"Topsy-Turvy" is a decent film, but it failed to convince me completely. To be fair, I have to say that I'm not really interested in films about musicians or the victorian theatre. That said, I still think Mike Leigh (of whose films I've only seen the Palme d'Or-Winner "Secrets and Lies" so far) has a done fair job. The cast was worth seeing(especially Gilberts and Sullivans alter ego Jim Broadbent and Allan Coultier, but also Timothy Spall) as basically Leighs account of the "culture clash" between Far East and West is both respectable and entertaining. Since you also get a fine cinematography for your money I could understand to a certain degree why New York's film critics were so in favour of this picture. But yet it has some flaws: Leigh could have easily shortened the first half at least a bit without doing the plot too much harm, but even the more important second part of the film is simply too explicit: he shows us more of these rehearsal scenes for example than we actually need to see. To me, a film has to be really good and moving on forward in order to justify his length (though Topsy-Turvy is with 160 minutes not as long as upcoming movies and I'm not sure whether to look forward to "The Green Mile" and company or not). Don't get me wrong: I'm basically open to most issues film directors wants us to participate in, and I like classical music and this film doubtless has certain appeal. Eventually the fans of the famous duo and of operas will appreciate this one at most, others should decide for themselves if they give "Topsy-Turvy" a chance.
verdict: enjoyable
verdict: enjoyable