Gosford Park

Gosford Park (2001)

a film by Robert Altman

It is a great achievement to handle the army of actors that Robert Altman directs in Gosford Park and it is genius to create such a detailed and entertaining story with so many characters. Directing a sequence with more than 12 actors in the scenes must be as hard as handling a family reunion in an English countryside manor.

This movie has many levels in which it is surprising and amusing. First the story is a crime story diluted in the complex and interesting relations of a rich english family and its servants. The environment in which the crime is developed is so full of surprises and interesting relations that the crime provides a path but not a goal to the story. The characters are so interesting and connections that are established in each scene end up making the cobweb in which the film sustains.

In order to make such a great characters-movie, Altman counted with a great cast. Each one of the characters works in this cobweb thanks to the great work of the cast. It is hard to pick a favorite, and although I really liked the roles of Christine Scott Thomas, Emily Watson and Clive Owen, I loved Maggie Smith as Countess of Trentham. I smiled every time she appeared on the screen and the wit and bitterness of this character is one of the many things to remember about this movie. I only disliked the detective who I found to be a boring shadow of Monsieur Hulot.

Gosford Park is a lot of fun and great movie making. It has the dark allure of juicy family gossip and the entertainment of an Agatha Christie novel. This movie is so stylish and so carefully put together with so many interesting characters and details that it kept playing in my mind after the credits were over.