7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
The lives of upstairs guest and downstairs servants at a party in 1932 in a country house in England as they investigate a murder involving one of them.
Starring: Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Camilla RutherfordDrama | 100% |
Period | 5% |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Perhaps because so many of his films feature such large casts, Robert Altman’s output has often been accused of being kind of formless and vignette driven, wafting from story to story and character to character in what might be thought of as almost a Slacker-esque way. And yet one need look no further than Gosford Park for proof positive of how firmly in control of his projects Altman could be (if one needed proof, that is). While written by Julian Fellowes, who would of course go on to considerable acclaim as the scribe for Downton Abbey, a series with at least a few passing similarities to this film, Gosford Park sprung at least in part from an idea hatched by Altman (along with Bob Balaban, who co-stars and was one of the producers), and it certainly does not shirk in the cast department, offering a veritable glut of characters, many (maybe even most) of whom have rather fascinating and beautifully developed back stories. And as peripatetic as Altman’s camera can be, and in fact is throughout this film, darting and weaving through the labyrinthine corridors of an estate that would have perhaps humbled even the great Lord Grantham, there’s an incredible focus in this film that makes the through line all the more devastating, once a series of denouements is revealed. This fact is perhaps all the more impressive when one contextualizes it within comments made by Altman himself in one of the archival featurettes included on this release as a supplement, where he freely admits to not knowing what the script says in any given scene, and that he leaves it to the actors to handle that aspect, or where he willingly hands over technical details to an assortment of real life "service" people who consulted on the film and made sure that things were as realistic as a dramatized version of supposedly historical events and/or behaviors could be.
Gosford Park is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:
Gosford Park was exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with stereo and 5.1 sound.For a film held in such almost universally high esteem, Gosford Park has had to wait quite a while for a decent high definition presentation, and this is a really sumptuous looking effort that provides a solid accounting of the film's often burnished brown color schemes, while also delivering routinely excellent detail levels in the often opulent and palpable seeming fabrics on costumes and upholstery. There are a couple of moments where the grain field looks slightly coarse, including most understandably during the credits sequence early on, but that same chunkiness shows up again in the shooting sequence (see screenshots 18 and 19 for some idea of the appearance of this scene). Otherwise, though, grain resolution and overall compression are excellent, and contrast also manages some segues from fairly drab interior scenes to at least somewhat partially better lit (if still kind of dreary) exterior locales.
The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan. Picture grading was performed on a Da Vinci Resolve. Picture restoration was completed using a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques. Grading was supervised and approved by Director of Photography Andrew Dunn.
The stereo and 5.1 mixes were remastered by Capitol Films.
Gosford Park features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mix. The surround mix definitely opens up a lot of the ambient environmental effects, as in the torrential downpour at the film's opening, but also later in expected moments like the hunting party that ventures outside. But even in some of the crowded interior scenes, there's nice immersion provided courtesy of the clatter of background noise and overlapping dialogue. Patrick Doyle's charming score also gets nice surround placement. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly and there are no problems with damage or distortion.
- Audio Commentary by Geoff Andrew and David Thompson is new to this release and has a lot of great information in it, though it occasionally may provide a laugh or two for some as the duo agreeably correct each other on a few aspects.
- Audio Commentary by Robert Altman, Stephen Altman and David Levy
- Audio Commentary by Writer-Producer Julian Fellowes
- Executive Service (1080p; 20:46) is a new interview with Executive Producer Jane Barclay.
- Acting Upper Class (1080p; 10:57) is a new interview with Natasha Wightman, who played Lavinia Meredith.
- The Making of 'Gosford Park' (720p; 19:52) has some great candid footage and good interviews with Robert Altman.
- The Authenticity of 'Gosford Park' (720p; 8:40) offers some really charming interviews with some of the (by that time) quite elderly technical advisors who had themselves been "in service" during the era depicted in the film.
- Cast and Filmmaker Q & A Session (720p; 25:01) is a 2002 post-screening affair with Robert Altman, Julian Fellowes, David Levy, Bob Balaban, Kelly Macdonald, Helen Mirren, Jeremy Northam and Ryan Philippe.
I frankly can't even remember what bare bones Blu-ray edition of Gosford Park I ended up with a few years ago, but it was so disappointing to me in terms of both technical quality and lack of supplements that I actually tossed it and kept my old special edition DVD. Luckily Arrow Academy has come to the rescue with this wonderful release, one which sports solid technical merits and some very enjoyable supplements. Highly recommended.
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