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Nanki-Poo takes a gander at Mike Leigh's TOPSY TURVY
Hey folks, Harry here with a look at Mike Leigh's Christmas Eve release, TOPSY TURVY. I am a saucer-eyed fan of SECRETS & LIES and felt that it was an absolute exquisite movie with sterling performances throughout... So I am pleased to hear that Ron Cook is in this film as well... plus we have Timothy Spall and a group I'm not too familiar with, but then that just lends itself to the possiblility of finding a bunch of great new talent... So... read on... it's about the first production of THE MIKADO from Gilbert & Sullivan... Fun...
Dear Harry, etc...
Late last week I caught a screening of Mike Leigh's latest film "Topsy
Turvy" here in NYC. Its an interesting look into the lives and events
surrounding the first production of Gilbert and Sullivan's famous
operetta "The Mikado".
If you are not a theater historian or music buff Gilbert and Sullivan
may strike you as a lot of stiff (re: bad) comedy and overwrought
singing. I know that if done wrong G&S operettas can seem like
neverending, humourless dirges--but the re-creations of the original
D'oyle Carte Theater productions are wonderfully executed and extremely
well performed. Like Shakespeare, these works need that homegrown
British delivery.
The movie, which I found visually striking, weaves the stories of
composer Arthur Sullivan, his partner WS Gilbert, their producer, acting
company and various family and friends against the mounting of The
Mikado. The problems of their offstage lives set in relief to the glory
of the stage performances are delved into. The tragic "real" lives of
people of the theater is no great original concept per se, but this film
nonetheless delivers poignancy, great humour and wonderful music in one
fell swoop. Its historically accurate, too. There is one very funny
scene were Gilbert is sternly dictating the staging to his cast--which
is exactly what he did (Jeremy Broadbent is great as the stodgy
Gilbert).
If you like British 19th century pieces (and great music) I encourage
you to check this movie out. It may not have computer effects, hobbits
or spaceships, but there can be something definately "cool" about G&S!
Call me Nanki-Poo
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Damn, them Gilbert and Sullivans is good. I like-y. I like-y the Pirates of Penzance. I like-y the H.M.S. Pentafore. I like-y... me wanna see-y... and I expect someone to call this guy a plant, because his spelling and grammar were excellent, and he had an excellent vocabulary. But I ain't gonna call him a plant, cause me wants to see-a da movie! Oh, and I'm not gonna say I'm first, even if I am.
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Never seen a Mike Leigh film. Never been interested, until now. I love G&S, and have for the last 10 years, ever since my school put on a production of The Mikado. I was 12 years old, and played Nanki-Poo, and have loved G&S ever since. They really are very clever shows when done well, which sadly is very rare. But I really want to see this film. It does sound good. ***** www.homestead.com/vertigofilms/
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Nov 22, 1999 8:13:50 AM CST
Mike Leigh is easily one of today's best director/writers...
by stephen dedalus
...and if you want evidence of that, look at his beautiful, low-key, character-driven dramas like S&L, LIFE IS SWEET, ABIGAIL'S PARTY, NAKED, HIGH HOPES, and many others. I can't wait to see this. Leigh is single-handedly responsible for reviving the "kitchen-sink" genre of British movie-making, which is a genre that focuses on the ordinary, everyday problems of regular, working-class types. Good examples from the '60's and '70's include A KIND OF LOVING, BUTLEY, SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, KES, and A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG. All of these are highly recommended for any serious film lover. I'm going to find as many as possible over Thanksgiving break- unfortunatly, many are not on video (at least not in the culture-depraved U.S.). They always have good performances- look at Alan Bates' remarkable work in A KIND OF LOVING, BUTLEY, and A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG, and tell me if he is not one of the best actors to ever grace the screen. Try and find as many as you can. Great stuff.
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Gotta take exception to that 'single-handedly revived' remark. Ain'tcha never heard of Ken Loach? But it is great to see Leigh branching out a bit again- Naked and Secrets & Lies were both brilliant, but his work since has felt a little stale to me. This should be just the thing to snap him out of it.
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All I know is that I have been singing this song all week.
does any one know what it means in english... Sorry for the spelling. "miasamo miasamo ono mani mayaki..." etc... you either get it or you don't -
okokokok, I'm sure not all legit posters are illiterate, grammer mongreling,writers....but this review just reeks of a publicity/marketing stunt, someone making too little in NY working for PMK or a free-lancer from from R&C days....There is no doubt Mike Leigh deserves his due and Hey Anton, to my recollection your mentioning of Ken Loach actually qualifies as "knowing"..something you've never been accused before but I digress....Anyway I have posted early reviews, and this smells to much of passive posit-spin.... the "getting of awareness and title recognition to informed, fragmented enthusiasts of cinema" especially if Leigh isn't touring to promote the film and PR firm exploiting all avenues as they send to producers weekly updates of publicity and marketing plans. Or maybe ....no? NOT...the last sentence is the dead give away!
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What is it with G&S being "like Shakespeare" in that it needs "that homegrown English delivery." I've seen some very good American productions of Shakespeare and heard some excellent renditions of G&S. Are you one of those guys who was disappointed during "Joan of Arc" because everyone didn't have a French accent? Just wait until "Love's Labours Lost" with Matthew Lillard comes out! Muahahaha!
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Big Mike Leigh fan here - caught this flick a month ago, and you'll be interested to know that his unique style of filmmaking translates EXQUISITELY to the period. Usually he improvises with the actors in endless rehearsals to create films that are truly personal, I'm not sure if he used his trademark approach here though. The first half of the film constitutes one of the better costume dramas I've seen focusing on the differing paths of Gilbert & Sullivan and the nature of art and industry and selling out. Particularly memorable is the depiction of inspiration as Jim Broadbent goes delirious over a Japanese trade exhibit thing and attempts to bring his experience to his theatre company. From here on out the film loses momentum and becomes a very tedious inside look at the preparation of a musical - complete with rehearsal notes presented as boring as they would appear in real life, and entire song run-throughs which go on and on with pretty stagant staging. Some are delightful - particularly THREE GIRLS FROM SCHOOL or whatever the fuck that song is, some are unbearable like most of Timothy Spallfucks off-key warblings. After awhile the entire affair is about as fun as watching some neighbor's child in a junior high ballet recital, but with beautiful costumes.
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I saw the preview for this at the pre-screening of 'Being John Malcovich', and I greatly embarrassed the people I was with by singing along. This is SUCH a good subject. The Mikado was the best work of two musical and comic geniuses, and they were very interesting personalities, too. I'm all over that.
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I saw this at the London Film Festival 2 weeks back. I was pleasantly surprised at Timothy Spall's singing. His dance was priceless, too. Like Cradle Will Rock this is an excellent movie about theater. Better than Shakespeare in Love in that regard, Topsy Turvy and Cradle are about what it's really like to put a play together. Brilliant!
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Tommy, the song you're thinking of is "Three Little Maids from School". I'm so excited about this! I fell in love with G&S in 1984, when I played Ko-Ko in a children's adaptation of "The Mikado" (I was 12) and, while we were in rehearsals, I saw "Chariots of Fire". (If you recall, Harold Abrahams was quite a Savoyard in that film, and his girlfriend was a singer at the D'Oyly Carte.) Perhaps this will inspire a new generation! ********************************** Oh, and on the question of G&S "needing to be British"; one of the best productions of The Mikado I ever saw was done by a company from Stratford, Ontario. They updated the "Little List", but otherwise were very faithful... and the Mikado was hilarious, with a Brian Blessed-style delivery: "Something lingering... with boiling oil in it. Yes, boiling oil... or melted lead."
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