Cutting a Comedic Kill

Gosford Park is a comedy murder mystery directed by Robert Altman which entertainingly contrasts the lives of the rich and bored ‘upstairs’ guests with the interesting ‘downstairs’ servants during a shooting party at an English country manor in 1932. The film was edited by Tim Squyres and was nominated for ‘AFI Editor of the Year’ and for ‘Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical’ in 2002.1 In the very centre of this multiple storylined period drama is the crucial murder scene. This sequence has been edited in both a functional and interesting way:

As Sidney Lumet, a highly acclaimed and respected film director, says:

“While it’s absurd to believe that pictures are “made” in the cutting room, they sure as hell can be ruined there.”2

In my opinion this scene was definitely not ruined in the cutting room and by deconstructing it I will attempt to explore just how effectively and skilfully edited it actually is.

Films are unavoidably subjective because they are primarily concerned with emotion. The role of the filmmaker is to draw in the audience so that they feel the film, as opposed to just watch it. Walter Murch, a master of the craft of editing, puts it like this:

“How do you want the audience to feel? If they are feeling what you want them to feel all the way through the film, you’ve done about as much as you can ever do… If you have to give up something, don’t ever give up emotion before story.”3

As I say, films are subjective but I think when watching this sequence we feel a strange and spicy mixture of light humour and sinister seriousness. As the song begins we have that first moment of hilarity:

which is instantly shot down to an awkward fascination as we see the mysterious feet prowling in the darkness.

As the sequence progresses we realise the significance of what we are seeing and when we get exactly halfway through we see the knife:

and by then the whole mood and meaning has flipped and the tension swaps from suspense, to anticipation of the stab.

Yet even as we witness the actual murder we can’t help but view it with an odd amusement as if it’s really not that serious.

Already we can see how cleverly this sequence has been constructed in that it is a perfect snapshot of the genre of the whole piece. Gosford Park is a comedy murder mystery, a rather oxymoronic genre, and the emotion we feel during this sequence exactly matches that idea. We feel like laughing, yet our emotions are conflicted as we are witnessing something sinister. A magnificently messy mix!

This blend of emotions is purposefully achieved by careful cutting. Walter Murch says:

“Frequently, it takes more work and discernment to decide where not to cut…”4

and it is interesting to note that the tension build is not due to increasing frantic or irregular cutting, as the pace remains sedate, or even a crescendo in the sound or music, as this also stays quiet and steady. As proved by Kuleshov two different images cut together creates meaning (A + B = C). This tension is in fact achieved through the intercutting of two contrasting scenarios.

The bulk of our emotion is invested in the progress of the mysterious feet and this is where the feeling of sinister suspense comes from. Here is an example of how it could have been cut:

Clearly this produces a completely different emotion and instantly makes it a completely different film. So by splicing in the silly song, the bored guests and the listening servants a totally new meaning is created and we get our wonderful mix of emotions.

Also worth noting are the actual shots we cut away to in the first half of the sequence. As can be seen from the above clip the shots in the murderer’s narrative show quite a linear journey. The song shots subtly help this narrative along by becoming more and more distant from the source of the music as we become more and more interested in the murderer’s progress.

I mentioned earlier that at the halfway point, when we see the knife, we know what is about to happen. The Master, Murch, says the following about the job of an editor:

“Your job is partly to anticipate, partly to control the thought processes of the audience. To give them what they want and/or what they need just before they have to “ask” for it – to be surprising yet self-evident at the same time. If you are too far behind or ahead of them, you create problems, but if you are right with them, leading them ever so slightly, the flow of events feels natural and exciting at the same time.”5

The mid-point, the reveal of the knife, could potentially be a moment when the audience gets a little ahead of the editor. There is that great shot of the approaching assassin, knife held ready:

suddenly followed by the funniest and most contrasting shot we have seen yet:

This juxtaposition causes a ‘jump’ in emotion which throws us off balance ever so slightly but enough to remind us what type of film we are watching and so that as we finally see the murder the mood is lightened and we feel as if it’s really not that serious.

Of course, what we see is only half of a filmmakers concern; what we hear is equally important. The soundtrack for this sequence is particularly interesting. Production Designer Stephen Altman (Robert Altman’s son) comments:

“It’s not really murder music… Counterprogramming.”6

To counteract the serious and sinister moment of the murder the music needs to be humorous and harmless to lift the moment, and consequently the film, into the comedy genre. Also this song has the added bonus of providing a tempo for the scene. For Sidney Lumet:

“…there are two main elements to editing: juxtapositioning images and creating tempo.”7

This song is a clever choice as it helps with both. The crucial moments are when the tempo of the music changes.

“…it’s the change in tempo that we feel, not the tempo itself.”8

Here’s one major change, it slows to a pause… then regains normal tempo:

And here’s another, a change to a sudden faster tempo:

It is certainly not a coincidence that two ‘tempo-change’ moments are the two moments we have been most interested in; the mid-point when we see the knife and the end when we see the stab. The first change causes us to pause and therefore take more careful note of the information we are seeing, and the faster tempo cued by the STAB heightens the excitement and messes the mood of this humorously horrific climax.

Altman would not deny that this scene is a vaguely “Alfred Hitchcock-esque” moment9 and it is interesting to compare Altman’s murder sequence with the famous murder scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho10:

There are obvious similarities: we never see the murderer’s face, a knife is used, the audience is aware of the murderer's approach whilst the victim is unsuspecting; and also major differences: the music, the rhythm, the stabbing; but this highlights the importance of knowing the original before attempting the spoof. Or in Altman’s words, when being questioned about certain technicalities:

“Oh yes, all of those rules we broke. That’s what rules are there for.”11

The depth and detail of the editing in this one short sequence is just extraordinary and this exploration has greatly increased my appreciation of the scene, the film and the filmmakers. I agree with Robert Altman:

“… when you see it [Gosford Park] the second time, which is the most effective way to see it… and you know all the answers, you know all the ‘whodunits’… the film is really better, because you’re able to deal in the detail of it and see nuances that otherwise escape you.”12

This opportunity to explore the “nuances” of the editing of this sequence has been extremely beneficial and has made me more aware of the centrality of emotion, the significance of style and the power of great editing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books
Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.

DVDs
Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD]. UK: Entertainment in Video
Psycho. 1960. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. [DVD]. UK: Universal Pictures Ltd.

Websites
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/ [Accessed 15th February 2010]
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/ [Accessed 30th January 2010]

* * *

1The Internet Movie Database. 2010. Tim Squyres. [online]. Available from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0820163/ [Accessed 30th January 2010]
2Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.
3Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
4Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
5Murch, W., 2001. In the Blink of an Eye. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
6Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video
7Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.
8Lumet, S., 1996. Making Movies. New York: Vintage Books.
9Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video
10Psycho. 1960. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. [DVD]. UK: Universal Pictures Ltd.
11Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video
12Gosford Park. 2001. Dir. Robert Altman. [DVD Commentary]. UK: Entertainment in Video