Gosford Park (2001)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Robert Altman (idea) and
Bob Balaban (idea) ...

Release Date:

4 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Multiple storylined drama set in 1932, showing the lives of upstairs guest and downstairs servants at a party in a country house in England.

Plot Keywords:

Servant | Shooting Party | Money | Murder | Country House

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 27 wins & 49 nominations

Cast

Maggie Smith	...	Constance Trentham
Michael Gambon	...	William McCordle
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Sylvia McCordle
Camilla Rutherford	...	Isobel McCordle
Charles Dance	...	Lord Raymond Stockbridge
Geraldine Somerville	...	Louisa Stockbridge
Tom Hollander	...	Anthony Meredith
Natasha Wightman	...	Lavinia Meredith
Jeremy Northam	...	Ivor Novello
Bob Balaban	...	Morris Weissman
James Wilby	...	Freddie Nesbitt
Claudie Blakley	...	Mabel Nesbitt
Laurence Fox	...	Rupert Standish
Trent Ford	...	Jeremy Blond
Ryan Phillippe	...	Henry Denton

Also Known As:

Gosford Park (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

UK | USA | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | USA:R (certificate #38606) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Argentina:16 | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Hall Barn, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

USA Films

Trivia:

By her own admission, Kristin Scott Thomas was famously difficult on set whilst working on the film. In an interview with a British newspaper in 2005, she said that "when I did Gosford Park (2001) with Robert Altman, apparently I was a complete nightmare. I was very imperious and completely foul and horrible. And I had no idea I was doing it at all. Actually, that's not entirely true; I did wonder why people were giving me sideways looks, and there would be this odd hush whenever I walked into a room. The only explanation I could come up with was that I was half in character the whole time. I was playing this woman who was difficult and so I became difficult. But I did apologize to everyone afterwards."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mable informs Lady Trentham that she doesn't have a lady's maid, Mr. Nesbit lays his tea cup and saucer on the mantel. When Lady Sylvia joins the group at the table, Freddy again places his cup and saucer on the mantel.

Quotes:

[Many years ago, Sylvia and Louisa cut cards to decide which of them would marry Sir William. Louisa lost]
Constance: Anyone care for a game of bridge after dinner? Louisa, how about you?
Louisa Stockbridge: Oh, I don't think so. I've rather gone off cards. I've never been very lucky with them.
Sir William McCordle: Me too.

Movie Connections:

References A Wedding (1978)

Soundtrack:

Nuts in May

You'll like it if you love films like Magnolia and Traffic

I've read through the first page of comments made by the many users, and I think I can understand why many think this film is overrated. People think that this film sucks because they don't like multi-story plot and they find it difficult to follow the stories. Some may expect a spine-chilling murder and want to be scared and wet the seat. However, those who really appreciate and understand the movie know more than clear that the film itself focuses on the life of the upper-class people (and the life of the time) rather than a bloody crime.

The movie defines the word originality no better. In fact, Julian Fellowes deserves all the awards he received since the screenplay is challenging to write and it's difficult to pack all the stories in a 150-minute movie. He explains the complicated relationship between the visitors so well, and he virtually creates a motive for murdering Sir William for everyone so that the crime itself becomes very mystifying. Of course, I must admit that there are really too many characters and it's simply impossible to keep track of everyone's movement in the first half of the movie; but Julian leaves the necessary hints for our understanding that our feeling intensifies more and more as the story unfolds. Even better is the dialogue - sharp, sarcastic, amusing, clever. It confers life to the film and fully delineates the character of the many visitors however short the time is when they appear on the screen. Before I saw it, I had always asked why Memento did not win an Oscar. But the time when the film ended, I was left stunned on my seat. I mean both stories are great and original, but when comparing the relative difficulty in writing the screenplay, Gosford Park apparently wins.

Gosford Park is to me perhaps the second best movie I've seen this year (after A Beautiful Mind). If you like films like Magnolia and Traffic, which require much patience to enjoy, it's perhaps the greatest movie of your lifetime.