7. Gosford Park (2001), dir. Robert Altman

[strange_complex]

IMDb page here. Watched at home with big_daz.

My third watching for this, I think. I'd been a bit confused about the plot the first time around, due to missing the first fifteen minutes, and not having a clue who everyone was. Not that seeing them would necessarily have helped all that much. Like the West Wing, it avoids exposition, and simply presents naturalistic dialogues, in an almost docu-drama type fashion. It's up to you to pick up who's who as you go along.

Anyway, having seen it a second time too, I pretty much had most people figured out this time, although had forgotten some names. So I was able to watch in full knowledge of how the plot would pan out, and the hidden secrets of all the characters. Which is a nice position to be in, as there's a lot of very charged scenes early on if you know what's going to happen later, and what's already been going on before the film begins. Mind you, big_daz, who was seeing it for the first time, didn't seem to be at any disadvantage. He was going 'ooh' and 'aha' at all the right moments, and basically had the whole thing figured out from about half-way through the film. Well done that man!

It's a very bleak film in many ways - especially in contrast to the episode of Jeeves & Wooster I watched while eating my lunch earlier today. Has left me feeling rather sad - but luckily Doctor Who exuberance is still bubbling up under there, so I think I'll live.

Comments

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

It's the way it plays with the country house murder mystery genre by making it all bluntly realistic instead of rose-tinted like most examples of it. And even having Maurice Wiseman (the Hollywood film producer) on the phone in the middle of it, saying he wants to make his Charlie Chan films more realistic! Excellent.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

... or Morris Weissman, as a look over the cast list tells me it is actually spelt.