their mothers were cousins and were both teachers. He brings along his American employer and friend, Morris Weissman, a Hollywood producer.
  • Raymond, Lord Stockbridge, a war hero, is married to Lady Louisa. The marriage has caused Lady Louisa to drop in rank, as her father is an earl but her husband is only a baron. The order of precedence carries over into the staff in the Servants' Hall.
  • Freddie Nesbitt, a rake, is married to Mabel, a middle class minor heiress he married for money but now disdains, having spent all her inheritance. Mabel is disdained or pitied by the others as well, but treated kindly by Ivor Novello. It is implied that Freddie Nesbitt and Isobel had an affair; Isobel terminated the resulting pregnancy, for which a desperate Freddie is now blackmailing her.
  • Mary Maceachran, lady's maid, serves Constance, Countess of Trentham, an insufferable snob who is the aunt of Sylvia, Lavinia and Louisa. Lady Trentham's allowance is under threat of being cut by Sir William. At this point in her life, Constance's only pleasures come from food, gossip and Schadenfreude.
  • Jennings, the butler, had been a conscientious objector in World War I. He is worshipped by Still Room Maid, Dorothy.
  • Elsie is head housemaid and one of Sir William's lovers. It is subtly implied throughout the script and especially at the end that Elsie will become a "star" discovered by Weissman.
  • Robert Parks valets Lord Stockbridge. He is the illegitimate son of Sir William and Mrs Wilson and Isobel McCordle's half-brother.
  • Lady Sylvia is Sir William's long-suffering wife, a good deal younger than he is, she is aware of his affairs but she doesn't seem to care as their marriage appears to be an empty-shell one anyway. Although she has a daughter by him, she is not aware that she is also Robert Parks' step-mother.
  • Henry Denton is ostensibly Morris Weissman's servant, but is really an American actor researching a role and pretending to be Scottish. Denton is functionally bisexual, sleeping with men or women to advance his career. He is actually romantically involved with his "master" Morris Weissman.
  • Inspector Thompson is a comic and comically inept policeman, who never quite manages to finish saying his name without being interrupted. His assistant, constable Dexter, is markedly more perceptive.

The two young men who arrive late to dinner are Lord Rupert Standish, the younger son of a marquess, who is interested in Isobel (and her future fortune), and Jeremy Blond, his pragmatic and amoral friend, who later sleeps with Bertha, a kitchen maid.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Track listing

  1. Waltz Of My Heart by Ivor Novello
  2. Mr. Parks by Patrick Doyle
  3. Gosford Park by Patrick Doyle
  4. Bored To Sobs by Patrick Doyle
  5. The Shirt by Patrick Doyle
  6. And Her Mother Came Too by Ivor Novello
  7. Walking To Shoot by Patrick Doyle
  8. No Smoke Without Fire by Patrick Doyle
  9. Scherzo In G by Patrick Doyle
  10. I Can Give You The Starlight by Ivor Novello
  11. What A Duke Should Be by Ivor Novello
  12. Inspector Thompson by Patrick Doyle
  13. Pull Yourself Together by Patrick Doyle
  14. Life Goes On by Patrick Doyle
  15. Secrets To Hide by Patrick Doyle
  16. Only For A While by Patrick Doyle
  17. Rather A Pasting by Patrick Doyle
  18. Love Jam by Patrick Doyle
  19. Why Isn't It You? by Ivor Novello
  20. The Way It's Meant To Be by Patrick Doyle
  21. Carpe Diem by Patrick Doyle
  22. Good Luck by Patrick Doyle
  23. Your Boy's Alive by Patrick Doyle
  24. The Land That Might-Have-Been by Ivor Novello

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • There is never a still shot in the film. The camera is always in some state of movement.
  • Although seen on screen, the words "Gosford Park" are never said in dialogue.
  • Many characters in the film, both major and minor, can be suspected of being McCordle's murderer either directly or indirectly, having the prerequisite means, motive and opportunity. We see male legs on the knife-wielder, but of course that man could have been performing the deed on behalf of, say, a disgruntled female. By the end of the film the audience know who was the murderer, but until that point it is very amusing to match up a motivation to almost every named character in the house.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Locations were filmed at Syon House, Brentford, Middlesex, for upstairs bedrooms, and Wrotham Park, Barnet, Hertfordshire, for the exteriors, staircase, dining room and drawing room.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Robert Altman

The Delinquents • The James Dean Story • Countdown • That Cold Day in the Park • MASH • Brewster McCloud • McCabe & Mrs. Miller • Images • The Long Goodbye • Thieves Like Us • California Split • Nashville • Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson • 3 Women • A Wedding • Quintet • A Perfect Couple • HealtH • Popeye • Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean • Streamers • Secret Honor • O.C. and Stiggs • Fool for Love • Beyond Therapy • Aria • Vincent & Theo • The Player • Short Cuts • Prêt-à-Porter • Kansas City • The Gingerbread Man • Cookie's Fortune • Dr. T & the Women • Gosford Park • The Company • A Prairie Home Companion

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