Altman’s fall shooting party and lunch in Gosford Park is a metaphor for social rot in English aristocracy and their servants circa 1932.
The pheasant hunt takes place on a cold rainy day in October at which the lord of the manner, Sir William McCordle, brutally presides. The lunch is without conviviality, and as entertainment, it’s a flop that reaches its peak when a guest drops a glass of Bloody Mary and shatters on the floor. The red splotch on the cold stone floor foreshadows McCorlde’s murder but is also a symbol of a broken social system. Altman’s dark humor
See Robert Altman. Gosford Park (2001). Screenplay by Julian Fellowes