Gosford Park (2001)

Written by Julian Fellowes, directed by Robert Altman and with an unbelievably stellar cast, Gosford Park, is worth a visit if you've not already seen it! This drama takes place over a weekend at a shooting party of a 1930s English country house where a murder takes place and the history of the guests within is gradually revealed as the plot unfolds. [This has been on my list of faves for a while, finally getting around to adding more details.]

CAST: Eileen Atkins, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Maggie Smith, Kelly Macdonald, Alan Bates. Charles Dance, Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant, Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Northam, Ryan Philippe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson, Geraldine Sommerville, Claudie Blakley, James Wilby, Camilla Rutherford, Tom Hollander, Sophie Thompson, and Bob Balaban (one of creators of film)

Synopsis:
"In November 1932, Sir William McCordle is having a shooting party at his country estate. He is married to the Earl of Carton's eldest daughter, Sylvia. They have one child, a daughter, named Isobel. He has a little dog np-one likes named Pip. They've invited Sylvia's two sisters and their husbands, her Aunt Constance the Countess of Trentham, and a number of other young men (married and unmarried) for the shooting, as well as William's distant cousin, matinee idol Ivor Novello, and his American friend, Charlie Chan producer Maurice Weissman.

Accompanying the upstairs guests are their servants--chauffeurs, valets to dress the men, lady's maids to dress the women. They join the below-stairs staff at Gosford Park, commanded by the fearsome dour Mrs Wilson the housekeeper, Jennings the butler, and Mrs Croft the sour old cook.

We see this world where upstairs and downstairs collide through the eyes of Lady Trentham's new maid, a young Scottish girl named Mary MacEachran. Mary is very young, and utterly inexperienced, and quickly befriends head housemaid Elsie, and Lord Stockbridge's valet, the mysterious Robert Parks. Also in attendance is Weissman's valet, the smarmy yet very pretty Henry Denton, with his bowler hat and wandering accent.

Sir William loves country sports, even though his is awful at them. William as nouveaux riche, and he and his wife cannot actually stand one another. Isobel fancies Lord Rupert, but Rupert is a young son and worried Sir William will think he's only after Isobel's money. Rupert's hanger-on friend Jeremy Blond is using Rupert as his entree into society, and is really just there to get a taste of the high life. Freddie Nesbitt blackmailed Isobel into getting him an invitation, in the hopes that the week-end will result in his getting a job as one of William's bakers. His hopelessly middle class wife Mabel is overawed by the company, and very much a fan. Sylvia's sister Lavinia married a hopeless Naval Commander who adores his wife but is a wreck in business, and William is hoping to get out of the week-end without having to tell Cmdr. Meredith he's pulling out of his investment scheme. Ivor is playing the piano for his supper, and Morris thinks the whole upper crust world is too hilarious for words, and is mining it for research for his next picture, Charlie Chan in London.

Then in the middle of the second night, Sir William is murdered. Twice.

Mary alone is in the position of putting all the pieces together--from overheard servants gossip, to a midnight confession sealed with a kiss, to Lady Sylvia recounting the house's history to her sister as if Mary was invisible and a piece of furniture in the corner. And it's up to Mary to decide which secrets to keep or share."

Photos and more details at this Gosford Park fansite
Land of Might-Have-Been

CHARACTERS:
Above Stairs
Below Stairs
Visiting Staff
The Police

The Rocket (2005)

While looking up period dramas from the Thirties, I stumbled on this film. I happen to be in a hockey frame of mind at the moment as I am eagerly hoping that the Vancouver Canucks will be able to bring the Stanley Cup home to Canada this week!

Here's a biopic of hockey legend Maurice Richard played by Roy Dupuis (who has also starred in other period dramas: Séraphin, Emilie (Les filles de Caleb) and Million Dollar Babies).

Synopsis: "In the late 1930s, a young machinist named Maurice Richard distinguished himself as a ice hockey player of preternatural talent. Although that was enough to get him into the Montreal Canadiens, his frequent injuries cost him the confidence of his team and the fans. In the face of these doubts, Richard eventually shows the kind of aggressive and skillful play that would make him one of the greatest players of all time as "The Rocket." However for all his success, Richard and his fellow French Canadians face constant discrimination in a league dominated by the English speaking. Although a man of few words, Richard begins to speak his own mind about the injustice which creates a organizational conflict that would culminate in his infamous 1955 season suspension that sparks an ethnic riot in protest. In the face of these challenges, Richard must decide who exactly is he playing for." [-Kenneth Chisholm, IMDb]

Hugo (2011)

Hugo (originally titled Hugo Cabret) is an upcoming adventure film based on Brian Selznick's bestseller 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' set in 1930's Paris. It is directed by Martin Scorsese, co-produced by Scorsese, Johnny Depp, and Graham King, and written by John Logan. This is Scorsese’s first film shot in 3D and it is due to be released on November 23, 2011, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. It stars Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Nanny McPhee) as Hugo. (Wikipedia)

Watch trailer

From official site:
"ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, twelve-year-old Hugo (Asa Butterfield) lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl (Chloe Moretz) and the owner (Ben Kingsley) of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together...in The Invention of Hugo Cabret."

Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Ben Kinglsey, Sasha Baron Cohen

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick is told in both words and pictures. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Each picture (there are nearly three hundred pages of pictures!) takes up an entire double page spread, and the story moves forward because you turn the pages to see the next moment unfold in front of you."

Book illustrations by Brian Selznick

Cast:
Chloe Moretz .... Isabella
Jude Law .... Hugo's father
Richard Griffiths .... Monsieur Frick
Ben Kingsley .... Papa Georges
Sacha Baron Cohen .... Station Inspector
Christopher Lee .... Monsieur Labisse
Emily Mortimer .... Lisette
Asa Butterfield .... Hugo
Michael Stuhlbarg .... Rene Tabard
Helen McCrory .... Mama Jeanne
Frances de la Tour .... Emilie
Angus Barnett .... Theater Manager
Edmund Kingsley (real-life son of Ben) .... Technician
Catherine Balavage .... Parisian Cafe Woman
Ray Winstone

Interview with author Brian Selznick
Scorcese's website
IMDb

There Be Dragons (2011)

Roland Joffe, the director who brought us the highly acclaimed and deeply spiritual film The Mission has returned to his roots with the epic movie There Be Dragons, a powerful story of war, tragedy, love and redemption. Set during the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War (1930s), it tells the story of two childhood friends who become separated during the political conflict to find themselves on opposite sides as war erupts. One chooses the path of peace and becomes a priest while the other chooses the life of a soldier driven by jealousy and revenge. Each will struggle to find the power of forgiveness over the forces that tore their lives and friendship apart. [official synopsis]

Planned for release in theatres worldwide in Spring, 2011.
Trailer and behind-the-scenes video below

Starring:
Charlie Cox (Stardust) - Josemaría Escrivá
Wes Bentley (The Claim) - Manolo
Olga Kurylenko (Centurion) - Ildiko
Rodrigo Santoro (Love Actually) - Oriol
Dougray Scott (Ever After) - Robert, son of Manolo
Geraldine Chaplin, Derek Jacobi , Charles Dance, Michael Feast, Lily Cole, Golshifteh Farahani, Robert Blythe

The film is both written and directed by Oscar-nominated British filmmaker Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, The Mission, City of Joy, The Scarlet Letter). Joffe said that it's a " story about people trying to find meaning about their lives." The epic film tells the story of a present-day Spanish journalist, Robert, who is mending relations with his dying father, Manolo, who took part in the Spanish Civil War. The journalist discovers through his investigations that his father was a close childhood friend of Josemaría Escrivá , a candidate for sainthood, with whom he had a complicated relationship. Manolo became a soldier during the Spanish Civil War and became obsessed with a beautiful Hungarian revolutionary, Ildiko. She rejects him and gives herself to a brave militia leader Oriol. Manolo becomes jealous and takes a path of betrayal.

The film includes the early life of Josemaría Escrivá, a modern-day saint and the founder of Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church which teaches that ordinary human life is a path to sanctity. Escrivá, who died in 1975, was canonized by John Paul II in 2002. Joffé, who initially shied away from the project, was "ultimately intrigued by the chance to dramatize the life of a modern-day saint, particularly considering Escrivá's 'liberating' view that a path to God could be found in an ordinary life."

According to Joffé, they are "making a film about love, human love and divine love, about hate, about betrayal, about war, about mistakes, about everything it is to be a human being." "Reconciliation matters" is the main take away message that Joffe expects from the viewers and that this is “a film about what it means to be a saint in this day and age."

Why the title? It refers to its theme exploring the unknown territories of hatred, guilt, and forgiveness explained producer Ignacio G. Sancha. "There be dragons" is an abbreviation of "here there be dragons" from the Latin hic sunt dracones, an ancient way of denoting in maps a place where there is danger, or an unknown place, a place to be explored.

Official site

IMDb
press conference with Joffe
Video: interview with Charlie, Wes and Roland

Behind the Scenes...

Who was Josemaria Escriva? (Youtube video)