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Friday, March 5, 2010

Gosford Park (Directed by Robert Altman)



Watched: March 1st

Starring: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon , Kristin Scott Thomas, Kelly McDonald, Emily Watson, Clive Own, Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam, Laurence Fox, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Eileen Atkins, Helen Mirren, Richard E. Grant

IMDB link

She said:

Gosford Park is one of those rare gems - a film I can watch over and over and never tire of. With a list of characters as long as your arm it takes about ten viewings to work out who is married to whose sister and whose valet corresponds to whose lady's maid and who comes under the kitchen staff and who the butler is.

Repeat viewings also allow you to fully appreciate the politics of the upstairs/downstairs dynamic and of the upper class economic situations. This might sound dry and boring but I can assure you this is a film full of wit and humour.

This clever wit is the charm of the film - all the characters are full of familiar dysfunction. The upstairs guests are all trying to be top dog with the most money and don't care which of their family members need manipulating to get it. Below stairs the staff are dutifully bound to people that they destest and despise. The outsiders such as the murder detective and Mr Wisemann (a Hollywood producer) are trying to be 'insiders'.

This film is essentially a murder mystery drama but the comedy is what stands out. I have seen it maybe 15 times and haven't stopped chuckling along yet. Watch it and fall in love equally with characters who are harmless and characters who are quite vile. I give this film <<<5 out of 5>>>

He said:
This film reminds me a lot of the Eighties film Clue (after the board-game with the same name, known as Cluedo in the UK) The mystery of who the murder or murderers actually are, is half of the fun. The Mr Wisemann character spends the majority of the film talking to Studio big wigs back in the states trying to green light a film dealing with the idea of British upper-class in the country for his Detective Charlie Chan films.

This is a fun film with so much going on in any single scene I can definitely see the appeal of multiple viewings. There are too many top notch British actors to list here but even the casual American viewer will know the majority of names listed during the opening credits. (I myself was only unfamiliar with one of the names listed)

I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone looking for an unexpected laugh or a murder mystery. I give {{{4 out of 5}}}



They said:
A fun film worth watching more than once. you will not be disappointed.... we give it {{{{{9 out of a possible 10}}}}

2 comments:

  1. Gosford Park is one of my most favouritest films ever! I cannot really fault it, it is a joy from start to finish. 5 out of 5 every time!

    It definitely rewards the repeat viewer - I suspect that James' score might go up if he watches it another couple of times as it is even more enjoyable once you finally get a secure idea of who is who and how they all relate to each other!

    But I want my DVD back! :-P

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  2. Haha, you'll have to grab it at the weekend! I am sure I'll get James to watch it more than once :P

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