Producers: Robert Altman, Bob Balaban, David Levy
Previous Best Film wins: None
The story: Told from the perspective of one innocent maid, Mary (Kelly MacDonald), the story starts as she arrives at the magnificent country estate of Gosford Park. On this particular weekend, host Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife, Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas), have invited an eclectic group to the house for a shooting party. The group includes a cantankerous aunt (Maggie Smith), British matinee idol Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), and his American friend, Morris Weisman (Bob Balaban), a film producer who makes Charlie Chan movies. As the upper-crust guests bicker about money and power, the lower ranks of servants, personal maids and valets below make sure their charges are well taken care of under the guidance of the head butler, Jennings (Alan Bates), and head housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren). Through Mary’s eyes, we see that the glamour of the upstairs patrons and the seeming precision downstairs are not all they seem. The two worlds are destined to collide, and when they do, it leads to only one thing–murder.
Oscar odds: Robert Altman (Nashville, Short Cuts) could be considered one of America’s most distinctive filmmakers. In Park, he journeys to England for the first time to create a unique film mosaic using an outstanding ensemble cast and a story idea he and Balaban dreamt up. One wonders if perhaps the two were inspired after watching an episode of the classic ’70s British television drama Upstairs, Downstairs (to which Gosford has frequently been compared), about a wealthy British household whose servants experienced just as much drama as the people they served. Park certainly has the stuff to make the Academy’s list–large British cast, period setting–but may not be strong enough to make it to the winner’s circle. —Kit Bowen
