Movies
The Age
Thursday October 29, 2009
Gosford Park (2001)Channel Seven, noonDIRECTOR Robert Altman's career is the iconic maverick success story of a man who willingly worked the artistic fringes but often had access to the full resources of Hollywood. Most uncanny of all, he had an ability to produce an occasional hit when all seemed lost. Coming near the end of his career, Gosford Park is one of his greatest successes. On the surface it is a classic English country house whodunit, but Altman's films rarely give the impression of being classical. In this case, critics enthusiastically extolled the fact the film spent more time downstairs than up, as if this were a rare or good thing, when British cinema (let alone television) has been obsessed with the downstairs for near on a century. And there is actually nothing radical in Altman's approach. The cast, for one, is totally predictable: Kristin Scott Thomas and Charles Dance (up) and Alan Bates and Emily Watson (down). Nor are the characters, written by Julian Fellowes (he won the Oscar for best original screenplay), surprising in any way. But there is a fair degree of wit on display and certainly enough bristling moments for a fine cast to have fun with. It is just disappointing there is so little narrative bravado. Altman was a conservative man and a conservative filmmaker. He just had a great gift for appearing to be at the cutting edge, usually by applying odd dabs of modernist stylistics. In Gosford Park, it is a camera that endlessly moves back and forward, with no connection to the drama. You'll either find it invigorating or downright annoying. SCOTT MURRAY
© 2009 The Age
