Gosford Park

By EWAN McDONALD

(Herald rating: * * * * )

"What the Butler Saw" and all the other headlines from the past fortnight give a contemporary feel to this Oscar-nominated gem. Just as they hark back to the 1930s, evoking a Britain we thought had gone, so does Robert Altman's masterpiece.

As you think you're watching an Agatha Christie murder mystery - or maybe a spoof of one - Gosford Park becomes a dark comedy about selfishness, greed, snobbery, eccentricity and class exploitation.

In November 1932 Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and Lady Sylvia McCordle (Kristin Scott Thomas) have invited a shooting party to Gosford Park, their country estate. The party includes Sir William's sister, Constance (Maggie Smith), who lives on an allowance he is always threatening to cut, and Lady Sylvia's sister, Louisa (Geraldine Somerville). Louisa's husband is Commander Anthony Meredith (Tom Hollander). Another sister, Lavinia (Natasha Wightman), is married to Lord Stockbridge (Charles Dance).

Hollywood star Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam) is there and Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), a gay Hollywood producer, has brought along his "valet", Henry Denton (Ryan Phillippe).

"Below stairs" are the staff: the butler, Jennings (Alan Bates), the housekeeper, Mrs Wilson (Helen Mirren); the cook, Mrs Croft (Eileen Atkins); the footman, George (Richard E. Grant), assorted valets, maids, grooms and servants and A Dark Secret.

Everything runs along swimmingly until someone is poisoned, then stabbed, a murder which reveals unexpected connections between the classes, and introduces the suitably bumbling Inspector Thompson (Stephen Fry). Half the people have a motive but finding the killer isn't the point of Altman's tale.

Like his previous classics (think M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts), Altman prefers to take a large cast of unusual people and interweave their stories in a deeply layered, unfolding stream of events. Simply spiffing.

* DVD features: movie (137min); commentary: production designer Stephen Altman and producer David Levy prod Altman for his analysis of the film; Making of ... ; The Authenticity of Gosford Park: three former servants advise the actors; Q&A Session: spoiler warning, interviews with people who've seen the movie; deleted scenes; trailer.