Topsy-Turvy

Delightfully observant and detailed, and outfitted so beautifully that I can hardly keep myself from squealing like a little girl at the sight of almost every new scene. The decision to have the actors perform their own music pays off hugely in ways I don't have room to go into here. The acting is simply out of this world; Broadbent once again delivers a masterpiece of a performance with seemingly no effort; Lesley Manville and the criminally underutilized Shirley Henderson are both fantastic.

A very enjoyable period drama that manages to stay engaging throughout its long runtime. This movie definitely takes its time with every scene, but it's not without reason. If you can muster up the time and attention, this is a great watch that will likely fly by – although being into theatre and music probably helps. It's pure moviemaking; no frills or big plot twists, just well-portrayed human interactions and culture.

Definitely for G&S fans, and not just for anyone, but a delightful look into the world of the English Theatre during this time period.

A truly great movie about the creative process. The story of the inspiration for and making of The Mikado is never less than thrilling and deeply engrossing, and the script is offbeat and funny and tender and the acting is superb. Plus the music is wonderful. See this movie!

I'm not a Gilbert & Sullivan fan. All that laboriously clever wordplay irks me. But being a fan is not an absolute requirement for appreciating this movie. It's more about the creative process. And on that score, it's quite engaging. It helps that the characters are exceptionally well-drawn, even the minor players. I thought the period reproduction was obtrusive. It was impressive set design, but too in-your-face. Overall an entertaining film, though probably more so for fans of musical theater.

An excellent backstage drama from Leigh, who continues his career-long focus on strained relationships with this look at Gilbert and Sullivan staging the first production of The Mikado. Leigh sprinkles in a number of counterpoints to the more dour tone of the relations: the energetic musical numbers, Jim Broadbent's dry, comic performance, and the theatrical sets bursting with color. The mystery of broken people creating beautiful, entertaining, and comic art is on full display here.

Being a theater person, I understood the facets of this story, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

A lovely look at English musical theater, with some slight musings on the artistic journey as well. The film is long-winded and often loses focus -plus, I'm not really acquainted with Gilbert & Sullivan: these are all factors that prevented me from enjoying this one as much as other Leighs. Still, it's funny, gentle and robustly acted (especially by Broadbent and Spall and my wonderful Manville gets a great scene there at the end). The final scenes almost pushed it to 75.

Perfect blend of the spectacle of theater, the wordplay of Gilbert, and Leigh's own subtle, realistic view into the people herein. I will admit to holding a great affection for films that chronicle a work of art, though.

Utterly charming and delightful evocation of life in the theatre is certainly one of the most "fun" and light-hearted of Leigh's films, with the joy he takes in this material palpable in every frame; a boisterous and cheerful cast singing their own songs is icing on the cake, with the film also servicing as a high class semi-production of MIKADO in it's own right. Overstuffed and overlong to be sure, but the cumulative good spirits outweigh any defects.

Lot to love here, but also a good deal that I'm indifferent to. The writing and dialogue are great, as are the actors, typical Leigh but a bit lighter in tone. It all does a great job of making me care about a story I wouldn't otherwise have much interest in. It's a really long film, though, and while it made me care it didn't make me care that much, especially when a lot of that runtime is full scenes from operettas. If you like that it's probably a plus, they work well, just not for me.

# 898

All the characters feel so fleshed out even if they're only in the film for a couple minutes, the look at the creative process is rather wonderful, many of the performances are terrific and most impressively of all I found the film to be by quite some distance one of Leigh's funniest.

(Viewed on 28/04/14): Leigh's period films tend to go either way, mostly due to his penchant for trivia and his complete lack of taste. The upper class are Dickensian eccentrics in the typically British way, and the classicism is handled rather benignly. Spall and Broadbent are certainly entertaining as Gilbert and Sullivan, and their performances are delivered with a knowing smirk. Their backstage squablling is amusing, but you would have to be a big Gilbert and Sullivan fan to REALLY enjoy it.

I just can't get into the vaudevillian setting. Maybe it's the colors, or the sideburns.

It's probably a good film -- if you're a Gilbert and Sullivan fan. For me, G&S are like nails under the chalkboard so....there's that. Sorry.

A period-piece biopic that works both as an entertaining musical and also as an examination of artistry. Jim Broadbent is delightfully droll.

83.500

Anyone who has ever performed in a Gilbert and Sullivan production should see this movie. There will be added humor and enjoyment for these viewers, especially for those who have acted, sung, and danced in the Mikado.

A love letter to the creative process, decoratively intricate, authentic and gaudy. Probably should be reserved to G&S fans, theater majors, or Brits(-at-heart) for maximum enjoyment.

Intimate and joyful portrait of Victorian entertainment and domesticity, and the timeless struggle that goes towards wringing successful artistic collaboration out of flawed human beings. Shirley Henderson is my favourite part of a rich cast of UK character actors.

Maybe if you are into Gilbert & Sullivan or stage musicals this would be entertaining, for me it was two and a half hours of unrelenting boredom.

Há exatos vinte anos esse filme estreava no Festival de Veneza. E provavelmente eu teria gostado mais desse filme se eu o tivesse visto no cine,ma ou se eu fosse familiar com a obra de Gilbert e Sullivan, o "arremate" de Leigh é precioso, mas não me envolveu de modo absoluto. BlurayRip no MakingOff.

82.500

Leigh creates what's almost a documentary about something that happened a generation before motion pictures were invented. The attention to detail in every aspect of the film is astonishing. The focus on the intricacies of recreating the time period and the process of staging an operetta sometimes causes the film to lose its thematic momentum. Beautifully-performed and painstakingly-recreated, Topsy-Turvy is a love letter to Gilbert and Sullivan and the act of creating a shared work of art.

This was my first movie by Leigh, and it just didn't do anything for me at all. There's nothing necessarily BAD about it. The costumes and sets and period aspects are great, the performances are fine, it's well made, but I think it was just subject matter that didn't interest me at all. If you're a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's works or a big fan of theater in general you might like it more. I feel bad rating it this low because it's more a not for me problem than an actual issue with the film.

It's just too boring for my liking. I know that's a lazy criticism to make, but in this case, it's also the most honest one.