Topsy-Turvy - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

The first taste of musical plays I received in JHS was Gilbert and Sullivan's"The Mikado." So when I heard of this film I had to see it.Released in 1999 and running a too long 160 minutes it is a typical english film of dry wit. Not knowing the true story of the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan one only hopes its fairly accurate aside from the satirical dry humor.The film follows the story of the creation of "The Mikado."after a less than fulfilling play makes both feel they are getting stale.In "novel" story telling fashion it takes awhile for the film to get going,perhaps 45 minutes or so as it paints a period setting of the times.Once it gets on to the writing of the play it really hits its stride.It seems Gilbert was going to a new Japanese place in London and something clicked that this might do for the next play.What follows is humorous as nether he nor the Japanese he invites to the theater can communicate yet he thinks he gets it.There's also the portrayal of both the cast and our writers as being flawed like us all and the interjection with numbers from the pay highlight the faults.This is 1885 after all and if period pieces and novel length films along with dry brit humor bore you than pass it by.That is after all why I took 1 1/2 stars off,but if you liked the play and music and want to see how it MAY have evolved in a truly funny way,than check out this gem.The actors are all British and not week known to me,but they fit well and the music performances are as fine as any I've seen on film.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWFcMRYjJtA