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107-451: Gosford Park is a 2001 satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes . The film, which is influenced by Jean Renoir 's French classic The Rules of the Game , follows a party of wealthy Britons plus an American producer, and their servants, who gather for a shooting weekend at Gosford Park, an English country house . A murder occurs after

214-406: A false cut . When the contiguous section is taken from the middle of the deck this is called "Scarne's cut," after John Scarne who developed it during World War II to help protect servicemen against cheating by unscrupulous dealers. . This style of cut is against the rules or considered poor etiquette in some settings. Multiple consecutive standard cuts are equivalent to a single cut the size of

321-506: A cheque, which he angrily tears up when confronted by Mabel. Inspector Thompson releases the guests without interviewing most of the staff. Mary deduces that Lord Stockbridge's valet is the killer. When she confronts Parks, he reveals that he is the illegitimate son of Sir William and that his mother was one of his factory workers who died soon after Sir William turned him over to an orphanage. It also becomes clear that since Parks did not poison Sir William, he must already have been dead when he

428-401: A contiguous group of cards off the top of the deck and places it face down on the table, off of the deck. The dealer then completes the cut by placing the original bottom portion of the deck on top of this lifted group of cards. Once the cut is complete, the dealer picks up the deck, straightens or "squares" it, and deals the cards. Rules of this procedure may vary concerning who makes the cut,

535-515: A dinner party, and the film goes on to present the subsequent investigation from the servants' and guests' perspectives. The film stars an ensemble cast , which includes Eileen Atkins , Bob Balaban , Alan Bates , Charles Dance , Stephen Fry , Michael Gambon , Richard E. Grant , Derek Jacobi , Kelly Macdonald , Helen Mirren , Jeremy Northam , Clive Owen , Ryan Phillippe , Maggie Smith , Kristin Scott Thomas , and Emily Watson . The film

642-417: A far more obviously extreme and unrealistic tale, involving interplanetary exploration, war among alien life forms, and life inside a 200 mile long whale back in the terrestrial ocean, all intended to make obvious the fallacies of books like Indica and The Odyssey . Medieval Arabic poetry included the satiric genre hija . Satire was introduced into Arabic prose literature by the author Al-Jahiz in

749-403: A feature film before, received a telephone call from Altman, who asked him to come up with some characters and stories. Fellowes was given a brief outline of the film: it was to be "set in a country house in the '30s and to have a murder in there somewhere, but for it to really be an examination of class." Altman also wanted the film to explore the three groups of people: the family, the guests, and

856-595: A friend for a book to understand Athenian society, referred him to the plays of Aristophanes . Historically, satire has satisfied the popular need to debunk and ridicule the leading figures in politics, economy, religion and other prominent realms of power . Satire confronts public discourse and the collective imaginary , playing as a public opinion counterweight to power (be it political, economic, religious, symbolic, or otherwise), by challenging leaders and authorities. For instance, it forces administrations to clarify, amend or establish their policies. Satire's job

963-542: A list of actors he intended to appear in the film before it was cast formally. The film's casting director was Mary Selway , whom producer David Levy described as knowing many British actors. Very few actors who were offered parts did not end up in the film. Jude Law dropped out of the production just before the shoot began, and he was replaced by Ryan Phillippe . Kenneth Branagh and Robert Bathurst were both tied down by scheduling conflicts. Alan Rickman , Joely Richardson and Judi Dench were also considered for roles in

1070-497: A means of expression and an outlet for common people to express their anger against authoritarian entities. A popular custom in Northern India of "Bura na mano Holi hai" continues, in which comedians on the stage mock local people of importance (who are usually brought in as special guests). Cut (cards)#Other uses The practice of cutting is primarily a method of reducing the likelihood of someone cheating by manipulating

1177-457: A movie of this style." On 26 November 2018, Arrow Films released a newly restored 2K remaster, taken from a 4K print of Gosford Park , on Limited Edition Blu-ray in the UK. In its limited release opening weekend, the film grossed $ 241,219, hitting No. 23 in the box office that weekend. In its wide release, it grossed $ 3,395,759; by the end of its run on 6 June 2002, Gosford Park grossed $ 41,308,615 in

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1284-560: A noun enters the domain of metaphor, as one modern scholar has pointed out, it clamours for extension; and satura (which had had no verbal, adverbial, or adjectival forms) was immediately broadened by appropriation from the Greek word for "satyr" (satyros) and its derivatives. The odd result is that the English "satire" comes from the Latin satura; but "satirize", "satiric", etc., are of Greek origin. By about

1391-418: A picture using a name, that's its name. It's not a gripping title. But then M*A*S*H wasn't either." Fellowes says the screenplay was "not an homage to Agatha Christie , but a reworking of that genre." Fellowes was credited not only as the film's writer but as a technical advisor as well, meaning he wrote portions of the film as it was being produced. He notes that in certain large scenes with many characters,

1498-844: A production budget of $ 19.8 million. Gosford Park premiered on 7 November 2001 at the London Film Festival . It received a limited release across cinemas in the United States in December 2001, before being widely released in January 2002 by USA Films . It was released in February 2002 in the United Kingdom. The film was successful at the box office , grossing over $ 87 million in cinemas worldwide, making it Altman's second-most successful film after M*A*S*H . Widely acclaimed by critics, Gosford Park

1605-621: A prominent role in Indian and Hindi literature , and is counted as one of the " ras " of literature in ancient books. With the commencement of printing of books in local language in the nineteenth century and especially after India's freedom, this grew. Many of the works of Tulsi Das , Kabir , Munshi Premchand , village minstrels, Hari katha singers, poets, Dalit singers and current day stand up Indian comedians incorporate satire, usually ridiculing authoritarians, fundamentalists and incompetent people in power. In India, it has usually been used as

1712-414: A revival of the manor house mystery style, popularised by the writings of Agatha Christie , in the screenplay for Gosford Park . He called it a blend between this literary style and that of the 19th century novel . Bob Balaban, an actor and producer for Gosford Park , says that the idea of creating a murder mystery told by the servants in the manor was an interesting one for him and Altman. Themes from

1819-598: A silver carving knife is missing. Henry Denton, Weissman's valet, raises the staff's suspicions with intrusive questions and a seemingly Scottish accent (which Mary, Scottish herself, sees through). Later that evening, Henry has a tryst with Lady Sylvia. Isobel asks Elsie to speak to Sir William about hiring Freddie, who is blackmailing Isobel over their affair and her aborted pregnancy. Freddie mistreats Mabel, whom he married for her money but overestimated her wealth. Lady Trentham confides to Mary that Sylvia and Louisa cut cards to decide which of them would marry Sir William. When

1926-406: A slightly different image of the players on stage. Richard E. Grant commented that having two cameras moving at any one time meant that none of the actors knew when the cameras were focused on them. As a result, the actors had to stay "completely in character, completely in the moment, and interact with everybody in a way that felt as close to real life as you could possibly conjure up." Andrew Dunn ,

2033-416: A society and a way of life on the verge of extinction", placing the interwar setting as an integral part of the film's class study. However, he notes that because Altman is an independent observer of the society he portrays in the film, it does not have the biting qualities of his previous social commentaries such as Short Cuts , set in the director's home country of the United States. Jonathan Rosenbaum in

2140-419: A standalone property inspired by the film, and set earlier in the 20th century (from 1912 to the mid-1920s). In 1932, Sir William McCordle, his wife Lady Sylvia, and their daughter Isobel host a shooting party at their country estate, Gosford Park. Among the guests are Sylvia's sisters Louisa and Lavinia, and their husbands Lord Stockbridge and Commander Anthony Meredith; her aunt Constance, Countess of Trentham;

2247-508: A whodunit. Altman wanted to create an Agatha Christie –like country house murder mystery that explored that way of life; he called the film a "classic situation: all suspects under one roof". Altman was also inspired by the 1930s films The Rules of the Game and Charlie Chan in London . Altman chose British actor and writer Julian Fellowes to write the screenplay, because Fellowes knew how country houses operated. Fellowes, who had never written

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2354-415: Is an apotropaic rite in which the sin-eater (also called filth-eater), by ingesting the food provided, takes "upon himself the sins of the departed". Satire about death overlaps with black humor and gallows humor . Another classification by topics is the distinction between political satire, religious satire and satire of manners. Political satire is sometimes called topical satire, satire of manners

2461-592: Is an enclave in which satire can be introduced into mass media , challenging mainstream discourse. Comedy roasts , mock festivals, and stand-up comedians in nightclubs and concerts are the modern forms of ancient satiric rituals. One of the earliest examples of what might be called satire, The Satire of the Trades , is in Egyptian writing from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The text's apparent readers are students, tired of studying. It argues that their lot as scribes

2568-502: Is an international co-production of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy. Development on Gosford Park began in 1999, when Bob Balaban asked Altman if they could develop a film together. Balaban suggested an Agatha Christie –style whodunit and introduced Altman to Julian Fellowes, with whom Balaban had been working on a different project. The film went into production in March 2001, and began filming at Shepperton Studios with

2675-505: Is common in modern society. A Horatian satirist's goal is to heal the situation with smiles, rather than by anger. Horatian satire is a gentle reminder to take life less seriously and evokes a wry smile. Juvenalian satire, named for the writings of the Roman satirist Juvenal (late first century – early second century AD), is more contemptuous and abrasive than the Horatian. Juvenal disagreed with

2782-515: Is found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, music , film and television shows, and media such as lyrics. The word satire comes from the Latin word satur and the subsequent phrase lanx satura . Satur meant "full", but the juxtaposition with lanx shifted the meaning to "miscellany or medley": the expression lanx satura literally means "a full dish of various kinds of fruits". The use of

