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"ALTMAN’S DOWNTON UPSTAIRS ABBEY DOWNSTAIRS”

By Raymond Benson

The magnificent Robert Altman whodunnit (or, as Altman and team called it, “who cares whodunnit?”), Gosford Park, has received a top-class Blu-ray restoration and re-issue from Arrow Academy, and it is a gem.

Originally released in 2001, Gosford Park took its cue from the immensely popular BBC television series, Upstairs, Downstairs—about the dramas that exist in a stately British manor between the “upstairs” folk—the wealthy upper-class family that owns the property, and the “downstairs” people—the servants and staff who run the household. Throw in a dash of Agatha Christie, and a heaping helping of Robert Altman’s ensemble improvisatory magic, and you have the director’s only full-fledged British production. Interestingly, the screenwriter, Julian Fellowes (who won the Oscar for Original Screenplay) went on to create and write the next immensely popular BBC television series, Downton Abbey, which resembles Gosford Park in many ways.

Film historians will certainly recognize the homage Altman makes in his direction of the piece to Jean Renoir’s 1939 masterpiece, The Rules of the Game, a similar masters/servants ensemble work that Altman was known to admire. The tone and broad canvas with many characters and their subtle ribald and clandestine liaisons was surely a blueprint on how to do Gosford.

The work began when actor/writer/producer Bob Balaban suggested a collaboration on a film, and the idea to do an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery became the desired goal (Balaban co-produced the picture and has a prominent role as one of two Americans in the nearly all-British cast). And while the murder mystery is at the core of the film, it’s really not that important. After all, this is an Altman film. It’s more about the characters, the relationships, and the exploration of what the British class system was like in the early 1930s when the U.K. was holding on to centuries-old mores and values that would soon slip away.

The story concerns wealthy businessman Sir William (Michael Gambon), who is married to younger Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas), whose sisters are married to men struggling to stay in or begin business with Sir William. One weekend, all the relations and a few guests are invited to have a “hunting party” (much like in The Rules of the Game), so the house if full of people and the servants are very busy. But nobody likes Sir William. After all, he has a history of impregnating servant girls and forcing them to either give up their babies to orphanages or leave their employment. (The picture has an added layer of meaning in today’s #MeToo climate!) So, when he’s found dead—apparently stabbed with a kitchen knife—no one is very surprised. In the last act of the story, we learn the secrets and lies of several characters, and how these all played into the scheme.

The cast is impressive. Maggie Smith (as a wickedly opinionated older relation who depends on an allowance from Sir William) was nominated for Supporting Actress, as was Helen Mirren (who plays the head housekeeper). Also on hand are Alan Bates, Emily Watson, Charles Dance, Clive Owen, Tom Hollander, Ryan Phillippe, Eileen Atkins, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant, and many other familiar faces of British TV and film. Jeremy Northam portrays the real silent-film actor Ivor Novello, and Stephen Fry appears as a bumbling police inspector.

The brilliant cast and wonderful script aside, Gosford Park is assuredly Altman’s film. His style of overlapping dialogue, moving cameras throughout the house and picking up bits of business and dialogue here and there, and presenting a tapestry of words and images in which the viewer must piece together, is in full force. It works beautifully. In fact, Gosford was Altman’s second-highest grossing picture (after M*A*S*H), and it was nominated for the Oscar Best Picture and Director.

Arrow’s brand new 2K restoration from a 4K scan, approved by director of photography Andrew Dunn, looks marvelous. There are three audio commentaries—one with Altman, production designer Stephen Altman, and producer David Levy, and a second one with writer Fellowes. A third one is new to the release, featuring critics Geoff Andrew and David Thompson. Supplements include a new introduction to the film by Geoff Andrew, brand new cast and crew interviews, and port-overs from the previous DVD release: featurettes on the making of the film, deleted scenes with Altman commentary, and more. The package comes with a reversible sleeve containing the original poster art backed with new artwork by Matthew Griffin. In the first pressing of the product only, a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Sheila O’Malley and an archival interview with Altman is included.

Gosford Park was perhaps Altman’s last great picture, one that stands proudly alongside his other classics like M*A*S*H, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Nashville, The Player, and Short Cuts. Pick it up!

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