Gosford Park -- Think of Remains of the Day on speed. Once again we spend a weekend in the country in between-the-wars England. The Lord (Michael Gambon) is a rich bastard who shows love only for his little lap dog and one of the maids, Emily Watson. Kristin Scott Thomas should always play bored rich English ladies for she has perfected the pose. She is excellent and quick in establishing her character as the Lord's trophy wife.
Guests for the weekend include Jeremy Northren (sp?) as a movie matinee idol ("I play these people on the screen"), Bob Balaban as a California movie producer (he produces Charlie Chan mysteries and is along to do research for his next movie), Ryan Philippe (sp?) as his pouty Scottish valet, and above all the others, Maggie Smith as a snooty Lady who brings along her new maid. This is the best Maggie Smith role in years ("I don't have snobbish bone in my body" and "Breaking in a new maid is terribly hard work").
After dinner, Northren entertains the group with his piano playing and singing in a lovely unaffected voice. Supposedly he played the piano and sang live instead of lip syncing. One forgets about pure singing when since the 1950s every syllable cries out for intepretation. For a matinee idol, Northren's character is sweet and long-suffering. There is an interesting contast between the snobbish guests reaction to his singing and the pure delight on the servants as they sneak around to listen to him sing.
Helen Mirren is the Head Housekeeper, suffering in silence and in tightly coiled anger, efficient and for the most part, unkind.
There are a couple of other guests as well, and they all appear to be dependent on the Lord for money and support. James Willoby (sp?) who played the title role in Maurice does a fine job as the desparate English cad. The actress who plays his wife is also excellent as she reacts mostly in silence to his desparations and to the put-downs from almost all the other guests.
If in other same period pieces ("Upstairs, Downstairs" or "Remains of the Day"), there is a strong sense of two separate worlds, this movie tears down the wall. Altman moves from upstairs to downstairs with lightening speed. Most of the story is told from the point of view of Maggie Smith's new maid, a young Scottish girl who is innocent, but also intelligent, and who appears to be having a good time. Various other recognizable actors play the innumerable servants (Derek Jacobi, fyi).
Almost immediately one understands why these country house lifestyles have ended. These country estates aren't homes, they're hotels.
There is almost no privacy for the rich from their servants. Servants are everywhere, they are curious about everything.
Ostensibly, this weekend is about a murder mystery (the Lord is killed and everybody has a motive). But outside of Stephen Frears bumbling inspector who is cowed by the elite and yet who is terribly snobbish to the hired help, hardly any energy is put into the who-done-it. Instead, this movie is about life, told not by individuals but as ensemble, an Altman gift that when it works, is almost breathtaking.
I did't have a problem with the sound, but I did have trouble understanding all the characters' stories and dialogue. But the main threads are farely obvious. It is as if Altman is teasing us by giving us so many stories that life has many arcs, not the unified theories of most story telling. See how interesting and infinitely fascinating it all is?
A final note. There is the a wonderful pheasant hunting scene that is alone worth the price of the admission.