2889-575: Is not an essential component of satire; in fact, there are types of satire that are not meant to be "funny" at all. Conversely, not all humour, even on such topics as politics, religion or art is necessarily "satirical", even when it uses the satirical tools of irony, parody, and burlesque . Even light-hearted satire has a serious "after-taste": the organizers of the Ig Nobel Prize describe this as "first make people laugh, and then make them think". Satire and irony in some cases have been regarded as

2996-406: Is not only useful, but far superior to that of the ordinary man. Scholars such as Helck think that the context was meant to be serious. The Papyrus Anastasi I (late 2nd millennium BC) contains a satirical letter which first praises the virtues of its recipient, but then mocks the reader's meagre knowledge and achievements. The Greeks had no word for what later would be called "satire", although

3103-453: Is often pessimistic, characterized by the use of irony, sarcasm, moral indignation and personal invective, with less emphasis on humor. Strongly polarized political satire can often be classified as Juvenalian. A Juvenal satirist's goal is generally to provoke some sort of political or societal change because he sees his opponent or object as evil or harmful. A Juvenal satirist mocks "societal structure, power, and civilization" by exaggerating

3210-460: Is sometimes called satire of everyday life, and religious satire is sometimes called philosophical satire. Comedy of manners , sometimes also called satire of manners, criticizes mode of life of common people; political satire aims at behavior, manners of politicians, and vices of political systems. Historically, comedy of manners, which first appeared in British theater in 1620, has uncritically accepted

3317-427: Is strong irony or sarcasm —"in satire, irony is militant ", according to literary critic Northrop Frye — but parody , burlesque , exaggeration , juxtaposition , comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question. Satire

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3424-552: Is the reactionary side of the comic ; it limits itself to a shallow parody of physical appearance. The side-effect of teasing is that it humanizes and draws sympathy for the powerful individual towards which it is directed. Satire instead uses the comic to go against power and its oppressions, has a subversive character, and a moral dimension which draws judgement against its targets. Fo formulated an operational criterion to tell real satire from sfottò , saying that real satire arouses an outraged and violent reaction, and that

3531-574: Is the first to define this concept of Yuyan. During the Qin and Han dynasty, however, the concept of yuyan mostly died out through their heavy persecution of dissent and literary circles, especially by Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi . The first Roman to discuss satire critically was Quintilian , who invented the term to describe the writings of Gaius Lucilius . The two most prominent and influential ancient Roman satirists are Horace and Juvenal , who wrote during

3638-587: Is the star of Gosford Park " and that the film's cinematography is used as an aid to its storytelling. Michael Phillips placed Gosford Park at number nine on his list of Best Films of the Decade. The film was placed at 82 on Slant Magazine 's list of best films of the 2000s. Gosford Park was nominated for 61 different awards following its release, winning 25 of them. There were seven nominations for Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director , both of which it lost to A Beautiful Mind ); Fellowes won

3745-405: Is to expose problems and contradictions, and it is not obligated to solve them. Karl Kraus set in the history of satire a prominent example of a satirist role as confronting public discourse. For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions. The satiric impulse, and its ritualized expressions, carry out

3852-500: The 8th Screen Actors Guild Awards Mirren won 'Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role' and the ensemble cast collectively won 'Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture'. The film won four more 'Best Cast' awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association , Florida Film Critics Circle , and Online Film Critics Society . Fellowes received recognition for the film's screenplay from

3959-598: The Best Original Screenplay . At the 55th British Academy Film Awards , the film was nominated for nine British Academy awards, winning Best British Film and Best Costume Design ( Jenny Beavan ). Mirren, Smith and Watson were all nominated for Best European Actress at the European Film Awards . The film received five nominations at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ; Altman won the Award for 'Best Director'. At

4066-455: The Chicago Reader called it a masterpiece. Gosford Park ' s cinematography was a focus of several critics. CNN 's Paul Clinton praised Andrew Dunn's camera work, describing it as "lush and rich; the camera glides up and down the stairs of the grand estate, the period look is beautifully crafted." Ed Gonzalez of the online publication Slant Magazine writes that "Altman's camera

4173-612: The Early Middle Ages , examples of satire were the songs by Goliards or vagants now best known as an anthology called Carmina Burana and made famous as texts of a composition by the 20th-century composer Carl Orff . Satirical poetry is believed to have been popular, although little has survived. With the advent of the High Middle Ages and the birth of modern vernacular literature in the 12th century, it began to be used again, most notably by Chaucer . The disrespectful manner

4280-734: The Renaissance were Giovanni Boccaccio and François Rabelais . Other examples of Renaissance satire include Till Eulenspiegel , Reynard the Fox , Sebastian Brant 's Narrenschiff (1494), Erasmus 's Moriae Encomium (1509), Thomas More 's Utopia (1516), and Carajicomedia (1519). The Elizabethan (i.e. 16th-century English) writers thought of satire as related to the notoriously rude, coarse and sharp satyr play. Elizabethan "satire" (typically in pamphlet form) therefore contains more straightforward abuse than subtle irony. The French Huguenot Isaac Casaubon pointed out in 1605 that satire in

