The Aristocrats and Help Ponder Murder Mystery in "Gosford Park"

Title: Gosford Park Director: Robert Altman Starring: Eileen Atkins, Bob Balaban, Alan Bates, Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Kelly Macdonald, Helen Mirren, Jeremy Northam, Clive Owen, Ryan Phillippe, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson Studio: USA Films Genre(s): Drama Rated: R (For language and brief sexuality)

Long before “Downton Abby” became a phenomenon, there was Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park,” a movie that was sold as a murder mystery (it sort of is) but is really about the complicated lives between aristocrats and the servants that make their lives running smoothly. The Academy Award-winning screenplay perfectly shows the lives of different family members coming together, meeting in a big house with strangers (including a movie producer that few seem to know how he got there), and all of the secrets and anger that spill out in the open for all to see.

These are people who have high opinions of not only themselves but other people. They snip at each other’s lifestyles, complain about how they each made their fortune, and debate on whether the Australian actor living with them is actually Australian. The servers stand in the background with amusement in their faces. As one maid points out, “I know more about their lives than even they do.” Amusing of an observation though it may be, there is also a bit of sadness that their lives have been dedicated to these selfish, narcissists.

During their downtime, they sometimes discuss the dreams they had for their lives, and how conflicted they are that those dreams resulted in them making sure other people got to live their best lives. Sure, the pay is good, and the living accommodations are respectable, but they are practically ghosts living in the shadows of people who don’t respect them (yet depend on them). The aristocrats think so highly of themselves that when one of them is murdered, it is seen as more of an inconvenience than it is a tragedy.

When the inspector (played by Stephen Fry in a scene-stealing performance) shows up to investigate the matter, he is baffled that there are people in the house still going out on their daily jog. Do these people not understand the seriousness of the matter? That daily routines may need to be halted to find the murderer? While these may be common sense questions to us, for them these are invasion and rude questions. “Gosford Park” might be a challenging watch if you are looking for something that is heavy on story with twists and turns. Instead, the brilliance of the film is how it captures the lives of the rich and the poor and examines how they relate to one another. If this doesn’t work for you as a movie, maybe there’s a TV show that is quite similar you can watch…?