# Topsy-Turvy (1999)

### reviewed by
Jerry Saravia

To be perfectly honest (as I usually am), I was not exactly looking forward to a film about the musical operetta kings Gilbert and Sullivan. Why you might ask? Because I am not a big fan of musicals in general, and musicals by any composer, even Stephen Sondheim, are not exactly my cup of tea. On the other hand, excluding my naivete for a moment, I was deeply enthralled by Mike Leigh's new film "Topsy-Turvy." This is a wonderfully illuminating look at the theatre and the backstage lives of the actors involved in making a musical - the pains, the tears, the heartbreak, the confusion, the need to express oneself creatively and personally, etc.

The film wisely spends more than an hour detailing the lives of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the status of their new musical, "Princess Ida," which received mixed reviews and proclaimed Gilbert as the "king of Topsy-Turvydom." The highly repressed and laconic librettist William Schwenck Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) seems to have no idea how to react to such news except that the show must go on. While writing his music, Gilbert mostly ignores his faithful wife, his seemingly senile father, and his crotchety bedridden mother.

The sickly, charming, luxurious Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner) has no intention of continuing his collaboration with Gilbert if they persist producing such lightly frolicking musicals dealing with magic potions. He wants to do more personal work. This almost sounds like the story of those 70's Hollywood film directors trying to survive in the soulless 90's of commerce and box-office. One day, however, Gilbert is inspired to write "The Mikado," and thus the collaboration with Sullivan is renewed. The musical looks like it might be a disaster considering that it consists of white British actors playing Japanese denizens wearing silk robes - one of the actors complains about the indecency of removing their corsets. How would an audience respond to such a musical? And is disaster imminent when Gilbert consults real Japanese women to see how they really behave and act?

The unerring delight in "Topsy-Turvy" is in witnessing how the production of such a comical musical takes shape, and in seeing how the people involved are affected by it with their own little vignettes taking place. We have the comical actor (Martin Savage) with a need for morphine; the lead soprano (Shirley Henderson) who has fits of drinking and is a single mother; and most importantly, the portly-shaped actor playing the lead role, Richard Temple as the Mikado (Timothy Spall, a Leigh regular), who is saddened that Gilbert cut his leading musical number. And of course, we get a view of Gilbert and Sullivan's complicated lives, including Gilbert's wife's awareness that her husband is inattentive to her needs in a heartrending scene.

"Topsy-Turvy" explores every single aspect of theatre you can imagine. There is the costuming, appropriate line readings at rehearsals, accounting practices, box-office revenues, heartaches and headaches over casting, makeup sessions where actors talk about one another, jealousies, etc. Next to Kenneth Branagh's delectable "A Midwinter's Tale," this is as good as it gets when it comes to the world of theatre.

My favorite scenes involve rehearsal and actual musical numbers. I love the extended scene where Gilbert enunciates every single syllable that is erred during rehearsal down to the most minute detail - the scene is long but essential in capturing the nightmare of minutiae and detail in rehearsals. I also love the musical numbers from "The Mikado" which reverberate with momentum and high energy - it gives you the feeling that you are near the stage at the Savoy Theatre watching a live performance.

"Topsy-Turvy" ranks with Mike Leigh's best work, including the near-brilliant "Secrets and Lies." This film is one to admire for many generations, showing the pains and excesses one must endure to create theatre and the rich rewards one reaps from all the hard work. When the lights go down, the magic begins as the audience is transported into another world. The process by which this happens is at the heart of "Topsy-Turvy."

For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://buffs.moviething.com/buffs/faust/

E-mail me with any questions, complaints or general comments at Faust667@aol.com or at faustus_08520@yahoo.com

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