4387-556: The Resaleh-ye Delgosha , as well as Akhlaq al-Ashraf ("Ethics of the Aristocracy") and the famous humorous fable Masnavi Mush-O-Gorbeh (Mouse and Cat), which was a political satire. His non-satirical serious classical verses have also been regarded as very well written, in league with the other great works of Persian literature . Between 1905 and 1911, Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi and other Iranian writers wrote notable satires. In

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4494-663: The Sharia " and later Arabic poets in turn using the term "Farazdaq-like" as a form of political satire. The terms " comedy " and "satire" became synonymous after Aristotle 's Poetics was translated into Arabic in the medieval Islamic world , where it was elaborated upon by Islamic philosophers and writers, such as Abu Bischr, his pupil Al-Farabi , Avicenna , and Averroes . Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as hija (satirical poetry). They viewed comedy as simply

4601-740: The Writers Guild of America , where he won the Best Original Screenplay award. The film's score composer, Patrick Doyle , received two nominations for his work. Doyle was nominated for Composer of the Year from the American Film Institute and he won the award for Soundtrack Composer of the Year from the World Soundtrack Awards . Satire Satire is a genre of the visual , literary , and performing arts , usually in

4708-624: The "art of reprehension", and made no reference to light and cheerful events, or troubled beginnings and happy endings, associated with classical Greek comedy. After the Latin translations of the 12th century , the term "comedy" thus gained a new semantic meaning in Medieval literature . Ubayd Zakani introduced satire in Persian literature during the 14th century. His work is noted for its satire and obscene verses, often political or bawdy, and often cited in debates involving homosexual practices. He wrote

4815-461: The 4th century AD the writer of satires came to be known as satyricus; St. Jerome, for example, was called by one of his enemies 'a satirist in prose' ('satyricus scriptor in prosa'). Subsequent orthographic modifications obscured the Latin origin of the word satire: satura becomes satyra, and in England, by the 16th century, it was written 'satyre.' The word satire derives from satura , and its origin

4922-450: The 9th century. While dealing with serious topics in what are now known as anthropology , sociology and psychology , he introduced a satirical approach, "based on the premise that, however serious the subject under review, it could be made more interesting and thus achieve greater effect, if only one leavened the lump of solemnity by the insertion of a few amusing anecdotes or by the throwing out of some witty or paradoxical observations. He

5029-470: The Hon. Freddie and Mabel Nesbitt; actor Ivor Novello and American film producer Morris Weissman. Lord Rupert Standish and Jeremy Blond arrive later. Mrs Wilson, the housekeeper, assigns the visiting servants to their rooms and overhears Robert Parks, Lord Stockbridge's valet, mention being raised in an orphanage. Head housemaid Elsie tutors Lady Trentham's inexperienced maid, Mary MacEachran. Following dinner,

5136-420: The Roman fashion was something altogether more civilised. Casaubon discovered and published Quintilian's writing and presented the original meaning of the term (satira, not satyr), and the sense of wittiness (reflecting the "dishfull of fruits") became more important again. Seventeenth-century English satire once again aimed at the "amendment of vices" ( Dryden ). In the 1590s a new wave of verse satire broke with

5243-432: The actors were left room to improvise. Arthur Inch, the retired butler of Sir Richard and Lady Kleinwort , was the consultant on correct procedures and arrangements for dining on the set. Inch is credited as "Butler" immediately before Altman as Director in the final credits. Ruth Mott was the consultant for the kitchen, and Violet Liddle for the parlour maids. In Gosford Park , as in many of his other films, Altman had

5350-450: The aim of humanizing his image. Types of satire can also be classified according to the topics it deals with. From the earliest times, at least since the plays of Aristophanes , the primary topics of literary satire have been politics , religion and sex . This is partly because these are the most pressing problems that affect anybody living in a society, and partly because these topics are usually taboo . Among these, politics in

5457-403: The bottom of the deck. When the dealer is not a player (i.e. a casino employee), the cut is mandatory and usually performed by the dealer. Rules may specify that at least three cards be taken or left in making a cut. Multiple cuts may also be allowed. According to Parlett, a sensible minimum cut size is about one-fifth of the deck. A cut should be completed with one hand to limit possibility of

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5564-416: The broader sense is considered the pre-eminent topic of satire. Satire which targets the clergy is a type of political satire , while religious satire is that which targets religious beliefs . Satire on sex may overlap with blue comedy , off-color humor and dick jokes . Scatology has a long literary association with satire, as it is a classical mode of the grotesque , the grotesque body and

5671-419: The chest. After the body is discovered, bumbling Inspector Thompson and competent Constable Dexter arrive to investigate. It is discovered that Sir William was poisoned before being stabbed. Mrs Croft, the head cook, tells her staff about Sir William's history of seducing his female factory workers; those who became pregnant were forced to give their babies up for adoption or lose their jobs. Isobel gives Freddie

5778-414: The designated player can decline the request. A player may request to cut the cards before they are dealt, and if a cut is requested, it should be granted by the dealer. In formal settings, an offer by the dealer to cut the deck is mandatory and the designated player must perform the cut, generally by inserting a cut card into the deck, after which the dealer completes the cut, leaving the cut card covering

