At first glance this movie may seem like a biographical treatment of Gilbert and Sullivan; it is actually a representation of a bygone age, employing the figures of William Schwenk Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan to counterpoise the contradictions within the later Victorian period. Sullivan (in Allan Corduner's performance) is the sensation-seeker, Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) the cerebral eccentric. Both are virtuosos as composer and librettist/director respectively, creating comic masterpieces unparalleled since Aristophanes. Broadbent's performance in particular marks this actor as one of Britain's very best; but the design work got the Oscar awards and nominations, and rightly so. Mike Leigh's script and direction are taut and convincing. The scenes set within the Savoy Theatre in London are as authentic anyone will ever see in a movie.
Review of Topsy-Turvy
