When it is proclaimed that no one successfully does large ensemble cast films like Robert Altman, this is an accurate truth as absolute as anything on this earth can be. His latest o'erleaping ambition is the temperamental Gosford Park, a tale about social class systems, subtle satire, saucy scandals, and, naturally, murder. Like Short Cuts, The Player, and Cookie's Fortune, this film features a big cast with characters from all walks of life. Gosford Park is not quite as good as these selections, but only because Altman has challenged himself this time around by keeping all of the personalities isolated in one setting -- a 1930's British manor -- at the same time. He also duplicates the names of the wealthy with their own servants, which, although perhaps factually accurate, causes unnecessary confusion at times, especially since both namesakes are rarely onscreen together at the same time.
Only Altman could have made the conscious decision to throw all the characters at the audience at once (a lesser director or weaker screenplay would have had staggered guest arrivals), and he graciously provides exactly the appropriate quirks and traits to enable easy identification as the film progresses.
If there's one actor in the cast, there must be three dozen, and they are uniformly excellent despite only so much screentime at any one time. Far and away my favourite of the lot is the amazingly delectable Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting) as Mary. She is Mrs. Trentham's valet (Maggie Smith, in the second best performance of the film), and through her stunning eyes, we watch the whole piece unfold. I absolutely adored Macdonald every step of the way. She should have received a Supporting Actress nomination when Smith and Helen Mirren (as the housekeeper Mrs. Wilson) received their nods this year. So many other actors deserve mention, particularly Jeremy Northam as a suave Hollywood actor, Derek Jacobi as the boozing butler, and the luminous Emily Watson as the housemaid Elsie.
I won't divulge too much of Gosford Park's story, but there are some great stylistic choices in terms of foreshadowing that work really well. For example, a glass holding a Caesar bursts into a blood-coloured mess on the ground just as one character's motive for murder is unveiled. Some camera shots linger on a bottle of poison, others on a missing knife. And so on.
The picture builds layers not only in terms of its story arcs, but also in its characterizations. Ryan Philippe's mannerisms as a servant leads us to believe he's more than he seems. This also runs true with Helen Mirren's demeanour, Clive Owen as a servant who *gasp!* grew up in an orphanage, and the goofy Stephen Fry, as an inspector sent to investigate the murder, but who seems to be oblivious to the process of solving an actual case. Unfortunately, one particularly recognizable actor (in real life) is curiously stripped of many lines throughout the film, leading one to correctly deduce that the character may eventually have more lines near the conclusion.
I liked the lead-up to the murder, but the post-murder scenes weren't as fascinating to me. The day-to-day lifestyle of the valets and servants versus their masters was more interesting and could easily have made a movie all its own. The tones of levity sprinkled throughout Gosford Park make it a delightful picture that will make you want to hug it, slap it and solve it simultaneously.
