Topsy-Turvy (1999) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ Member: Online Film Critics Society
Starring Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Lesley Manville, Eleanor David, Ron Cook. Directed by Mike Leigh. Rated R.
I think I missed something here. I have seen cream-of-the-crop critics, whom I greatly respect, name Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy the absolute best film of 1999. I'm not trying to sling mud on their decision -- maybe their choice was a valid one. But I just don't see where they are coming from. The movie is rock-solid: I enjoyed it tremendously and thought it was a 3 hours well spent. But best movie of the year? Goodness, no. But if ever there was a movie that's actually easy to overpraise, this would have to be it right here.
At first glance, this elaborate costume drama seems like a bizarre choice for Mike Leigh, acclaimed British director of more human dramas like Naked and Secrets and Lies but after closer examination you realize that Topsy-Turvy has quite a bit in common with those films. It is the story of notorious playwrights Gilbert and Sullivan -- fictionalized, I'm sure -- and their struggles with success, the idea of being the "kings of Topsy-Turvydom," as well as their personal mini- rivalries.
Allan Corduner plays composer Sullivan as a pretentious man, dissatisfied with the pair's 10 hits in a row. He doesn't like the fluffiness of their work, the relative insignificance of it. He wants to do something more significant, like a real opera, something to show for himself. He has kidney problems and goes on a "recovery trip" to Europe. When he gets back to Britain, he meets again with his artistic partner Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and, for the first time, refuses to work with his latest scenario, dismissing it as sheer folly at a time when he wants to do something that will be remembered.
Gilbert is faced with a dilemma: Sullivan refuses to set his piece and the theater owner who puts on their plays is pressuring them for another (they're currently reviving one of their classics). He searches for inspiration and gets it when his wife takes him to a Japanese culture festival. He has a good time and when he gets back home, he realizes that he has his next play at his fingertips: "The Mikado."
Leigh's production is distinguished by obsessively meticulous attention to detail. He takes the time to actually put on good chunks of Gilbert & Sullivan's plays and it seems he has spent at least half of Topsy- Turvy's budget just setting them up. Though I sometimes wonder about the purpose of having so much play footage, which stretches the movie's running time to nearly three hours, I have to admit that it does look good, as well as authentic (Leigh spent a lot of time working in theater as well as film).
The more interesting of the two playwrights is definitely Gilbert, who is portrayed as a man afraid of his own success. At one point, he almost sabotages his own show by cutting out a crucial song. When The Mikado is first put on, he wanders the street for most of the performance and when he gets back, the first thing he asks is "How bad was it?" Sullivan doesn't come off as quite that complicated; he's an adulterer and an operetta composer with delusions of grandeur. Still, this is a human story: the characters' inner conflicts (as shown here) are actually vastly more interesting than the body of their work.
Both Corduner and Broadbent are relative unknowns in Hollywood and since this is the polar opposite of what we would call a "Star Vehicle," casting them was probably a good idea. This goes double considering that they turn out to be top-notch actors as well. Leigh could not have asked for more from their performances. Broadbent is especially effective, funny when he needs to be but also human and affecting.
The movie is chock full of great acting, great sets, great costumes, great lines and even some (sketchy) character complexity. For that I am most greatful. But when people say that this is the best movie of the year, I say there needs to be more. I certainly don't mean to belittle this effort, though. Indeed, a job well done.
Grade: B+
©2000 Eugene Novikov
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