Best British Country House Movies?
I’ve watched Gosford Park to death. Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, ditto. Howard’s End? Know it by heart. Remains of the Day? I never really got into it. I’ve committed the entire series of Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes adventures and curious problems to memory. Downton Abbey doesn’t quite have it.
I need a wordy, low violence movie with no Hercule Poirot in it. Help me, Datalounge! You, Google, IMDB, and Amazon Prime are my only hopes!
by Anonymous | reply 37 | June 15, 2024 11:53 PM
|
Emma, Mansfield Park, the original Upstairs Downstairs (not country house but superb), The Innocents, Brideshead Revisited (series).
by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 13, 2024 9:33 PM
|
The Winslow Boy with Jeremy Northam.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 13, 2024 10:05 PM
|
^ Well, not a country house movie, but Edwardian set, and probably has the feel you’re after.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 13, 2024 10:07 PM
|
I’m watching the Inspector Alleyn Mysteries on Amazon. 1990s BBC . He’s posh, but works for Scotland Yard. Based on Season 1, despite being a police officer, he generally works on cases where posh people that he knows personally get killed.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | May 13, 2024 10:17 PM
|
Peter’s Friends, A Midwinters Tale
by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 13, 2024 10:30 PM
|
Where are the country houses?
by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 13, 2024 10:33 PM
|
You came through for me, DL. I owe you one.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | May 13, 2024 11:17 PM
|
Gosford Park (2001)
The film is a novel come to life, but at its core is the relationship between a young maid (Kelly Macdonald) and her Ladyship (Maggie Smith) over the course of a country weekend from Hell. So many characters, each with a complete backstory. You can watch the film multiple times and learn something new about a character each time.
The film was directed by Robert Altman, written by Julian Fellows, and produced by Bob Balaban.
As well as Smith and Mcdonald, the mystery has a very impressive ensemble cast: Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Charles Dance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon Derek Jacobi, Alan Bates, Emily Watson, Stephen Fry, and Jeremy Northam as Ivor Novello.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 9 | May 13, 2024 11:37 PM
|
R9, did you read the original post?
[quote] I’ve watched Gosford Park to death
by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 13, 2024 11:38 PM
|
Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
Although not necessarily a country manor, the Dickens adaptation follows young Nicholas as he works for a horrendous boys school, a struggling theatrical troupe, a law clerk, and a French tutor.
Written and Directed by Douglas McGrath (Emma)
Starring Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, Anne Hathaway, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courteney, Nathan Lane, Barry Humphries, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Edward Fox, Alan Cumming, David Bradley, and Christopher Plummer
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 11 | May 13, 2024 11:45 PM
|
R9 is R56 and OP of the below-linked thread. He is also the “He IS X!”/“Let’s discuss” poster.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 12 | May 13, 2024 11:47 PM
|
Not Britain, but France - Jean Renoir’s “Rules of the Game” - absolutely superb.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 13, 2024 11:47 PM
|
The Madness of King George (1994)
Directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Alan Bennett
Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Rupert Graves, Julian Wadham, John Wood, Jim Carter, Geoffrey Palmer, Amanda Donohoe, and Rupert Everett
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 14 | May 13, 2024 11:48 PM
|
This list has some good ones: Gosford Park, Howards End, The Go Between, and The Innocents to name a few
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 15 | May 13, 2024 11:50 PM
|
Strong +1 to Howard’s End. And give Remains of the Day a chance, it’s very good and should be up your vague “country house” alley.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 14, 2024 7:26 AM
|
Have you ever watched The Little Stranger? Not a "country house" movie in the traditional sense, but a crumbling country house after WWII when the inhabitants were broke & the son and heir is a broken man. Kind of makes you realize how much *work* these homes were, particularly without servants.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 14, 2024 8:39 AM
|
1991's Where Angels Fear to Tread - the E.M. Forster adaptation not directed by James Ivory.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 14, 2024 10:03 AM
|
And I cheated with that one @ R22 because it's set mostly in Tuscany.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | May 14, 2024 10:04 AM
|
You can't get any better than The Draughtsman's Contract.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 24 | May 14, 2024 10:23 AM
|
A Room With A View. Yes, much is set in Italy but there are English houses to.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 14, 2024 10:33 AM
|
Saltburn!
Midsomer Murders. It's a TV series that's run for years and invariably involves some rich family with a mansion.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 14, 2024 10:37 AM
|
If we can cheat with Italy, Up at the Villa.
And I second the recommendation for the original Brideshead Revisited. It's the best miniseries ever made.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 28 | May 14, 2024 10:44 AM
|
Also, the 1980 Love in a Cold Climate, if you can find it.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 29 | May 14, 2024 10:50 AM
|
[quote] Kind of makes you realize how much *work* these homes were, particularly without servants.
Noël tried to tell you
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 30 | May 14, 2024 11:03 AM
|
Will a French country house do? La Règle du jeu
by Anonymous | reply 31 | May 14, 2024 11:17 AM
|
The early 2000s version of Love in a Cold Climate/In Pursuit of Love was a joy, and had a great cast: Rosamund Pike, Celia Imrie, Anthony Andrews, and two great final performances from Sheila Gish and Alan Bates. It’s my ideal comfort viewing, as refreshing as a glass of champagne.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 32 | May 14, 2024 11:31 AM
|
Tristram Shandy, A Cock and Bull Story
by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 14, 2024 10:22 PM
|
A great one that’s less well known is The Shooting Party (1985), starring James Mason as the lord, John Gielgud as his gamekeeper, and a bevy of other great actors including Robert Hardy playing the house guests. It takes place on the eve of the Great War and is a moving study of the way members of that society distinguished “us” from “them” in their relations with each other and (most fascinatingly) the animals on the estate. A present but unspoken message is how those attitudes led them into war. All lovers of Gosford Park should watch this. It is based on the excellent 1980 novel by Isabel Colgate and I think is one of those rare instances in which the movie is even better than the book.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | June 15, 2024 8:54 PM
|
Dawson’s Fifty Load Weekend in the Country: Bumbury Hall.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | June 15, 2024 9:21 PM
|
Second vote for Midsomer Murders.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | June 15, 2024 11:53 PM
|