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Gosford Park (2001)
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At his prime, during the 1970s, maverick director Robert Altman would take an established genre and turn it on its head — the war movie with MASH), the western with McCabe and Mrs Miller, the private-eye thriller with The Long Goodbye. With Gosford Park he was back and firing on all cylinders, imposing the same trick on the English country-house murder mystery. A huge cast of mostly British thespians — including Richard E Grant, Emily Watson, Kelly Macdonald and Clive Owen — fleshes out the part whodunnit, part Upstairs, Downstairs satire, while Altman assuredly presents the 1930s-set drama from the servants' perspective. The opening scene — when the guests and their maids and valets arrive at Gosford Park — is as good as anything Altman's done in 30 years: multilayered and impeccably choreographed. Meanwhile, the dramatic pace is maintained thanks to some sparkling dialogue — the acidic Oscar-winning script is by Monarch of the Glen actor Julian Fellowes — and fine performances. It has all the makings of a classic, but then Stephen Fry's bumbling detective arrives and a surfeit of irony defuses the exquisitely constructed mood. AC
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| Contains swearing, a sex scene. |
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Tell us what you think
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Running time
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131min
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Country of origin
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US / UK
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Genre
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Period Murder mystery
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Original language
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English
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Screenplay
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Julian Fellowes, from an idea by Robert Altman, Bob Balaban
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Theatrical distributor
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Entertainment
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UK cinema certificate
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15
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UK cinema release date
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February 2002
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| awards information |
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Award |
Category |
Name |
Nominee/Winner |
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| Academy 2001 |
Actress in a Supporting Role |
Maggie Smith |
Nominee |
| Academy 2001 |
Actress in a Supporting Role |
Helen Mirren |
Nominee |
| Academy 2001 |
Best Picture |
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Nominee |
| Academy 2001 |
Directing |
Robert Altman |
Nominee |
| Academy 2001 |
Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) |
Julian Fellowes |
Winner |
| British Academy Film Awards 2001 |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role |
Helen Mirren |
Nominee |
| British Academy Film Awards 2001 |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role |
Maggie Smith |
Nominee |
| British Academy Film Awards 2001 |
Best Screenplay (Original) |
Julian Fellowes |
Nominee |
| British Academy Film Awards 2001 |
The Alexander Korda Award for the Outstanding British Film of the Year |
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Winner |
| British Academy Film Awards 2001 |
The David Lean Award for the Best Achievement in Direction |
Robert Altman |
Nominee |
| Golden Globe 2001 |
Best Director Motion Picture |
Robert Altman |
Winner |
| Golden Globe 2001 |
Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical |
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Nominee |
| Golden Globe 2001 |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Motion Picture |
Helen Mirren |
Nominee |
| Golden Globe 2001 |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Motion Picture |
Maggie Smith |
Nominee |
| Golden Globe 2001 |
Best Screenplay Motion Picture |
Julian Fellowes |
Nominee |
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Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC |
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