5885-531: The domestic box office and a worldwide total of $ 87,754,044. With that final total, Gosford Park became Altman's second-most successful film at the box office after his 1970 film M*A*S*H . Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87% of 165 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "A mixture of Upstairs, Downstairs ; Clue ; and perceptive social commentary, Gosford Park ranks among director Altman's best." Metacritic assigned

5992-439: The dominant opinions and "philosophical beliefs of ancient Rome and Greece". Rather than writing in harsh or accusing tones, he addressed issues with humor and clever mockery. Horatian satire follows this same pattern of "gently [ridiculing] the absurdities and follies of human beings". It directs wit, exaggeration, and self-deprecating humour toward what it identifies as folly, rather than evil. Horatian satire's sympathetic tone

6099-713: The dual cameras used were generally located in the same areas when filming, instead of the more standard method of setting up a scene directly. Patrick Doyle composed the film's score. Doyle said that it can take him up to six months to create a film score, but Altman asked him to write and compose the music for Gosford Park in less than five weeks. Doyle recorded the soundtrack at the London Air-Edel Recording Studios in October 2001. The soundtrack also features six original songs by composer and playwright, Ivor Novello . Jeremy Northam, who plays Novello, sings five of

6206-516: The early days of the Roman Empire . Other important satirists in ancient Latin are Gaius Lucilius and Persius . Satire in their work is much wider than in the modern sense of the word, including fantastic and highly coloured humorous writing with little or no real mocking intent. When Horace criticized Augustus , he used veiled ironic terms. In contrast, Pliny reports that the 6th-century-BC poet Hipponax wrote satirae that were so cruel that

6313-483: The early modern period. The dutch translation Van den vos Reynaerde is considered a major medieval dutch literary work. In the dutch version De Vries argues that the animal characters represent barons who conspired against the Count of Flanders. Direct social commentary via satire returned in the 16th century, when texts such as the works of François Rabelais tackled more serious issues. Two major satirists of Europe in

6420-510: The fashion was brought to an abrupt stop by censorship. Another satiric genre to emerge around this time was the satirical almanac , with François Rabelais 's work Pantagrueline Prognostication (1532), which mocked astrological predictions. The strategies François utilized within this work were employed by later satirical almanacs, such as the Poor Robin series that spanned the 17th to 19th centuries. Satire ( Kataksh or Vyang ) has played

6527-509: The film a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Roger Ebert awarded it his four out of four stars, describing the story as "such a joyous and audacious achievement it deserves comparison with his [Robert Altman's] very best movies." Ebert specifically noted a quality of the film that many Altman films share: a focus on character rather than plot. Emanuel Levy gave Gosford Park an A minus rating, describing one of its themes as "illuminating

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6634-557: The film takes a subtle look at sexual mores during the 1930s. As it is set in 1932, between the world wars , the impact of the First World War is explored in the film's screenplay. It mentions the decline of the British Empire and the peerage system. Writing for PopMatters , Cynthia Fuchs described surface appearances, rather than complex interpersonal relationships, as a theme of the film. Salon.com critic Steven Johnson notes

6741-508: The film were picked up and integrated into the series Downton Abbey by Julian Fellowes. Maggie Smith starred again in her role as a dowager countess, this time her title not being Trentham but Grantham ; the family are related to the Marquess (rather than the Earl) of Flintshire. In 1999, Bob Balaban asked Robert Altman if there were something they could develop together, and Altman suggested

6848-445: The film would receive insurance. The film was shot with two cameras, both moving perpetually in opposite directions. The cameras pointed toward no specific area, intended to cause the audience to move their eyes throughout the scene. Altman notes that most of the film's cast had experience in theatre and in film, meaning they had acted in situations where the view of the audience is not on one specific actor, and each audience member sees

6955-406: The film's cinematographer , appreciated the co-operative nature of Gosford Park ' s filming process. He shot the film on Kodak Vision Expression 500T film stock generally with two Panavision cameras, using lighting ranging from relatively dim candles to bright hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide lamps . Editor Tim Squyres described the editing process on Gosford Park as an unusual one, as

7062-512: The film. The cast is notable for featuring two knights (Michael Gambon and Derek Jacobi) and two dames (Eileen Atkins and Maggie Smith). Three other members of the cast (Alan Bates, Helen Mirren and Kristin Scott Thomas) were later elevated to that status. Filming was conducted at Wrotham Park for the exteriors, staircase, dining room and drawing room, and Syon House for the upstairs bedrooms. The opening sequence outside Lady Trentham's home

7169-591: The form of anecdotes that made fun of Soviet political leaders, especially Brezhnev , famous for his narrow-mindedness and love for awards and decorations. Satire is a diverse genre which is complex to classify and define, with a wide range of satiric "modes". Satirical literature can commonly be categorized as either Horatian, Juvenalian, or Menippean . Horatian satire, named for the Roman satirist Horace (65–8 BCE), playfully criticizes some social vice through gentle, mild, and light-hearted humour. Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) wrote Satires to gently ridicule

7276-496: The form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction , in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism , using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. A prominent feature of satire

7383-419: The function of resolving social tension. Institutions like the ritual clowns , by giving expression to the antisocial tendencies , represent a safety valve which re-establishes equilibrium and health in the collective imaginary , which are jeopardized by the repressive aspects of society . The state of political satire in a given society reflects the tolerance or intolerance that characterizes it, and

7490-598: The larger community the self identifies with. The audience's understanding of the context of reflexive humour is important for its receptivity and success. Satire is found not only in written literary forms. In preliterate cultures it manifests itself in ritual and folk forms, as well as in trickster tales and oral poetry . It appears also in graphic arts, music, sculpture, dance, cartoon strips , and graffiti . Examples are Dada sculptures, Pop Art works, music of Gilbert and Sullivan and Erik Satie , punk and rock music . In modern media culture , stand-up comedy

7597-458: The limits on her inheritance. Lady Trentham and Lady Sylvia discuss Mrs Croft and Mrs Wilson's long-standing feud, and Lady Sylvia reveals that Mrs Wilson's surname used to be Parks. Mary speaks to Mrs Wilson, who admits that she and Mrs Croft are sisters and both had children by Sir William while working at his factory. Mrs Croft kept her baby and lost her job, though the child died in infancy, while Mrs Wilson gave up Robert (Parks). Realizing Parks

7704-436: The men go shooting, a stray shot grazes Sir William's ear. The ladies join them for lunch, and Sir William withdraws from Anthony's business scheme, leaving him financially ruined. Lady Sylvia informs her aunt Constance that Sir William may halt her allowance. During dinner, Lady Sylvia berates Sir William and Elsie comes to his defence, inadvertently exposing their affair. After dinner, Sir William retires alone to his study for

7811-404: The minimum or maximum number of cards which may be lifted off the top of the deck, whether the dealer or the cutter restacks the cards, whether a cut card is employed, whether a cut is mandatory or the cutter may opt not to cut (typically by tapping the top of the pack or the table) and more. During informal card games , the dealer is typically not required to offer the cut, and even if offered,

7918-725: The more they try to stop you, the better is the job you are doing. Fo contends that, historically, people in positions of power have welcomed and encouraged good-humoured buffoonery, while modern day people in positions of power have tried to censor, ostracize and repress satire. Teasing ( sfottò ) is an ancient form of simple buffoonery , a form of comedy without satire's subversive edge. Teasing includes light and affectionate parody, good-humoured mockery, simple one-dimensional poking fun, and benign spoofs. Teasing typically consists of an impersonation of someone monkeying around with his exterior attributes, tics , physical blemishes, voice and mannerisms, quirks, way of dressing and walking, and/or

8025-438: The most effective source to understand a society, the oldest form of social study. They provide the keenest insights into a group's collective psyche , reveal its deepest values and tastes, and the society's structures of power. Some authors have regarded satire as superior to non-comic and non-artistic disciplines like history or anthropology . In a prominent example from ancient Greece , philosopher Plato , when asked by

8132-410: The offended hanged themselves. In the 2nd century AD, Lucian wrote True History , a book satirizing the clearly unrealistic travelogues/adventures written by Ctesias , Iambulus , and Homer . He states that he was surprised they expected people to believe their lies, and stating that he, like them, has no actual knowledge or experience, but shall now tell lies as if he did. He goes on to describe

8239-671: The opinions of the public figures and institutions of the Republic and actively attacked them through his literature. "He utilized the satirical tools of exaggeration and parody to make his targets appear monstrous and incompetent". Juvenal's satire follows this same pattern of abrasively ridiculing societal structures. Juvenal also, unlike Horace, attacked public officials and governmental organizations through his satires, regarding their opinions as not just wrong, but evil. Following in this tradition, Juvenalian satire addresses perceived social evil through scorn, outrage, and savage ridicule. This form

8346-401: The order of cards to gain an advantage. Even if the dealer (or the shuffler, if they are not the dealer) does not plan on cheating, cutting will prevent suspicions, thus many rules require it. Some players also consider the cut to be lucky . David Parlett says the purpose of cutting is to prevent the bottom card from being known. A secondary purpose is as a form of drawing lots whereby all

8453-410: The other. Max Eastman defined the spectrum of satire in terms of "degrees of biting", as ranging from satire proper at the hot-end, and "kidding" at the violet-end; Eastman adopted the term kidding to denote what is just satirical in form, but is not really firing at the target. Nobel laureate satirical playwright Dario Fo pointed out the difference between satire and teasing ( sfottò ). Teasing

8560-477: The phrases he typically repeats. By contrast, teasing never touches on the core issue, never makes a serious criticism judging the target with irony ; it never harms the target's conduct, ideology and position of power; it never undermines the perception of his morality and cultural dimension. Sfottò directed towards a powerful individual makes him appear more human and draws sympathy towards him. Hermann Göring propagated jests and jokes against himself, with

8667-420: The picture quality, noting excellence in the shots' detail and sharpness and the lack of compression artefacts , but describing an unfavourable darkness to scenes filmed within the manor house. Both reviewers commented positively on the film's score and soundtrack. Gonzalez wrote that " Gosford Park sounds amazing for a film so dialogue-dependent" and Mack that "the audio transfer is about as good as it can get on

8774-429: The players cut the pack before the game starts and reveal the card at the bottom of the lifted packett to determine initial conditions of the game such as seating, partnerships, and the first dealer. The card rankings applied for this purpose may differ from that used for the rules of the game, e.g. with Aces low, as follows: Joker–A–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–J–Q–K. Alternatively the shuffled pack is often fanned, face down, on

8881-543: The publication of Hall 's Virgidemiarum , six books of verse satires targeting everything from literary fads to corrupt noblemen. Although Donne had already circulated satires in manuscript, Hall's was the first real attempt in English at verse satire on the Juvenalian model. The success of his work combined with a national mood of disillusion in the last years of Elizabeth's reign triggered an avalanche of satire—much of it less conscious of classical models than Hall's — until

8988-455: The rest of the evening, where Mrs Wilson brings him coffee. The guests gather in the drawing room as Novello plays the piano and sings, with the servants listening outside; Freddie, Anthony, Robert, and footman George each slip away. A man, seen only by his trousers, puts on muddy galoshes left by one of the shooting party. The man enters the library with the missing carving knife and, finding Sir William seemingly asleep in his chair, stabs him in

9095-492: The satiric grotesque. Shit plays a fundamental role in satire because it symbolizes death , the turd being "the ultimate dead object". The satirical comparison of individuals or institutions with human excrement , exposes their "inherent inertness, corruption and dead-likeness". The ritual clowns of clown societies , like among the Pueblo Indians , have ceremonies with filth-eating . In other cultures, sin-eating

9202-524: The servants. Of the call, Fellowes said, "All the way through I thought this can't be happening—a 50-year-old fat balding actor is phoned up by an American movie director—but I did work as if it was going to happen." The original title of the film was The Other Side of the Tapestry, but Altman thought it was awkward. Fellowes began looking through some books and came up with Gosford Park. Altman said: "Nobody liked it, everyone fought me on it. But when you make

9309-489: The social code of the upper classes. Comedy in general accepts the rules of the social game, while satire subverts them. Another analysis of satire is the spectrum of his possible tones : wit , ridicule , irony , sarcasm , cynicism , the sardonic and invective . The type of humour that deals with creating laughter at the expense of the person telling the joke is called reflexive humour. Reflexive humour can take place at dual levels of directing humour at self or at

9416-422: The songs and his brother, Christopher, accompanies him on the piano. Christopher also performs one Novello song as a piano solo. The soundtrack was released on 15 January 2002. Gosford Park premiered on 7 November 2001 at the London Film Festival . The film then received a limited release across cinemas in the United States on 26 December 2001, before being widely released in January 2002 by USA Films . It

9523-557: The state of civil liberties and human rights . Under totalitarian regimes any criticism of a political system, and especially satire, is suppressed. A typical example is the Soviet Union where the dissidents , such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were under strong pressure from the government. While satire of everyday life in the USSR was allowed, the most prominent satirist being Arkady Raikin , political satire existed in

9630-433: The sum of the cut sizes modulo the size of the deck. For example, in a 10 card deck, if a 7 card cut is made, followed by a 4 card cut, these two consecutive cuts are equivalent to a single cut the size of ((7 + 4) mod 10) = 1. A false cut is a sleight of hand used in magic or for cheating at card games . It appears to be a real cut, but leaves the deck in the same order as when it began, or another order known to

9737-412: The table, with players drawing and revealing one card at random. A common cutting procedure is that after the cards have been shuffled, the dealer sets the cards face down on the table near the player designated to make the cut. This is usually the player who would be dealt to last, i.e. the dealer's right in clockwise-dealt games, or the player to dealer's left when dealt anticlockwise. The cutter lifts

9844-557: The terms cynicism and parody were used. Modern critics call the Greek playwright Aristophanes one of the best known early satirists: his plays are known for their critical political and societal commentary , particularly for the political satire by which he criticized the powerful Cleon (as in The Knights ). He is also notable for the persecution he underwent. Aristophanes' plays turned upon images of filth and disease. His bawdy style

9951-534: The way it is called in Chinese, goes back at least to Confucius , being mentioned in the Book of Odes (Shijing 詩經). It meant "to criticize by means of an ode". In the pre-Qin era it was also common for schools of thought to clarify their views through the use of short explanatory anecdotes, also called yuyan (寓言), translated as "entrusted words". These yuyan usually were brimming with satirical content. The Daoist text Zhuangzi

