Topsy-Turvy - turned upside down

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Movie
German title Topsy-Turvy - turned upside down
Original title Topsy turvy
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length 154 minutes
Rod
Director Mike Leigh
script Mike Leigh
production Simon Channing-Williams
music Carl Davis
camera Dick Pope
cut Robin Sales
occupation

Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 film about the composer duo Gilbert and Sullivan by British director Mike Leigh , which won two Academy Awards.

action

London in 1885. For the Savoy Theater compose Arthur Sullivan and William S. Gilbert commercial operas. Sullivan composes the music and Gilbert writes the lyrics. The two partners have been very successful for years, but their last piece, "Princess Ida", was not met with critical acclaim. Gilbert in particular is being accused by the press of being unimaginative and too routine. His partner Sullivan suspects the same, who does more important things, such as B. a symphony or a "great opera" has in mind. Gilbert's next draft text is thrown out by Sullivan, but the two have to meet their contractual obligations on the other side.

The uninspired Gilbert goes to an exhibition of Japanese art with his wife. And now he has an idea: 'Mikado', a Japanese-inspired drama. Sullivan is also impressed by the idea. Problems now arise: time pressure, problems during rehearsals, interpersonal problems among the actors. The meticulous and hard working Gilbert, despite all these problems, leads the project to the premiere together with his partner.

criticism

The film-dienst judges: "A very modern historical film about the theater at the theater, which not only describes the development of a stage work, but also addresses bitter interpersonal experiences. The humane view of the director does not create a distance to the characters, but becomes the audience on the contrary, introduced to people and their motivations. " .

background

When Richard Temple sings the aria A More Human Mikado , the third verse is missing, which includes the line “blacked like a nigger”. According to Leigh, the line “blacked like a nigger”, which has been changed to “painted with vigor” since 1950, was included in the original version. This would have caused quite a stir. When editing the film, which turned out to be too long, this verse was also omitted, which saved unnecessary trouble.

Andy Serkis was pretty pissed off after filming finished. He had learned to play the violin for one scene, but that scene was no longer included in the finished film.

In a scene during the performance of 'Princess Ida' the date Monday, June 10, 1884 can be seen. This day fell on a Tuesday (Tuesday).

When playing the piano in the bedroom, the positions of the keys played do not match the notes on the score.

The director was subsequently very annoyed about a mistake: The Norwegian capital, which was then called Kristiania (until 1877 Christiania), is named "Oslo" in the film.

At the time the film is set (1885), Arthur Sullivan was allowed to call himself Sir. In 1883 he was of Queen Victoria to the Knights defeated.

Awards

literature

  • Mike Leigh: Topsy-Turvy: a personal journey. In David Eden, Meinhard Saremba (ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Gilbert and Sullivan, pp. 153-176. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-71659-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Lexicon of International Films 2000/2001 (CD-ROM)
  2. ↑ See The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd ( Memento of the original dated February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / salon.com archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Interview with Michael Sragow at salon.com, December 23, 1999