Gosford Park

This past Friday I happened to catch the last hour and a half of one of my favorite movies, Gosford Park. I was first introduced to this film in my detective fiction class the first semester of my junior year. For another class that I had that same semester I was looking at the British Heritage film for my final paper and ended up watching the film again. I loved the film immediately and the second viewing just made that love even deeper. Gosford Park is a unique film that really makes the viewer focus on the story being told to them, which is probably why I was the only person in my detective fiction class to enjoy the film. What makes Gosford Park so interesting is the fact that there really is no main character that the film follows, it is a collection of stories and from this collection comes the main story. Think Crash without the storyline jumps and from the very beginning you understand how all the characters interact. Along with that aspect you have the always fun game of name that famous actor. This film is bursting with big name actors and actresses, Maggie Smith, Clive Owen, Stephen Fry, Ryan Phillipe, and many other faces you'll recognize. I love films that make you think and with each viewing you figure out something you hadn't before and that's exactly what Gosford Park does.

Gosford Park takes place in 1932 England during an aristocratic dinner party in the country. The film examines the different worlds of the downstairs and the upstairs. The upstairs world is the world of the of the aristocrats and their attempts to regain the power they have lost in the recent power change. Some of them solved this issue by marrying the nouveau riche and end up being miserable in their marriages. Others come up with ways of blackmailing those with money or businesses solutions that get turned down. Concerned with their own lives they fail to notice what is really going on and end up getting caught up in a mystery unknowingly. The second half of the equation of the film that makes it work out so well is the examination of the downstairs world. This is the world of the cooks, servants, and valets that make sure that the upstairs doesn't notice what really goes on underneath them. Along with knowing all of the gossip and secrets of the upstairs, they have their own secrets. When the host dies suddenly during the weekend outing, it is the downstairs world that figures out who did it and how. This film is an amazing look at how people think and the twisted relationships we create. It is definitely a film that deserves more than one look to fully appreciate the story it gives you.