Topsy-Turvy

In the film Topsy-Turvy, director Mike Leigh explores the interesting relationship between librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan as they work on their musical "The Mikado". Composer Carl Davis adapted the musical underscore from the works of Arthur Sullivan, and did a commendable job. The soundtrack album is filled with songs from Gilbert and Sullivan from "The Mikado", "Princess Ida", "The Sorcerer" and "The Yeomen of the Guard" - all of which (except "Yeomen") make a staged appearance in the film.

All of the songs appeared (in the film) to be performed by the actors themselves. These performances were rather well done, and I particularly enjoyed Martin Savage's musical performance as Grossmith in "Princess Ida" and "The Mikado", as well as the rest of the cast. The orchestral cues that Davis adapted for the score work rather well in the film - and provide a very important sense of continuity with the songs. If he had gone off and written his own music for the film, I somehow doubt it would have worked as well as it did with the adaptation.

Topsy-Turvy was a rather well done film, but it suffered from small lack of actual plot. The musical numbers were enjoyable, but the rest of the film seemed to drag at times, and made me wonder, "Why are they showing this?" But the music, which is rightfully a large significant part of the film, stood out as being top notch. After all - how can Gilbert and Sullivan go wrong?