# Topsy-Turvy (1999)

### reviewed by
Ian Waldron-Mantgani

    Topsy-Turvy     **

Rated on a 4-star scale Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre) Released in the UK by Pathe on February 18, 2000; certificate 12; 160 minutes; country of origin UK; aspect ratio 1.85:1

Directed by Mike Leigh; produced by Simon Channing-Williams. Written by Mike Leigh. Photographed by Dick Pope; edited by Robin Sales.

CAST..... Jim Broadbent..... William Schwenk Gilbert Allan Corduner..... Arthur Sullivan Lesley Manville..... Lucy Gilbert Ron Cook..... Richard D'Oyly Carte Timothy Spall..... Richard Temple Wendy Nottingham..... Helen Lenoir Kevin McKidd..... Durward Lely Martin Savage..... George Grossmith Shirley Henderson..... Leonora Braham Alison Steadman..... Madame Leon

"Topsy-Turvy", for at least its first hour, is fragmented, unfocused and incredibly boring. When it finally settles down to actually following some semblance of a story, it gives us some wonderfully witty and perceptive moments about the putting on of a theatrical production -- but getting there is no mean feat. Watching the movie is like an endurance test to see how prepared we are to remain in the cinema, and only after a long while do we pass and get rewarded.

The film takes place in London in the late 19th Century, where the team behind some of the most successful stage musicals of all time, WS Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner), have just released "Princess Ida". The show is an international flop, due to sweltering weather and reviews that accuse Gilbert and Sullivan of repetitiveness. Sullivan agrees with the criticisms, and decides he cannot keep going on writing the same material. The partnership seems in jeopardy.

Much is made of this plot point in the early sections of "Topsy-Turvy", and yet it does not lead to anything else. Gilbert and Sullivan start to work together on "The Mikado" halfway through the film without Sullivan having to be won over. There's more: Actors, producers, musicians, friends, relatives and business partners are introduced, and then abandoned; some until the end of the film, some completely. Several of the main characters are shown to have grave weaknesses such as joyless marriages, problems with drugs and alcohol, ill health... but none of these things relate to the rest the story.

It's a confusing mishmash of irrelevance, not least because Mike Leigh, the writer and director, feels the need to jump in and out of hundreds of different locations without ever exploring them. He's never had to explore before, since all his previous films have been gritty dramas set in easily recognisable modern-day situations; but he does here, because the densely cluttered interiors of Victorian London are alien to most of us, and we need to get our bearings.

That is easy to do once rehearsals for "The Mikado" begin, because then "Topsy-Turvy" spends most of its time in one place -- the theatre. It is immensely satisfying to watch songs and dance routines develop, and see actors master their lines. Leigh knows this, and allows entire musical numbers to act as the payoffs to a lot of his scenes.

As someone who has both directed an independent film and starred in several school plays, I also enjoyed "Topsy-Turvy" for its entirely accurate depictions of the difficulties that arise when doing such things. Technical problems are a mere trifle when actors are making ridiculous complaints about their costumes, or not paying attention to directions and testing their own terrible ideas on how to play their roles. The picture's best moment comes when one of the "Mikado" players suddenly develops another accent, and Gilbert stops the rehearsal to say in shocked disbelief: "You've become a Cockney!"

It doesn't sound very funny, I know, but the humour is in Broadbent's timing. "Topsy-Turvy" features a lot of excellent performances; costume dramas bring something miraculous out of British actors -- they're put into different worlds, and so the only way to be convincing is to completely inhabit their roles. Nobody here does that better than Broadbent, whose eyes are always busy, whose mouth is always muttering something to itself -- he really does seem to be thinking Gilbert's thoughts.

Rethinking all the film's good qualities, though, leaves me even more perplexed at what on earth was going on during its first hour, which is a pointless, dreary waste of time made even worse by the fact that my watch was broken. Perhaps the projectionist got the reels in the wrong order. Topsy-turvy indeed.

COPYRIGHT(c) 2000 Ian Waldron-Mantgani

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