When I hear a new Robert Altman film is coming out, I am very guarded until I see the trailer or read a review. After all, he has made some spectacular films like “M*A*S*H” and “The Player” and some not-so-great films like “Prˆt-…-Porter” and “Dr. T & the Women.” With “Gosford Park,” Altman adds another film to the spectacular list.

The film is set in 1932 at the English countryside mansion of Sir William McCordle (played by Michael Gambon). The occasion is a weekend hunt for the aristocratic elite.

The film focuses on the relationships between master and servant and the hierarchy among each group. “Gosford Park” becomes a whodunit, but the mystery is secondary to the relationships between the serving class and the sophisticates.

Altman does an excellent job of drawing the viewer into the lives and the relationships of the characters from the beginning when, on the trip to Sir William’s less than humble home, Countess Trentham (Maggie Smith) forces her young new maid (Kelly MacDonald) to stand in the mud and pouring rain outside her car door to open the lid of a thermos.

Once the guests begin arriving for the weekend, the viewer as well as the under-experienced hired help begin to quickly learn the proper social structure, etiquette and the relationships of both the aristocrats and the servants.

In typical Altman style, there are many characters and subplots and even more under-accentuated dialogue. He uses allusion rather than overt techniques to express interactions such as Sir William’s strained relationship with his beautiful and much younger wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) and the number of affairs going on among and between the social classes.

Emily Watson, who plays Elsie, the head-housemaid, does an excellent job as a character who usually knows what to do and when to do it – not in a manipulating way, but in a cool, calm, taking-it-all-in-and-not-overreacting way. Like Watson’s character, Clive Owen plays a quiet, well-mannered valet who doesn’t quite fit in to the constant bicker and struggle of the serving class.

In addition to the in-depth look this microcosm of culture, there are many times I found myself laughing out loud, especially with respect to Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), a Hollywood director visiting the mansion with actor friend Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam) who is somehow related to Sir William.

Altman takes a very comical approach to comparing American culture to British culture, which includes the American’s opposition to eating meat and hunting pheasants, to which the Brits cannot relate.

The funniest scene of the film occurs during the pheasant hunt when Balaban, who is also supervising producer of “Gosford Park,” does a fantastic job at expressing sincere fear of pheasant and being absolutely repulsed by the idea and actualization of the hunt.

Altman’s direction, along with the relative obscurity of the actors, helps make it a very believable film. The story, conceived by Altman and Balaban, is told from a “fly-on-the-wall” viewpoint, so it is possible to know almost everything that is occurring over the weekend.

Although it may appear that too much is happening too quickly, this does not affect the ability to follow the plot and will definitely not affect the feeling of satisfaction while walking out of the theater.

****

Russell Gorga is a graduate student in chemical engineering from Bridgewater, N.J.