Rating: 
Summary: Should have been much better
Review: I love G & S but was disappointed in this movie. It was very slow at first; only a confirmed lover of G & S would have stuck it out. Considered simply as a movie, it was excruciating. The costumes were great, as were the scenes from actual G & S productions. Another flaw was that only at the very end did the movie start to gel with more interesting material about each man's marriage/women, and the contrast between them. So, not bad, I enjoyed it b/c of my love of G & S, but it had lots of weaknesses.
Rating: 
Summary: Curtain Up--And Up And Up
Review: Even in Victorian London, there was no business like show business, according to this wonderful movie from British director Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies). Topsy-Turvy is the visually opulent yet nitty-gritty, blow-by-blow backstage account of how composer Arthur Sullivan and librettist W.S. Gilbert, the team behind The Pirates of Penzance,wrote one of their greatest operettas, 1885's The Mikado,a whimsical Japanese fantasy. The movie begins with a brazenly mundane shot of ushers routinely checking under seats; it ends 2 hours and 43 minutes later with The Mikado's leading lady, Leonora Braham (Shirley Henderson), alone onstage, raising goose bumps with a meltingly pretty "The Sun Whose Rays," which she sings with girlish flirtatiousness and a hint of womanly sorrow. She's but one of dozens of characters-producers, actors, choristers, musicians-made flesh-and-blood in their touching vanity and hard professional drive. You don't have to give a fig about G&S to love this emotionally vibrant film.
Rating: 
Summary: A period masterpiece
Review: The best tricks are performed with such art that we don't notice that they are tricks at all. Mike Leigh and his troupe in Topsy Turvy have recreated Victorian London with a richness and a vibrant credibility that can only be found in the works of Conan Doyle and Dickens. With hardly a single exterior shot. From the moment we meet Sir Arthur Sullivan, who has overslept for a 7:30pm opening curtain and needs reviving with plenty of hot coffee and a shot of cocaine to get to the theatre on time; to the final meclancholy scenes as the major characters leave the stage, we are treated to wonderful costumes, great sets, sparkling music and above all to great actors, at the top of their form, luxuriating in material which they have helped to create. The piece demonstrates perfectly that accurately recreating character, mood and tone are far more important than props and scenery when recreating the past. Though there are plenty of props too. And the 160 minutes of music aren't decoration. We rarely see a whole number - they are cut to perfection - timed to chime exquisitely with the action. Great stuff. And the extras on the DVD are worth having too. One to watch over and over again. I even suspect a majority of 21 year olds from the Mid West might agree.
Rating:
Summary: It's a marvelous film, trust me.
Review: No, Gilbert and Sullivan have not aged a bit, and this is a very entertaining, smart and witty film. I hope stupid 21 year olds, fed on Matrix, trash and loud music would watch more films like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Most overrated film of 1999
Review: Every critic in the world fell all over themselves in praise of Mike Leigh's "Topsy-Turvy," calling it the most entertaining film of the year. I had to take this lumbering, 160-minute whale in little increments to prevent insanity from setting in. "Topsy-Turvy" is one of the most spectacularly boring films I have ever seen, which is really a shame since it is very well-acted and features absolutely gorgeous sets and cinematography. But none of that means a thing if you can't bear to hear Gilbert & Sullivan show tunes for 160 minutes, not to mention the onslaught of dry, British humor that would be funny were it not so antiquated. Entertaining? Not in the slightest. "Topsy-Turvy" should be avoided at all costs by any American under the age of, say, 55. Sorry, folks, but Gilbert & Sullivan just doesn't do it for a 21-year-old.
Rating:
Summary: A Must See on DVD!
