Topsy-Turvy
by Mike Leigh
List Price:
Our Price: $19.97
You Save: $0.01 (0%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $14.00 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Allan Corduner, Dexter Fletcher, Jim Broadbent, Roger Heathcott, Sukie SmithDirector: Mike Leigh
Cinematographer: Dick Pope
Writer: Mike Leigh
Editor: Robin Sales
Producer: Georgina Lowe
Producer: Simon Channing Williams
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 160 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-06-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Polygram USA Video
DVD Reviews of Topsy-Turvy
DVD Review: Great Movie...Why's it Out of Print?
Summary: 5 Stars
As a Gilbert and Sullivan fan, I have always found this movie to be very interesting. The film might be a bit too slowly paced for some. I enjoyed the portrayls of daily life in the Victorian Era, but that aspect of the film may not be enjoyed by all. The one complaint I've heard about this film is that it is "too slow."
In my opinion the movie really hits its stride when it talks about the making of Gilbert and Sullivan's famous operetta, "The Mikado." The scenes that describe the reactions of those in Victorian England to Japanese culture are the most amusing in the film.
"Topsy Turvy" also features actors who do their own singing, which for the most part is quite impressive. The scenes that feature actual moments from various operettas are amongst my favorites. I have loved this movie since I first saw it in 1999, and its a shame its out of print and become harder to get a hold of.
DVD Review: Corroborative - see the movie.
Summary: 4 Stars
You forget you're watching a movie. That's how all Mike Leigh's movies work. Just totally interesting from beginning to end. DVD Review: excellent movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
Love the acting ( all star cast) , the set designs, costumes, and filled with drama and comedy..this is a page turner movie, must be owned because you are going to want to see it over and over again!
DVD Review: Gilbert - Broadbent - victorian spectator - Japanese theatre
Summary: 5 Stars
For me one of the most engaging moments in the film is when Gilbert, played by Broadbent, encounters Japanese Kendo fighting and especially Japanese theater. This is set up as a prelude to suggesting that an exhibition of Japanese culture Gilbert attends starts him off thinking up the Mikado. Whatever the intentions Broadbent's reactions as the camera focuses on his reactions to the unfolding drama in the play demonstrate in a completely convincing way how a Victorian Londoner would react to a (Noh?) play. He utterly and with an exquisite degree of facial movement replicates a man who doesn't understand the drama he is watching, can barely relate to it, or can only respond to it as a Victorian might, but respects it. Broadbent's depiction of a Victorian popular artist thinking through the artistic problems brought about in a visit to a Japanese exhibition is spellbinding but minutely subtle. Broadbent was Victorian. Remarkable work... DVD Review: A fascinating look at The Mikado
Summary: 5 Stars
Modern day recordings of works by Gilbert and Sullivan are few and far between; those that are in widescreen and surround sound even fewer, though a notable exception is the Australian version of HMS Pinafore and Trial by Jury. The Mike Leigh directed `Topsy Turvy' shows what should be possible for an entire version of `The Mikado' and it is only frustrating that the brief excerpts shown during this fascinating biography do not exist in an extended form. This engrossing movie seems to capture the idiosyncrasies of the two main characters perfectly and the fact that some considerable time is spent showing how `Three Little Maids' and `I am the Lord High Executioner' may have been developed, only gives us more opportunity to watch the skill of the actors getting to grips with this quintessentially English opera.
Description of Topsy-Turvy
At first glance, a musical period comedy-drama about Gilbert and Sullivan seems an odd fit for British filmmaker Mike Leigh, who made his name with searing, intense contemporary dramas such as Secrets and Lies and Career Girls. What could the Victorian world of two composers (of "light opera," no less) have to offer a filmmaker who specializes in the world of modern-day middle class England? Plenty, as it turns out. A wonderful meditation on the creation of art, Topsy-Turvy catches Gilbert and Sullivan at a crossroads in their illustrious careers. Having scored numerous hits (like The Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore), they've reached a creative dry spot with their latest, Princess Ida. Composer Sullivan (Allan Corduner) despairs of ever being taken seriously, and vows to write a "serious" piece, much to the consternation of librettist Gilbert (Jim Broadbent), who's flummoxed and unyielding when asked to change another of his whimsical, "topsy-turvy" scenarios. All seems lost when, thanks to his wife's insistence, Gilbert attends a Japanese exposition in London, and faster than you can say "Three little maids from school are we," inspiration strikes.The rest, as they say, is history, but Leigh re-creates the creative process with meticulous and loving care, from the writing of The Mikado to its staging (wherein Gilbert acts as director), costuming, orchestration, rehearsal, and ultimate premiere. Some may balk at the running time of the film (almost three hours), but it's a journey well worth taking, down to the precise details of late-19th-century London. Still, you'll know you're in Mike Leigh territory, with his precise characterizations and a heartfelt, melancholy ending. And no one has a way with actors like Leigh. This peerless ensemble, headed up by Broadbent in an Oscar-worthy performance, inhabits their characters like a second skin, and it's wonderful to see an authentic-feeling period drama in which the actors resemble real people and you don't expect someone glamorous like Helena Bonham Carter or Rupert Everett to pop up. Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados will revel in the reenactments of The Mikado (newcomers will likely be won over, too). All in all, a breathtaking film. --Mark Englehart
Comedy DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in Comedy DVDs
Gosford ParkUniversal; Release date: 2002-06-25; DVD
Best price: $2.95
Price in other shops:
Ladies in LavenderSony; Release date: 2005-12-06; DVD
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops:
Waking Ned DevineRelease date: 1999-06-01; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Shakespeare in Love (Miramax Collector's Series)PALTROW,GWYNETH; Release date: 1999-12-07; DVD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops:
Mansfield Park (1999)Release date: 2000-07-11; DVD
Best price: $5.07
Price in other shops:
Masterpiece Theatre: Northanger AbbeyWGBH BOSTON VIDEO; Release date: 2008-01-22; DVD
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops:
Billy ElliotUniversal; Release date: 2001-04-17; DVD
Best price: $6.36
Price in other shops:
Love Actually (Widescreen Edition)Universal; Release date: 2004-04-27; DVD
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2001-02-27; DVD
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
Sense & Sensibility (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 1999-08-24; DVD
Best price: $5.78
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The Lives of OthersSony; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Man on WireRelease date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $16.19
Price in other shops:
La Vie en Rose (Extended Version)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-11-13; DVD
Best price: $14.28
Price in other shops:
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Reed, Adams, Potter, Masterson, Godfrey, D'Oyly Carte Opera CompanyRelease date: 2003-09-30; DVD
Best price: $31.08
Price in other shops:
AmadeusWarner Brothers; Release date: 1997-12-17; DVD
Best price: $9.79
Price in other shops:
The Complete Annotated Gilbert & SullivanOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2005-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.69
Price in other shops:
Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Trial By Jury - David Hobson, Anthony Warlow, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia, State Theatre, The Arts Centre MelbourneRelease date: 2006-06-27; DVD
Best price: $16.13
Price in other shops:
Topsy-Turvy - The Music of Gilbert & Sullivan: From the Original Motion Picture SoundtrackRelease date: 1999-12-07; Music CD
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Kline, Ronstadt, Smith, Routledge, Delacorte Theater (Broadway Theatre Archive)Release date: 2002-10-22; DVD
Best price: $13.61
Price in other shops:
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Eric Idle, Lesley Garrett, Richard Van Allan, Felicity Palmer, Richard Angas, Bonaventura Bottone, Susan Bullock, English National OperaA&E; Release date: 2005-12-26; DVD
Best price: $3.91
Price in other shops: