The Shooting Party

Amazon.com

At last, the British film classic The Shooting Party receives the digital restoration that does justice to its sweeping vistas and heartbreaking snapshots of an era in its death throes. Set in 1913 England, on the brink of what would be the war to end all wars, the film focuses on an assortment of upper-crust acquaintances who gather for a weekend of hunting and society niceties (billiards, cards, draping oneself in jewels the evening after stomping around all day in the muck). Presiding over the festivities is a masterful James Mason as Sir Randolph Nettleby, a sort of benevolent dictator of his breathtaking estate, as his family and friends dip in and out of the action, adhering to the strict code of class conduct for all of their affairs--sport, self-advancement, illicit love. Though the weekend is supposed to be a holiday, there is subtle, ominous foreshadowing in the very first scenes, of the men lined up in a meadow, as though troops on a battlefield, taking out ducks and hares with an almost dispassionate relish. The 2006 remastering allows full appreciation of the cinematography of Fred Tammes, the muted greens, grays and tweedy browns of the English countryside combining to make a painterly backdrop for this drama of manners. Mason as Nettleby has rarely been better--crisp, bemused, comfortable in his role but not quite in his own skin. The score by John Scott is transportative. Extras include a making-of documentary; a tour of the Knebworth House, the stately home here the film was shot; rare stills, and more. Splendid! --A.T. Hurley

Description

In October 1913, a group of aristocratic men and women gather for a shooting party at an estate in the heart of the English countryside. Assured and opulent, they move through the elaborate rituals of an Edwardian country house party. But times are changing, The values that have ordered their glittering world will no longer have any meaning in the new age about to dawn.

Customer Reviews:

Yummy.......2007-06-21

I caught this movie on late-night TV one time, and wanted to own it. I hesitated to buy the original DVD because of the negative comments about the quality of the transfer.

I just got the new DVD and I'm watching it right now. It's like taking a bath in pure Englishness. The color is perfect English autumn, and the sound is perfect. James Mason is perfect as the tired, end-of-an-era lord, while Sir John Gielgud is perfect as the upcoming liberal society. In the two of them you see the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. All that's missing is the transition, and it's about to arrive - in the form of WWI.

This is one lovely movie.

Simply fabulous!.......2007-05-30

I have to say immediately that I have no technical knowlege concerning this DVD. I know absolutely nothing about film technology. All I can say is that I now own this movie in the DVD version by the BBC and it is simply fabulous. I never saw this either in a movie theatre or on video cassette so I have no point of reference concerning quality. The story appeals to me because of the subject matter and the quality of the casting. The location, costumes and makeup are simply the best. It is very much a film which holds the interest of anyone interested in the life styles and moral standards of Edwardian England. So many things are about to change in the lives of all these people and yet they cannot know this and go on about their lives just as they always have. One of the most moving aspects of the film for me is at the end when the characters names are flashed on the screen with the information of what happened to them during the war. Also, the extra feature where the casting and location details are discussed adds much to the enjoyment of this fine film.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in period English drama. I also purchased the book by Isabel Colegate and read it. I found that the film was very, very faithful to the book. In the extra features included with the DVD the author seemed to be well pleased with the efforts made by the producers to present her work as she would have wished. Good, enjoyable entertainment. Well worth it for any true Anglophile.

End of an era - not entirely!.......2007-03-24

I'm lucky to own what must be an original video cassette of this film which I've had since new so have no problems with quality. Watching it again last night I wondered if there was still any reviews around of an 'old' film and thus came upon Amazon.

I would agree with most of the comments made - the elegiac quality, superb acting within an ensemble setting and the faithfulness to period. However, it did strike me, viewing this again, the Edwardian society mores depicted did not end with the Great War in 1915. Far from it, they were still alive and well in the 1920's the era 'Gosford Park' depicted, also faithfully. I'm sure there are many people around today, like myself, who can recall the stories their grandparents told about pre-World War II society and World War I in some instances. It was still about 'us' and 'them', 'upstairs and downstairs, and whilst there may have been a housemaid, or cook problem, 'service' was still a major aspect of employment, especially for women.

Even today, 'The Shooting Party' as a private as opposed to commercial affair is a feature of country life, if you move in, for instance, the Prince of Wales's circles. Who could ever forget the photograph of he and his valet Fawcett, taken in the last five years? Their 'shooting dress' was straight out of the Edwardian Era, not a garb to be returned to the Costume Department of the the film production company after use. Perhaps the Prince is hoping for a remake to air his fashion sense.

I think it is also true to say the sense of honour of Nettleby (James Mason), with his Corinthian ideals, also continued to exist certainly until World War II. Anyone reading the literature between the wars will be struck by the preponderance, especially in children's literature which was hugely influential as essentially the only 'media' source of information, by the emphasis on 'Play up, play up and play the game'. This attitude in the era of Empire was regarded as essential if Britain was to retain respect as a hegemonic power. Obviously for a large number of people this ethos didn't 'take', but there were still enough people around more than thirty years after the death of Gordon Jackson's character in the film to echo his dying words, 'God bless the British Empire.'

What has changed substantially since the Great War is the cynicism of an educated few towards public life. Today, with the growth of media and mass education, the offensive behaviour of people in the public eye, whether politician, aristocrat or 'celebrity' has created universal cynicism. This has destroyed the quality of 'innocence', or simple decency depicted so skilfully by James Mason who's gentleman's manners extend to being courteous to a trespasser on his land and party.

The other change in society is the belief of the Edwardians, based on their even more reticent Victorian parent's standard of behaviour, that private ignoble behaviour, whether it be hypocrisy, adultery, business malfeasance, coarseness or anything else should remain so. It was not something to be aired in polite society, and if it was, the perpetrator would become a social paraiah, an outcast. Contrasting this ideal with Page Three of 'The Sun' and the typical headlines of the past few years that politicians, sportsmen and businessmen have attracted and the difference between 1913 and the new millennium is easy to see.

So 'The Shooting Party' is actually a microcosm of a small part of English landed society at a particular time in history. It is richly endowed with attention to every detail of behaviour and dress and impeccably acted within a setting which makes one yearn nostalgically for 'old England'. It creates a romantic view of a society where a very few had the best of everything, whilst the majority lived very hard lives trying to sustain themselves and uphold 'traditions' imposed upon them and enforced by a harsh system of legal and social punishments. In the film we're led to believe those people living on Nettleby's estate lived charmed lives guided by his patronage. The reality was often very different, but who can cavil with the gentle and complex rhythm of an exquisitely produced piece of work.

A beautiful film worth owning.......2007-02-22

I was anxious to have this film, as I had read and loved the exquisite Isabel Colegate novel. As other reviews have, I'd advise anyone to make sure to purchase this newly remastered (BBC Oct. '06) version. Although the film doesn't include every detail from the book, it comes close. Certainly a film to watched many times both for its nuanced story as well as its scenic beauty.

a masterpiece.......2006-08-25

I cannot say enough good about this film. It is brilliant on so many levels. James Mason and John Gielgud were never better and the rest of the cast were perfectly chosen and rose to the occasion. This is what Gosford Park wanted to be but just did'nt make it and I liked Gosford Park. I am so glad a good quality DVD is available at last. In my opinion a must for any film collection. Please watch this with the time to devote your full attention to it, you will be well rewarded

Average customer rating:

Yummy
Simply fabulous!
End of an era - not entirely!
A beautiful film worth owning
a masterpiece

The Shooting Party
Starring: James Mason , Edward Fox , Dorothy Tutin , John Gielgud , and Gordon Jackson
Director: Alan Bridges
Manufacturer: Telavista
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000A2ZPJ
Release Date: 2005-08-02

Amazon.com

Set in 1913 England, on the brink of what would be the war to end all wars, the British film classic The Shooting Party focuses on an assortment of upper-crust acquaintances who gather for a weekend of hunting and society niceties (billiards, cards, draping oneself in jewels the evening after stomping around all day in the muck). Presiding over the festivities is a masterful James Mason as Sir Randolph Nettleby, a sort of benevolent dictator of his breathtaking estate, as his family and friends dip in and out of the action, adhering to the strict code of class conduct for all of their affairs--sport, self-advancement, illicit love. Though the weekend is supposed to be a holiday, there is subtle, ominous foreshadowing in the very first scenes, of the men lined up in a meadow, as though troops on a battlefield, taking out ducks and hares with an almost dispassionate relish. Mason as Nettleby has rarely been better--crisp, bemused, comfortable in his role but not quite in his own skin. The score by John Scott is transportative. The film was remastered and rereleased on DVD in 2006. --A.T. Hurley

Description

In October 1913, a group of aristocratic men and women gather for a shooting party at an estate in the heart of the British countryside. Assured and opulent, they move through the elaborate rituals of an Edwardian England country house-party. They dine, they shoot, gossip, flirt and are discreetly adulterous. As members of the privileged elite, they practice an etiquette largely imposed by the late King Edward VII - anything goes, just as long as it does not threaten the established order or offend accepted morality. But times are charging. The values that have ordered their glittering world will no longer have any meaning in the new age about to dawn.

Customer Reviews:

Yummy.......2007-06-21

Simply fabulous!.......2007-05-30

End of an era - not entirely!.......2007-03-24

A beautiful film worth owning.......2007-02-22

a masterpiece.......2006-08-25

The Shooting Party [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

The Shooting Party [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
Director: Alan Bridges
Manufacturer: Umbrella Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages: o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: This British Merchant-Ivory look-alike was adapted from a novel by Isabel Colgate. In the summer before World War I, British nobleman James Mason invites an assorted group of acquaintances for a weekend shooting party on his huge estate. Among the participants are longtime rivals Edward Fox and Rupert Frazer, Fox's occasionally unfaithful wife Cheryl Campbell, and staunch anti-hunting advocate John Gielgud. The film unfolds in a carefully calculated but seemingly spontaneous fashion, in the manner of its 1938 ancestor Rules of the Game. Also like the earlier film, The Shooting Party casts a jaundiced eye towards class consciousness--and ends with a sudden, senseless but not altogether unexpected tragedy. - Autumn, 1913: on the eve of the Great War, a small party of lords and ladies gather at the Hertfordshire estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby. A code of propriety governs all: dress, breakfast, relations with the estate's peasants, courtship, shooting, adultery. Lionel Stephens, who is courting Sir Randolph's daughter, gets into a shooting competition with Lord Gilbert Hartlip; Lord Gilbert's wife carries on discreet affairs; a pamphleteer circles the estate calling for no more killing, and Sir Robert's grandson hopes to protect a wild duck he's befriended. A way of life is ending: Lord Gilbert's violation of the gentlemen's code suggests internal rot as the real world presses in.

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