Topsy-Turvy (1999)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Mike Leigh

Writer:

Mike Leigh (written by)

Release Date:

14 January 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The egos. The battles. The words. The music. The women. The scandals.

Plot:

After Gilbert and Sullivan's latest play is critically panned, the frustrated team threatens to disband until they are inspired to do their masterpiece, "The Mikado."

Plot Keywords:

Gilbert And Sullivan | Japanese | Exhibition | Gilbert And Sullivan's Princess Ida | Actress

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Allan Corduner	...	Sir Arthur Sullivan
Dexter Fletcher	...	Louis
Sukie Smith	...	Clothilde
Roger Heathcott	...	Banton
Wendy Nottingham	...	Helen Lenoir
Stefan Bednarczyk	...	Frank Cellier
Geoffrey Hutchings	...	Armourer
Timothy Spall	...	Richard Temple (The Mikado)
Francis Lee	...	Butt
William Neenan	...	Cook
Adam Searle	...	Shrimp
Martin Savage	...	George Grossmith (Ko-Ko)
Jim Broadbent	...	W. S. Gilbert
Lesley Manville	...	Lucy Gilbert
Kate Doherty	...	Mrs. Judd

Also Known As:

Mike Leigh Untitled (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of risque nudity.

Runtime:

160 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | German | Italian | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Sweden:11 (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:R | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Goldwyn Films

Trivia:

Similarly, in the scene where Leonora Braham and Jessie Bond sing a short excerpt in their dressing room (ending in "he was a little boy") during an interlude of "The Sorceror", the song is from the Gilbert & Sullivan opera "Patience" ("Long years ago..."), sung by the characters Patience and Angela, which Leonora Braham and Jessie Bond had performed in the initial 1880 Opera Comique production.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Temple discusses Princess Ida, he removes all of his makeup with cold cream. At the end of the scene, he removes heavy black eyeliner that wasn't there a moment ago.

Quotes:

Sullivan: May I remind you, Helen, that I am not a machine.
Helen Lenoir: I would not suggest for one moment that you were.
Sullivan: You all seem to be treating me as a barrel-organ. You have but to turn my handle, and Hey Presto! Out pops a tune.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "British Film Forever: Corsets, Cleavage and Country Houses: The Story of British Costume Drama (#1.4)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Criminal Cried As He Dropped Him Down

Artfully Constructed and one of the year's best films.

Much has been said here regarding the brilliant costumes, art direction and acting. The one thing I would like to point out is the misconception many have had about the script itself.

Several comments here have claimed that the film is "clunky" in that several scenes apparently added nothing to the film. They also said there was no character development. I think these people need to realize that the depth they seek is contained in the very scenes they wished excised. Which show us all of the different aspects of these characters' lives.

While appearing to be unimportant, empty or simple these many scenes reveal incalculable depth and character insight. The rehearsal scene for just one example, while seeming initially to be a little comedic scene shows us the nature and attitude of both the author and the actors involved in their creative processes.

The performance scenes are also not superfluous as some have wrongly asserted. We can see the characters we have come to know and how they deal onstage with the problems we know they have in their lives: through expressing themselves in their art!!!

In addition the scenes are not arbitrarily strung together but all contain a subtle cause and effect throughline. Sometimes these are reversed as when a cause is revealed only after we have repeatedly seen the effect (as in the revelation of Grossman's illness). Many of the scenes which people have called "tacked on" at the end (like the stunning scene between Gilbert and his wife Kitty) are in fact set up in the earlier parts of the film if you pay close attention and are in actuality a natural progression of these relationships.

Even the very last scene when the leading lady sings is there to show us her identification with the song she is singing and therefore an indirect relationship with her lyricist and composer. This film needs to be seen more than once to appreciate how well constructed it truly is