Review: One reason to see this movie on the DVD version is for the English subtitles. When actors murmur, as they do occasionally in this film, it is difficult to hear all the words and the wonderful Victorian English language. Also, one is able to enjoy all of the words to the Gilbert and Sullivan songs performed in the movie. The costumes are fabulous, the music is fabulous, and the acting is just fabulous (I think Jim Broadbent's portrayal of the grizzly, yet at times tender Gilbert should have gotten him nominated for an Oscar). The rest of the actors are just as good, especially Martin Savage, who plays the comic actor/singer George Grossmith. Those with a shorter attention span may find it a little long at nearly 3 hours, but I enjoyed the length. I didn't want it to end. And I am a Generation Y(er), and we have the shortest attention spans out there! Catch all the words on DVD and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: DVD Format Makes this Movie a Must
Review: . After having watched TOPSY-TURVY, I couldn't wait to buy the DVD for myself--not because I wanted to see the whole movie again, but because I wanted to see parts of it again and again. This is the quintessential movie to have in your own collection. The scenes of performances from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas are better than I ever hope to see on stage, because they have been assembled and produced with meticulous attention to detail, transforming us right into the audiences in London at the turn of the century where people read Gilbert's libretto even as they watch the show on opening night. I was in fact surprised to see this authentic touch, for Gilbert's librettos, and the D'Oly Carte Opera Company, are noted for their precision of diction. If the words are that clearly sung, why follow the words on paper? The reason is Respect. There was enormous respect for Gilbert's phenomenal lyrical abilities. And imagine, those opening night audiences could even see and hear Sir Arthur Sullivan conducting the orchestra. If there ever was a "blast from the past," this movie is it! The finest scenes in the movie--each worth the price of admission, as they say--are those actual scenes from the operettas. But the most mind-blowing scene of all is the extended scene of the rehearsal for "The Mikado," where we find Gilbert as director trying to get the right "look" for the show out of his actors. The actors resist him a bit (after all, all actors do), and we see that there must have been an enormous amount of trust in Gilbert to do it his way. What he wanted was, above all, authenticity--no overacting. Too many real-live performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas have I seen where overacting and mugging take over the show. The specific "English" humor of the G & S team is a straight-faced kind of humor, far more funny because the actors take the script seriously! The hilarity of the G & S vision is easily subverted if the actors think that their job on stage is to be individually funny. No, the show is an ensemble thing. It works as a group. And in the movie, we see the actors, individually, but also as members of a group of thespians. It is startling and a bit of wonderful to see these same people get up on stage and do their thing. And they do do it--really. All the actors in this movie are also stage performers. (You can get a clue about this because, for once, they are not all handsome and beautiful; if they were, then we'd know their voices were dubbed!) We share the suspense as we watch these actors, whom we have briefly come to know in the film, get up on stage and blow us away with the most magnificent scenes from "The Mikado" we'd ever hope to see! Why then, only four stars? The film wastes too much time going into the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan, and far too much time on Sullivan's declaration of independence--when he wants to write songs on his own, or write operas on his own. These were all failed attempts, so why resurrect them now? How much better this movie would have been if they had cut some of that extensive dialogue and cut "The Lost Chord" (a Sullivan "popular" song of its day), and instead given us a staged scene--or even two!--from "Pinafore" or "Patience." (I really missed "Pinafore"--I wonder what these actors in this film could have done with it.) I think the reason the producers and director took so much time with the book scenes was that they didn't want to waste all the research they had done into the lives of Gilbert and Sullivan. Somehow they failed to see that we don't want to be bogged down with their lives; we want to know something about them, to be sure, but in the same way we want to know something about the performers--we like to see how it all comes together on stage! Bottom line: a DVD you must have in your collection; its value will grow over the years. A solid four-star film.
