Topsy-Turvy (1999)

Regisseur:

Mike Leigh

Drehbuchautor:

Mike Leigh (written by)

Premierendatum:

14. Januar 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Biographie | Komödie | Drama | Musik

Werbezeile:

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:

Costume Drama | Period Piece | Old Man | Writing | Nudity

Filmpreise:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 22 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Victorian England refracted through Gilbert & Sullivan

Besetzung

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

Alternativ:

Mike Leigh Untitled (USA) (working title)
Topsy-Turvy - Auf den Kopf gestellt (Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of risque nudity.

Länge:

160 Min

Produktionsland:

UK

Sprache:

Englisch | Französisch | Deutsch | Italienisch | Japanisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

Iceland:L | 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)

Drehorte:

Hertfordshire, England, UK

Firma:

Goldwyn Films

Dies und das:

The tower structure on the backdrop of the Mikado set is a painting of the Pagoda at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a few miles away from Richmond Theatre where the scenes were filmed.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: Length of Sullivan's cigarette and ash during their lengthy discussion

Dialogzitate:

Lucy Gilbert (Kitty): Schwenk speaks to The Savoy every morning in code, father-in-law. Just in case the telephone operator should be eavesdropping.
Gilbert's Father: One might as well open the window and shout down the street.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

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

Soundtrack:

This Helmet, I Suppose

Victorian England refracted through Gilbert & Sullivan

I was introduced to Gilbert & Sullivan in my very early teens under the auspices of the parents of one of my friends. They took us to Falmouth on Cape Cod to a place called Highfield, the summer home of the Oberlin College Players. They specialized in G&S and other light operettas.

I learned to appreciate G&S, but I never became a fanatical devotee, even with the historical context patiently explained to me by my friend's mom. (It was similar with Shakespeare. The language could be a barrier rather than a gateway.)

The audience in the theater where I saw Topsy-Turvy was filled with devotees. You could hear their delight as they viewed the actual performances of Gilbert & Sullivan's work in the film. The director, Mike Leigh, through skillful editing and camera work, does an excellent job of photographing a stage presentation, certainly one of the best I've ever seen on film. He uses closeups, and though the actors are using an exaggerated, theatrical style, somehow the G&S material has never been clearer to me; and I've seen at least a dozen G&S performances, including two D'Oyle Carte productions (Pirates and The Mikado), the present-day descendant company of the Savoy Theater depicted in the film. People who have never seen G&S before will appreciate their work here.

Most of all, the film is very much about the highly contrasting personalities of William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, the former emotionally restrained, the latter a hedonist. Leigh allows us to get to know them quite well and a host of other characters too, though G&S are first among equals in this excellent, ensemble cast. Among the supporting players, I found Shirley Henderson to be increasingly interesting as the film progressed, and I felt rewarded when she was the central character in the last two scenes of the film.

The period settings, manners, and speech are very accurate and detailed. As presented here, the Victorian era seems physically stifling, with people leading their lives in the close quarters of dressing rooms, offices, restaurants, living rooms, and bedrooms. Even more stifling is the emotional inhibition masked by correctly blustery forthrightness. Toward the end of the film, there's a revealing and poignant scene between Gilbert and his wife which makes this all very clear, and what also becomes clear is how important theatrical presentations were to people then as a means of expressing themselves in a culture which sanctioned few quarters to do so. It's one of the best examples of Mike Leigh's direction.

The G&S operettas were, of course, a commentary on Victorian times. In the film, you can see why they were so wildly popular. In that period, I think so many people were so restrained and distant from their own feelings that even the, to us, mannered and wordy G&S operettas were a breath of fresh air in Victorian England. The few occasions when Leigh breaks out of consistently claustrophobic medium shots and closeups are when he gives us a wide view of the full, theatrical stage.

Topsy-Turvy is about how Gilbert and Sullivan refracted Victorian England through a proscenium arch. Mike Leigh refracts it again through the camera lens in a way that allows us to see ourselves in our times by looking at G&S and their operettas in theirs. This is a long film (over two and one half hours), and given the subject matter, not to everyone's interest, though it's far more than the specifics of the period and the material. I found it to be my favorite film of the year thus far, and I highly recommend it.