The Shooting Party (1985)

Director:

Alan Bridges

Writers:

Julian Bond (writer)
Isabel Colegate (novel)

Release Date:

September 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

While Europe stands on the brink of a World War in Autumn 1913, Sir Randolph Nettleby hosts a weekend of shooting on his estate for European aristocrats.

Plot Keywords:

Estate | Autumn | Weekend | Poacher | Servant

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

James Mason	...	Sir Randolph Nettleby
Edward Fox	...	Lord Gilbert Hartlip
Dorothy Tutin	...	Lady Minnie Nettleby
John Gielgud	...	Cornelius Cardew
Gordon Jackson	...	Tom Harker
Cheryl Campbell	...	Lady Aline Hartlip
Robert Hardy	...	Lord Bob Lilburn
Aharon Ipalé	...	Sir Reuben Hergesheimer
Joris Stuyck	...	Count Tibor Rakassyi
Rebecca Saire	...	Cicely Nettleby
Sarah Badel	...	Ida Nettleby
Rupert Frazer	...	Lionel Stephens
Judi Bowker	...	Lady Olivia Lilburn
John J. Carney	...	Jarvis
Ann Castle	...	Lady Mildred Stamp

Runtime:

98 min | Germany:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18 | West Germany:6 | UK:15 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Knebworth House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Castle Hill Productions

Trivia:

The last film of Thomas Heathcote.

Quotes:

Lady Aline Hartlip: Why are you smiling?
Sir Randolph Nettleby: [Introspectively] I can't imagine... except that... sometimes when my thoughts about the future are particularly gloomy, I find myself feeling more and more light-hearted.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gosford Park (2001)

A beautifully articulate summary of an era.

The Shooting Party is set in 1913, which is not very long ago, and yet is another world. This was the last year of the old world, and the start of the modern world. The opening narration by James Mason sets the theme: that the world of the haves and have-nots is doomed, and that the future holds great change.

This was Mason's last film, and his was a part very well suited to him. He is the great patriarch, head of the family, and benign chief of the great estate. He is not a soppy fool, but he is kind and means well to all. He invites many aristocrats to his estate for a few days of shooting, and these arrive, with their servants.

In the house, then, are representatives of much of the world at that time: the upper classes, some British, some foreign, and the lower classes, some servants, some local rustics who will be the beaters for the shoot. The film then shows us how they are all behaving.

Both the upper and the lower classes are stuck in their ways, though if anything, it is the upper class which questions whether this is the way things should be. When the shooting pauses for tea, the posh folk sit elegantly but uncomfortably in a clean white marquee, and drink from china, while the beaters look far happier drinking from mugs from a communal urn and chatting amongst themselves.

The foreign aristocrats are haughty, and annoy the British by referring to the beaters as "peasants". The British aristocrats are not happy. Two young idealists are in the agony of a forbidden love, others have sham marriages or petty rivalries.

The world is one full of love, but much of it frustrated. A boy has a pet duck, which he fears will be shot. Mason has a liking for a local poacher whom he hires as a beater, despite the contempt which the hunt master has for the man. By the end of the film, you feel great liking and sympathy for many of the characters.

To get the most from this film, some knowledge of history and British culture is required, but there is much to like in this film without these. The acting and dialogue are good, the setting atmospheric, and what is being said about the people of the time is so very fair. This film does not hammer home any of its points, but shows both the good and the bad in the characters, and lets the viewer decide.

All through the film, our present-day knowledge of the slaughter to come in the churned mud of the Somme, Ypres, Paschendale and the Dardenelles stays with us, affecting the way we perceive every nuance. The film makers were clearly aware of this, and take full advantage of it.

The ending is one of the most moving I know from any film. Simple, yet very effective.