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Vertigo chimes in from the London Film Festival on Robert Altman's GOSFORD PARK!!!
Hey folks, Harry here with the latest from Altman, and I'm not talking about an incredibly STUPID QUOTE that he gave regarding Sept 11th... I'm talking about what is important about Altman.... His work, not his mouth. Sounds like a fun film and I can't wait to see this one...
Hi Harry,
Vertigo here with a look at Altman's Gosford Park, which opens the London
Film Festival today.
This is an odd film (odder then the snippet of info I sent you before from
the press launch of the festival). It's strange to see the machinations of
the British class system through the eyes of an American maverick.
It's what Altman does best - an ensemble piece - set between the wars as a
crowd of English toffs assemble at a Sir William McCordle's (Michael
Gambon)country pile for a weekend's shooting. With them is Maurice Weissman
(Bob Balaban) a Hollywood producer who does Charlie Chan films, researching
his latest, 'Charlie Chan in London'. He's accompanied by Ivor Novello
(Jeremy Northam) and his mysterious valet, Ryan Phillippe(well not
mysterious. You can tell a mile off he's an actor researching the role of a
valet thanks to his atrocious put on Scottish accent). And Harry, I
apologise. I know you were interested in the Charlie Chan plot. So was I.
And the snippet we saw a few weeks ago intimated it was the main plot - but
it's just one of many. Sorry if I got your hopes up...
However, this isn't all that goes on - with all the toffs comes their
personal servants and valets who have to pile in below stairs to attend
their lords/ladies every whims - and gossip about them as well. The two main
below stairs characters are Mary (Kelly McDonald) and Parks(Clive Owen), a
crafty Londoner with a secret - but then it seems everyone here has a secret
or two...
Upstairs/downstairs do cross over, mainly because Sir William is having his
way with a variety of servants. Meanwhile upstairs it's all going a bit
Cluedo as all the guests seem to have a reason to want to off Sir William.
Relationships across the classes start to tangle and knot untill they meet
in a cluster when Sir William is found murdered in the library. And then all
those relationships have to untangle themselves again.
It's a good movie - Altman works with ensemble casts wonderfully, and as
ever his ear for natural sound, dialogue and conversation comes to the fore
- dialogue from seperate conversations criss crosses the screen, overlapping
and interrupting as you catch snatches of half conversations. It's
brilliant. It's not a new technique but it's brilliant. The cast, which
seems to include most of the British theatre stock, is uniformly good (with
Gambon, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith and Clive Owen as stand outs. In fact
there's a great scene where Owen manages to act Phillippe off screen proving
that pretty stars aren't always good at their job. But we knew that anyway).
Also the Charlie Chan subplot is fantastic, and Bob Balaban as the producer
is great - desperately trying to keep up with etiquette, but damn glad he
doesn't have to put up with this shit in Hollywood.
Where it falls down is the plot - the relationships between the characters
are great, but too much of the film hinges on handy plot devices which kick
in at just the right time. The result is a very well directed drama that
would be more at home on the TV screen than your local megaplex.
The Regus London Film Festival runs to the 22nd November. See you in the
stalls...
Vertigo
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gee, i made first?
gee, im goin to be a force to be reckoned with -
Nov 08, 2001 12:31:41 PM CST
What? Altman uses overlapping dialogue again?!? What a maveric
by lance rock
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I was at the premiere for Gosford Park last night and I have to say I thought it was thoroughly enjoyable.
The cast is uniformally excellent and particularily funny when taking the piss out of the Talented Mr. Phillipe's accent.
Trouble is it isn't an easy sell to your average Friday night cinema goer, do you want to watch a murder-mystery comedy/drama about the hypocrisy of the class system in 1930's England ? -
the original "player" is back. hell yeah. but "english toffs"? "toffs"? someone help the trans-atlantically retarded kid...anyone...?
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This movie deserves more kudos than this. In many ways, it's Altman's ultimate movie even though it's a British period piece/comedy of manners. I don't agree at all that it belongs on TV. It's beautifully photographed in widescreen & has a raw sensuous style that reminded me of McCabe & Mrs Miller at times. And the intricate camera work is decidedly cinematic not TVesque. And this cast is uniformly superb. Altman's been trying to make his own version of Rules of the Game for years & he has basically lifted major elements from that masterpiece to produce his own unique one. This movie also reminded me of Topsy Turvy in the way raw naturalism is tempered and disciplined by strict period demands and more precise language to produce fascinating, beautiful results. Yes, this movie demands close attention - but the nuances and rewards are extremely rich. I forgive Altman for Dr. T and Ready to Wear. He finally made another masterpiece since Short Cuts.
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This movie deserves more kudos than this. In many ways, it's Altman's ultimate movie even though it's a British period piece/comedy of manners. I don't agree at all that it belongs on TV. It's beautifully photographed in widescreen & has a raw sensuous style that reminded me of McCabe & Mrs Miller at times. And the intricate camera work is decidedly cinematic not TVesque. And this cast is uniformly superb. Altman's been trying to make his own version of Rules of the Game for years & he has basically lifted major elements from that masterpiece to produce his own unique one. This movie also reminded me of Topsy Turvy in the way raw naturalism is tempered and disciplined by strict period demands and more precise language to produce fascinating, beautiful results. Yes, this movie demands close attention - but the nuances and rewards are extremely rich. I forgive Altman for Dr. T and Ready to Wear. He finally made another masterpiece since Short Cuts.
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There's no way I'd pay to see anything produced by Robert Altman after the moronic remarks he made about the motion picture industry after Sept 11. His casting blame, in part, on action movies for what happened to the WTC is outrageous beyond belief. It's as bad or worse than Falwell blaming the aclu, gays, etc...But it was was self serving too because action flicks make money and the shit he makes nobody wants too see. He's jealous and wants more financing for his "cerebral" films. I really believe that's the motive behind his comments. It's really pathetic. And to use the victims of 911 to make a self serving comment is beyond disgusting. Statements like his just adds to the hysterical atmosphere about violent films, which could eventually lead to actual censorship. Its already created a chill for violent movies or anything that involves guns. I have lost all respect I ever had for him, if I ever had any to begin with. His movies are pretentious and boring anyhow. He's way, way, way overrated.
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I agree with omegaman. All his movies suck with the exception of Player, which didn't actually move at a snails pace or have boring ass characters. Mash, Nashville, Short cuts, all worthless unfunny pieces of shit. I can take long boring movies like 2001, but altman movies just induce homicidal thoughts. If Mash is supposed to be funny, then Deuce Bigalow is thus the funniest movie ever. Even Battlefield Earth is better than Nashville.
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This ia an excellent movie. But it helps if you like to see Jane Austin type drama with a lot more going on. The cast were superb, funny and touching. Maggie Smith, Richard E Grant and Stephen Fry were extremely funny. I had to agree that some of the plot points were a bit too obvious. (There is a shot of a photograph that lasts so long you think, "Oh, must be significant, eh?") On the whole, well worth your time if you like a fresh take on British period pieces.
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