The lilting spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan's flights of operatic fancy is dishearteningly scarce in "Topsy-Turvy," writer-director Mike Leigh's reverent but rambling slice-of-life period piece. Leigh ("Secrets & Lies") delves indulgently into the lives of two of the Victorian era's foremost artistic creators, but with little insight into the process that he devotes so much time to exploring.
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The year is 1884, and librettist William S. Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner), with such successes as "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "The Pirates of Penzance" under their belts, are well established as popular and critical darlings - not to mention cash cows for the Savoy Theatre, which has them under contract.
But their whimsical operettas are beginning to strain under the demands of their producers and the public. Their latest offering, "Princess Ida," is fading at the box office, its lack of popularity exacerbated by a blistering heat wave. And the critics are suggesting - savagely, of course - that the duo's powers of invention have faded.
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The priggish Gilbert huffs, fumes and gets back to work, but the libertine, sickly Sullivan takes a more drastic approach: Before leaving to recuperate in Europe (French brothels, after all, are known for their healing powers), the composer announces his intention never to work with Gilbert again. Insecure about his place in history, Sir Arthur hopes to pour his talents into symphonies and grand opera.
But Leigh bungles this initial conflict, the first of many dramatic missteps that prevent "Topsy-Turvy" from becoming compelling as story. Gilbert and Sullivan's war of wills had the potential to become a massive clash of showbiz egos, offering the chance for an engaging and relevant look at the vain and powerful men who always have, and seemingly always will, dictate how we should be entertained.
Instead, under Leigh's defiantly naturalistic direction - he favors long, static takes - the conflict simply dissipates until it's gone. And halfway through, the film undergoes a radical shift where Gilbert's wife drags him to an exhibition of Japanese culture. In this leaden, obvious scene, the inspiration for his next triumph, "The Mikado," is born.
The rest of "Topsy-Turvy" is devoted to the process of putting together the show; still, remarkably little tension arises. The dramatic infrastructure is so poor that for his climax, Leigh contrives a dilemma so trivial that it begins only 10 minutes prior to its resolution.
Leigh is much better at capturing the details of late 19th-century life, including trips to the dentist, bedroom politics and, most amusingly, such newfangled contraptions as the crude, untrustworthy telephone, already contributing irrevocably to the erosion of the written word.
"Topsy-Turvy" also nails that peculiarly Victorian policy of striving for absolute authenticity on stage, a rather silly goal in the case of "The Mikado," which takes place in Japan without the benefit of a single Japanese actor. And when authenticity is at odds with Victorian extremes of propriety, propriety wins: Performers of both genders complain that their kimonos, designed in strict accordance with Japanese styles, will not allow them to wear their corsets.
Broadbent is fabulous as Gilbert, playing him with a mix of ego, indignation and desert-dry wit. Standouts in his company of players include Timothy Spall as a rotund baritone, and Shirley Henderson and Martin Savage as two performers struggling with addiction. Corduner, though, brings little energy to the role of Sullivan, whose debauched lifestyle could have made him far more interesting than Gilbert.
Leigh's realist style grants a firm sense of time and place, but does little to illuminate Gilbert's or Sullivan's imagination, much less transport yours. Even though Gilbert structures his plots around supernatural spells, flutes and potions, there's little cinematic magic to be found in Leigh's 160 minutes of "Topsy-Turvy"
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