Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

Gosford Park Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 27, 2018

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 may be enjoyed as a kinda sorta Agatha Christie type murder mystery, since there is a killing that takes place during a tony get together at the palatial mansion of Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas). However, the death comes rather late in the proceedings, and in fact there’s a whole secondary mystery that unfolds rather remarkably before the viewer’s eyes, much of it beautifully opaque due to some wonderful misdirection on the part of Fellowes’ expertly crafted screenplay. In fact, huge swaths of the film are actually ostensibly caught up with the interplay between the “upstairs” folks, many of whom are the guests assembled for a “shooting party”, in what plays at least slightly like an Anglicized version of elements in The Rules of the Game, and the “downstairs” servants, at least a couple of whom are harboring some relevant secrets (without disclosing too much, as in many of the best Agatha Christie mysteries, there's both what might be termed generational and genetic connections not immediately apparent).

Among the guests are Lady Constance (Maggie Smith, getting “prepared” for Violet Crawley), American film producer Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban, whose family of course were big movers and shakers in the movie business in real life) and, in the film’s tip o’ the derby to actual historical figures, Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), who gets to croon a tune or two of his for the assembled multitudes. A number of anecdotes are doled out vis a vis these and several other guests at the affair, with several roiling relationships being dissected, sometimes in rather amazingly brief moments where both Fellowes and Altman manage to craft almost instantaneously understandable histories for the characters.

That proclivity is perhaps especially evident in the treatment of the “downstairs” characters, which include what amount to this film’s versions of Carson and Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Jennings (Alan Bates) and Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren). These two service people are “native” to the McCordle Estate, as are Probert (Derek Jacobi) and Elsie (Emily Watson). But some of the party guests have brought at least one member of their own staff, and it’s the sudden influx of these new “below stairs” folks that really adds to the tension and interest of the film. Among the visitors are Robert Parks (Clive Owen), who works for Lord Stockbridge (Charles Dance), and Mary Maceachran (Kelly Macdonald), employed by Constance, as well as a lone American, Henry Denton (Ryan Philippe), who works for Weissman. Fellowes manages to offer distinct characterizations in very brief snippets of dialogue, but there is a ton of subtext in this film that repeated viewings may help to reveal.

The story moves on into what is ostensibly more traditional “whodunit” territory once a body is found, and a seemingly inept if inevitably avuncular police inspector named Thompson (Stephen Fry) shows up to investigate. But I’d make the case (no pun intended) that the whole murder mystery aspect is really almost a kind of “Macguffin” that only helps to elucidate what turn out to be a series of rather devastating character revelations, as well as an examination of how the classes of this time period interacted (there's a repeated emphasis on how basically helpless some of the landed gentry are). The fact that not even these denouements are really explicitly detailed in every case, simply kind of hinted at (strongly in some cases, it must be admitted), is simply further evidence of the finesse that both Fellowes and Altman bring to the film.

For anyone who has only seen some of Altman’s more shall we say “outré” offerings like 3 Women, or some of his arguably “looser” films like M*A*S*H, the pure formalism on display here may actually be a bit breathtaking. This is a film drenched in all sorts of tradition, both contextually within the story, but also in a very real “meta” fashion, in terms of reinventing a venerable genre, and the fact that a provocateur like Altman could both honor and deconstruct those traditions so effortlessly is in my estimation one of the surest examples of his particular genius.

Gosford Park Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

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.

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.

Gosford Park Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Gosford Park Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries:

  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

• Cast and Crew Interviews:

  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.

• Archival Featurettes:

  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.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 20:04) offer an optional commentary by Robert Altman.


• Trailer (1080p; 1:55)

Gosford Park Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.