Topsy-Turvy

[rm]

How the hell did I miss this in the theaters? I mean, I kept meaning to go -- I so often do, and never got there.

Just, utterly spectacular. And of course, I'm biased, I played Ko-ko in the Mikado when I was in 5th Grade at my all girls school, so I know the show and have a very, very thorough affection for it.

But how great -- perfect costumes, incredible performances, gorgeous sets, a wonderful subtlety, utterly obnoxious humour and a real heart. Wow -- there's a meaningless rave review if ever there was one. I will also add it did a lovely job at touching on the inability some/many/most (choose your own quanitifier, would you?) creative types have to interact with others in any sort of manner that is any sort of use outside of said art. I was really moved by that.

And really, who the hell says, "I know, I'll make a film about the creation of the Mikado!" -- there's a thought process / bit of serendipity I'd love some insight into.

1999 was one hell of a year in film -- and some of the crap that got recognized instead of stuff like this....

It's a good movie if you believe in the romance of theatre and all that. For someone who go beat-up by her peers because she finally scored a good role in a school show with the Mikado, it was positively bizarre.

Comments

I Agree

[keith418.livejournal.com]

All of Mike Leigh's films are good. I especially like High Hopes, Naked, Career Girls, and Bleak Moments.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

That was a truly wonderful film, and you are very correct about 1999 and film - Run Lola Run, the Red Violin, Topsy Turvey, Last Night (a wonderful Canadian film about the end of the world), Felicia's Journey (an amazing film by Atom Egoyan), Princess Mononoke, and of course The Matrix. That was the year I saw more non-SF&F films than any other and that I realized that the mid-90s drought of good films was most definitely over. I hadn't remembered how many films I deeply treasure were made in that year.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I am all about Atom Egoyan's work.

Also don't forget American Beauty and Being John Malkovich.

Seriously weird film year.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I saw Being John Malkovich later than many people, so I didn't remember that it also came out in 1999, it was also excellent - definitely one of those wonderfully quirky films that I was amazed that it ever got made. American Beauty never looked like my sort of thing though.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I have had more vicious arguments about American Beauty than perhaps any other film -- and it's hard to explain why if you haven't seen it, but it's a film people take _very_ _very_ personally, in _very_ _very_ different ways. It's an exceptional piece of work that a lot of people dismiss as shallow, because yeah it's life coming apart in the suburbs -- and isn't that urban smugness or Hollywood cooler-than-thou -- but the film has such a good heart, and such a truthful viciousness, and there are a couple of really awful moments in it that ring so true, it's shocking.

[tommx.livejournal.com]

i think the last atom egoyan film i saw was "the sweet hereafter" which i liked very much, but i felt as if i had a scotch hangover the next day.

and yes, topsy turvey is excellent. loved every bit of it. then, i usually am all over mike leigh's work.

[rezendi.livejournal.com]

of interest: the making of (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/9950/taubin.php).

[rm.livejournal.com]

That's lovely, thanks. I'm glad it talks about those last ten minutes of the film, because I kept waiting for all of that to creep out, and I thought it was incredible -- also that song in the Mikado is quite a thing... both in generally and to me personally, and it works so well.

I mean, I loved, that in this final moment of the film, we have three very clear portrayals of what some of us choose instead of an ordinary life -- and it's so good, and so bittersweet and so matter of fact.

Guh. Just, loved this film.

[ex-mommybir.livejournal.com]

My favorite moment is when Gilbert, in cap and nightshirt, looks down at the fallen Japanese sword, and he smiles *exactly* like the Grinch. Even his mustaches curl up! I have had creative ideas that've made me smile that way, too.

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

It really astounded me to see Mike Leigh's name on Topsy-Turvy; it's delightfully stylized in a manner that I don't associate with him at all.Wonderful film.

As to American Beauty- it still surprises me how many people failed to realize that the film is a tragedy- but not Kevin Spacey's character; Annette Bening's. The film walks a very deft tightrope with her; she's always just this side of being a cartoon. That may be the problem, although there are certainly enough people who are exactly like that in real life.