Gosford Park (2001)

Directed by: Robert Altman | 137 minutes | drama, romance, crime | Actors: Kelly MacDonald, Clive Owen, Michael Gambon, Alan Bates, Ryan Phillippe, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jeremy Northam, Rob Balaban, Richard E. Grant, Eileen Atkins, Stephen Fry

The beginning of the film immediately sets the tone. This is no ordinary ‘detective’, but a real analysis of the English estate society in the 1930s.

In a rainstorm, maid Mary and her employer Constance Trentham (Maggie Smith), a squeamish old aunt, leave for the hunting weekend. While Mary is completely wet in the rain, the sour Constance whines that the car door has to be closed because she is cold. When we arrive at the country house, it turns out to be rush hour there. Head of the servants there is Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren) and he immediately makes it clear that the personal assistants of the rich ladies and gentlemen are not addressed here by their own name, but by the name of those they serve. The tone is set, the stands are in place.

Meanwhile, all kinds of characters pass by, all of whom will play their part in the many intrigues that the weekend is full of: ‘upstairs’ there are (among others) the ‘free cousin’, actor/singer Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam) and his American friend and film producer Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban); the pale Isobel (Camilla Rutherford), sister of Sylvia; Louisa (Geraldine Sommerville), another sister, and her husband Mr. Stockbridge (Charles Dance); fourth sister Lavinia (Natasha Wightman) with husband and ‘loser’ Anthony (Tom Hollander); the underhanded Freddie Nesbitt (James Wilby) and his too ‘ordinary’ wife Mabel (Claude Blakley). Admittedly enough neatly married couples, but the mutual relationships are just a bit more complicated than just that. Secret romances and financial dependence make the relationships extraordinarily complicated.

‘Downstairs’ we see Weisman’s ‘servant’ Henry (Ryan Phillippe), an arrogant little man; butlers George (Richard E. Grant), Arthur (Jeremy Swift), and Probert (Derek Jacobi); alcoholic head butler Jennings (Alan Bates); kitchen master Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins); mr. Stockbridge’s servant Parks (Clive Owens) and of course servant Elsie (Emily Watson), whom Mary quickly befriends. Upstairs, these people are appropriately silent, but downstairs, in the kitchen and the bedrooms, there is a lot of gossip.

All in all, a pretty complicated setting. But it doesn’t really matter that much. As a viewer, you must of course pay attention to discover all possible connections, but during this puzzle you should not forget to enjoy the humorous and striking way in which the people and the zeitgeist are portrayed. Thanks to good dialogues, good acting and a beautiful entourage, the hypocrisy of both ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’ is painfully removed from under the thin layer of varnish.

The fact that someone else is murdered halfway through, and then an absent-minded inspector (Stephen Fry) and a diligent cop (Ron Webster) appear on the scene is just decorum. In this film, the context is much more important than the story. You can be critical about that, but then you do the way in which director Robert Altman sets the context short. Precisely because the context is brought to the fore in this way, the characters come to life.

This is also thanks to the excellent acting of all the actors. Both the larger and the smaller roles are clearly played with a lot of fun. ‘Gosford Park’ is supposed to be made with fun and love, which is why you look at it with those same feelings.

At the end of the film, the film loses a bit of a curious balance between context and story. The story itself is even more interesting. After all, we ultimately need to know who did it. The outcome is surprising, and naive Mary turns out not to be as stupid as she might seem at first glance, but the surprising ending doesn’t hide the fact that the story itself is rather sparse. Nothing more and nothing less than a ‘whodunnit’ with all kinds of passionate, financial and dramatic motives.

‘Gosford Park’ may be an ‘ordinary’ detective story, but one with a very stylish and original decoration.