Rating:
Summary: Strictly for G&S fans - all others view at your own risk
Review: The "light operas" of Gilbert and Sullivan fall into the same category as "Plan 9 From Outer Space", Wagner operas, Bruckner symphonies, or H.P. Lovecraft stories: you are either a fan, or you aren't, and no arguement can persuade the non-fan of their merit. The film begins after the duo has had most of their greatest sucesses behind them, and the material is getting stale, even to them. The "topsy-turvy" formula of the "plots" wears on Sullivan, and he would like to gain recognition for more serious compositions. Gilbert has no such concerns - he's quite satisfied with *his* life, thank you, but he needs some prodding to find inspiration outside his formula. A visit to a Japanese exhibition, and hey presto! one "Mikado" coming up! The remainder of the film follows the creative process of bringing the work to the stage. *I* found it choppy and episodic, with poor transitions and obscure character motivations. Perhaps if I were more familiar with the biographies, I could have followed it with more sympathy; as it was, I found *both* characters annoying and distasteful. Three hours. To be honest, I didn't know I was locking myself in for a three-hour tour. I've listened to all five hours of "Parsifal" without a problem, but watching these two bicker with each other was like being at a party and having your relatives quarrel - it simply got very, very old after a couple of hours, and by the time it was over, I was wishing a meteor would crush both of them. Obviously I am not a fan of theirs to begin with, and if this film has any relationship to their actual history, it confirms my impression of the two of them as being both mediocre talents who, by virtue of a symbiotic relationship, attained a certain level of upper-middle-brow appeal: sort of an Abbott and Costello for people who collect Princess Di plates and read Trollope. The production values are outstanding, the acting is excellent (although the character who plays the part of the Mikado *is* guilty of relentlessly shameless mugging), and the DVD quality is fine, although I don't share the director's taste for the sepia-toned tableaus. I know that I'll get slammed by all of the G&S fans out there - sorry, folks, I would find a three-hour biography of Allan Pettersson or Sibelius of far greater artistic merit, but THOSE won't be coming out anytime soon. Those of you who like Gilbert and Sullivan can have a great time with this - those of you who actively dislike them probably won't even bother to look at this. I'm just warning the one or two of you out there who don't have an opinion one way or the other.
Rating:
Summary: Unmodified rapture!
Review: I live in fear of Period Films, but this was written and directed by Mike Leigh, with a thoroughbred script and such infectious passion that even at two and a half hours, it seems way too short. I loved its authenticity - I mean, how many movies would strive to make everything from eye makeup to the light itself properly 1880's - and its spirit is modern and grown up. It's real life, not costume drama. And everyone in it does look like who they're playing! especially Jim Broadbent (a brilliant and quintessential W.S. Gilbert), and Martin Savage (George Grossmith), whose resemblances are quite scary. The score is Sullivan's own music, used to excellent effect. My favourite instance is when two of the Savoy leads, over lunch, poke bitterly sarcastic fun at the Empire by "berating" the ungrateful, barely human Hottentots, who haven't played fair with the redcoats at Khartoum. The scene's accompaniment ("The Soldiers of our Queen" from Patience) is G&S' - albeit gentler -dig at the same sort of thing. The entire cast is flawless; acting of this calibre, in such abundance, must be very good for the soul! If I had to single anyone out, it would be Martin Savage, who is every inch the fiendishly talented, quicksilver charmer G.G. must have been. He's the impeccable comedian onstage and off most of the time, but when his chronic first-night nerves become too much (and he has to inject morphine to calm them) it touchingly mirrors the film's quiet skill at sometimes turning its wit into a mask. It's very rare for film characters to be so lovable, and to worry for them so much, considering none of them do anything more heroic than get on with the show... Of course Topsy-Turvy isn't entirely perfect - it's far too intelligent and visceral for that. But I defy anyone to resist a film that drags Gilbert and Sullivan and the whole Victorian age out of mummification and makes them sexy again. Even in a good year for movies, it came like the out-bursting of a trodden star.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most enjoyable films of the '90s
Review: It's understandable that a lot of people have a strong resistance to this movie. It's long, it's full of details about theatrical life in the late 19th century London, it has (and this is certainlly the biggest obstacle for most) a lot of musical scenes. But it's also a pity that prejudice might be alienating a lot of people to a film that, for all its apparent dificulties, is one of the most enjoyables of the last decade. In fact, I can't think of another movie last year with so many memorable scenes. Sure, Gilbert and Sullivan music won't do for every taste. (I never thought I would enjoy it.) But Topsy-Turvy can certainly win a lot of fans for them. And deservedly, since Gilbert's librettos, despite the ridiculous plots, are some of the wittiest in musical theatre, and Sullivan's music is full of inventive touches. Most of all, Topsy-Turvy is a wonderfully funny and touching description of the process of creating art. All the actors are excellent, especially Jim Broadbent as Gilbert and Lesley Manville as his wife, both in a devastatingly beautiful and melancholic end scene. And Mike Leigh's direction is the best of 1999.
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