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I remember vividly as a child watching the films based on Agatha Christie novels and absolutely loving them - kitsch from childhood I know - but what I used to love about these movies were the great ensemble casts and trying desperately to figure out the whodunit plot. Well Robert Altman has scored on one of these counts and in today's climate of wanky period dramas thank Rob for small mercies.
Basically a bunch of rich folk and their servants convene on Gosford Park for a weekend of shooting during which the host is mysteriously killed - but who could have done it? Yes Altman has gone all Agatha Christie on your ass and we've got to figure out who popped a cap in the old guy. From this simple premise Altman creates an elaborate world of the upstairs-downstairs class struggle in 20's England - with all the staple stereotypes thrown in, a few red herrings and some slightly dodgy accents of course.
First - the cast. Gosford Park has the sort of cast that only people like Altman, Soderbergh, Tarantino and their fellow auteurs can muster - a who's who of British cinema from the last 30 years with a few yanks thrown in for the sake of Hollywood continuity. The really cool thing is that Altman makes great use of these terrific actors - nobody is pushed to one side and almost every scene crackles with the sheer energy of these heavyweight thesps. The first hour and a half or so is pure set-up and is by far the best part of the film as each character is allowed to be bought to life and thrown into the mix. I have to say that I was slightly bewildered for the first 30 minutes as there are so many names to learn and scenarios to remember - but it is sheer cinema joy to watch all these brilliantly realised characters interact in such a detailed and historically accurate environment.
The problems with the film become evident once the murder has occurred and suddenly the narrative is slowed. Up to this point the audience is in rapt awe of the interaction of all these great characters and with the murder comes the introduction of Stephen Fry's inspector and his assistant - who are both Ealing-style caricatures and completely bring the audience back down to earth. Fry's bumbling around the screen is unsuitable for a film of this calibre. It is not so much that he is crap - he is actually quite funny and endearing but in a cartoon Inspector Clouseau sort of way. There is also the problem that the murder mystery part of the story has an extremely poor resolution and feels tacked on. This part of the story just feels like it is interfering with all the great backbiting, shagging and snobbery of the first half.
This film is worth watching just for the sake of the incredible cast acting their tits off. However it is a real shame that the promise of the first half of the script does not follow through to the final reel - if it had this would have been a perfect film - as such it is a flawed but brilliant film. It deserves to be watched just to see Richard E. Grant in a movie were he doesn't eat the scenery.
RATING: (c)Matt C 2002
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Gosford Park (Cinema: March 2002)