10058-432: The word lanx in this phrase, however, is disputed by B.L. Ullman. The word satura as used by Quintilian , however, was used to denote only Roman verse satire, a strict genre that imposed hexameter form, a narrower genre than what would be later intended as satire . Quintilian famously said that satura, that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a literary genre of wholly Roman origin ( satura tota nostra est ). He

10165-461: The words or position of his opponent in order to jeopardize their opponent's reputation and/or power. Jonathan Swift has been established as an author who "borrowed heavily from Juvenal's techniques in [his critique] of contemporary English society". In the history of theatre there has always been a conflict between engagement and disengagement on politics and relevant issue, between satire and grotesque on one side, and jest with teasing on

10272-406: The work Reynard the Fox , written by Willem die Madoc maecte, and its translations were a popular work that satirized the class system at the time. Representing the various classes as certain anthropomorphic animals. As example, the lion in the story represents the nobility, which is portrayed as being weak and without character, but very greedy. Versions of Reynard the Fox were also popular well into

10379-561: Was adopted by Greek dramatist-comedian Menander . His early play Drunkenness contains an attack on the politician Callimedon . The oldest form of satire still in use is the Menippean satire by Menippus of Gadara . His own writings are lost. Examples from his admirers and imitators mix seriousness and mockery in dialogues and present parodies before a background of diatribe . As in the case of Aristophanes plays, menippean satire turned upon images of filth and disease. Satire, or fengci (諷刺)

10486-605: Was an Arabian Nights tale called "Ali with the Large Member". In the 10th century, the writer Tha'alibi recorded satirical poetry written by the Arabic poets As-Salami and Abu Dulaf, with As-Salami praising Abu Dulaf's wide breadth of knowledge and then mocking his ability in all these subjects, and with Abu Dulaf responding back and satirizing As-Salami in return. An example of Arabic political satire included another 10th-century poet Jarir satirizing Farazdaq as "a transgressor of

10593-412: Was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, although today the origin of satire is considered to be Aristophanes' Old Comedy . The first critic to use the term satire in the modern broader sense was Apuleius . To Quintilian, the satire was a strict literary form, but the term soon escaped from the original narrow definition. Robert Elliott writes: As soon as

10700-453: Was considered "unchristian" and ignored, except for the moral satire , which mocked misbehaviour in Christian terms. Examples are Livre des Manières by Étienne de Fougères  [ fr ] (~1178), and some of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales . Sometimes epic poetry (epos) was mocked, and even feudal society, but there was hardly a general interest in the genre. In the High Middle Ages

10807-468: Was her son and that he intended to kill his father, she poisoned Sir William to ensure his only crime would be stabbing a dead body. Mrs Croft comforts Mrs Wilson as Mary says goodbye to Robert, and the last guests leave. The film is a study of the British class system during the 1930s; Stephen Fry , Inspector Thompson in the film, says that it shows the upper class's dependency on a servant class. A number of secondary themes are also explored. For example,

10914-402: Was nominated for seven Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for both Mirren and Smith, and won Best Original Screenplay ; it was also nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards , winning two. The TV series Downton Abbey —written and created by Fellowes—was originally planned as a spin-off of Gosford Park , but instead was developed as

11021-418: Was not influenced by the Greek mythological figure of the satyr . In the 17th century, philologist Isaac Casaubon was the first to dispute the etymology of satire from satyr, contrary to the belief up to that time. The rules of satire are such that it must do more than make you laugh. No matter how amusing it is, it doesn't count unless you find yourself wincing a little even as you chuckle. Laughter

11128-538: Was released on 1 February 2002 in the United Kingdom. The VHS and region 1 DVD of Gosford Park were released on 25 June 2002 by Universal Studios Home Video , with the region 2 release on 3 December 2002. The critic Ed Gonzalez reviewed the DVD negatively, calling the picture quality "atrocious on the small screen", going on to say that "the image quality of this video transfer is downright lousy from start to finish." However, reviewer Robert Mack generally wrote favourably of

11235-425: Was shot at Hall Barn , near Beaconsfield , Buckinghamshire , whose grounds were also used as the scene for lunch after the shoot. Sound stages were built to film the scenes of the manor's downstairs area. Shepperton Studios was used for off-location filming. Filming began on 19 March 2001. During production, Stephen Frears acted as a standby director, ready to replace Altman in case he was incapacitated, so that

11342-440: Was stabbed. Parks tells Mary that he is glad that Sir William is dead and does not care who was responsible. As the guests and their servants depart, Freddie, his blackmail scheme with Isobel having failed, pursues a partnership with Anthony, whose business venture has been saved by Sir William's death. Despite his fondness for her, Rupert's courtship of Isobel is abruptly ended when she overhears his conversation with Mr Blond about

11449-443: Was well aware that, in treating of new themes in his prose works, he would have to employ a vocabulary of a nature more familiar in hija , satirical poetry." For example, in one of his zoological works, he satirized the preference for longer human penis size , writing: "If the length of the penis were a sign of honor, then the mule would belong to the (honorable tribe of) Quraysh ". Another satirical story based on this preference

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