Regarding the upper class and the decline of the British aristocracy, this is the most subtle movie I have ever seen.
Although it involves a murder, it would be a big mistake to think it was a reasoning film. It can be said that the truth of the case in "Gosford Manor" is completely unconcealed. Not only did several close-ups emphasize the existence of poison at the beginning, but the identity of the murderer was also evident in the conversations and important opponents. It was so obvious that the murder had just happened. I guessed who the culprit was. But the movie won the Oscar for best original screenplay, of course, it was not the "bad" case design. Like "The Eight Beautiful Pictures", the murderer in this movie is just a "Mugffin". The focus is on the living beings of the upper and lower classes displayed here, as well as the ingenious metaphors and symbols behind it.
The time setting of "Gosford Manor" is after the First World War, which is crucial for understanding the film. Because it was after World War I that Britain began to experience the awakening of civilian consciousness and the progress of popular democracy, followed by the decline of the nobility, and Gosford Manor seemed to be the epitome of Britain at that time.
This is a typical group play movie with many characters, and the director did not deliberately explain the identity and relationship of each person from the beginning to the end, and can only rely on the audience to understand it from the lines, so if you don’t pay enough attention, you will It is entirely possible that the characters and their names are not matched at all. But the brilliance of this movie is that you don’t have to figure out the last name or the first name at all, because the name is not important. Their identity and class are the key to opening this movie.
At the beginning of the story, guests arrive at Gosford Manor one after another. In the chaos, the movie emphasizes this point: For all the servants of the guests, the manor servants will call them by the name of their owner to avoid confusion. This seems to be a metaphor, the solidification of classes is the cornerstone of the stable continuation of the British Empire. In fact, the structure of Gosford Manor is a huge symbol. The upper level is a place for aristocratic masters to socialize, and the lower level is an area for servants to work. It is a portrayal of other class divisions in the UK.
But this stable structure was shaken by two things. The first thing is the intrusion of Americans and the popular culture they represent. They not only broke into the upper class, but also broke into the lower class. In order to express this, the screenwriter's design is very clever. Hollywood producers are in the upper level, while servants posing as actors roam the lower level. They regarded the manor as a theme park where they could experience the life of the nobility, in order to make a movie with this theme. For the young United States, everything about the ancient British is novel, and it is also an existence that can be used to create illusions. So the Hollywood producer has been making overseas phone calls to discuss the upcoming film, and the plot that takes place is exactly the same as "Gosford Manor" itself.
But what makes people feel more meaningful is a section that Hollywood stars sang for everyone while playing the piano. In fact, before the First World War, European films were the mainstream of the world's movies, but after the First World War, with the decline of European countries, the popularity of Hollywood movies has become unstoppable, and the Hollywood starmaking movement has also flourished. Although the stars in the movie still need to act as entertainers for the nobles, it also implies that they are about to replace the nobles and become the objects of worship.
The second thing, of course, was the sudden murder. This uncomplicated case has two meanings. It is the servant who killed the master and the son who killed the father at the same time. The former represents class resistance, while the latter represents the subversion of authority. This is a metaphor with dual meanings. After the investigation of the case could not be resolved, everyone left as if nothing had happened. Gosford Manor seemed to be calm again, but in fact, the trend of decline was inevitable. The passing of the owner symbolizes the decline of the empire, and the tall and gloomy house of Gosford Manor has been sold or abandoned, and it also symbolizes the passing of the era of the British Empire and British aristocracy.
At the end of the song, sang: "Somewhere there's another land, different from this world below, far more mercifully planned than the cruel place we know", that another land clearly refers to the once aristocratic society and refers to Gauss The covetousness and glamour in Fu Manor are intertwined, ironically, what this movie shows is the ugliness and embarrassment behind it. Whether it is glamorous or nasty, it is just the imagination of the movie, because the world has long passed away, and the movie itself is nothing but a Hollywood creation. This level of self-referentiality and self-ridicule may be the "Gosford Manor" "The most pungent part.
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