QUEUED UP: Robert Altman's Gosford Park

Starring Dame Maggie as a sharp-tongued countess, Gosford Parkcombines its intricate class study with an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery.

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QUEUED UP: Robert Altman's Gosford Park

POSTED: Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Movies

Movie critic (and the guy who compiles our weekly repertory film listings) Michael Gold reviews his favorite Netflix Instant flick of the week.

Whether by Twitter, Tumblr or text message, all you hear from TV-lovin’ couch potatoes these days is Downton Abbey this, Downton Abbey that. Maggie Smith is on more lips than Miley Cyrus, and PBS has achieved a newfound relevance more shocking than the meteoric rise of an Asian-American Harvard grad in the NBA. Despite the efforts of many a critic, Generation Me’s obsession with an Edwardian costume drama remains largely unexplained.

Truth be told, I don’t find Downton diphtheria (think Bieber fever for people with discerning taste) so surprising. Especially since it was only 11 years ago that Robert Altman tapped into America’s hidden love for the British gentry when he released Gosford Park. Also starring Dame Maggie as a sharp-tongued countess, Gosford Park combines its intricate class study with an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. Gorgeous camerawork immerses viewers in a lush country estate, making us flies on the wall as upstairs-downstairs tensions boil and the quarrels of the highborn unfold. Though the first season of Downton is streaming on Netflix as well, Gosford Park’s biting take on the supposed travails of the wealthy makes it well worth a watch.

Read City Paper film critic Sam Adam’s review here.

(michael.gold@citypaper.net) (@migold)

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