... brings a freshness to the formality of 19th century decorum and conventions and an artist’s appreciation to the challenges of creative work and the dynamics of personality and creative strengths between collaborators.

| Jan 7, 2023

A love letter to the duo, with Jim Broadbent in fine form as the priggish workaholic Gilbert and Allan Corduner a droll counterpoint as the easygoing and hedonistic Sullivan.

| Sep 20, 2022

For anyone enamored of the theater, Topsy-Turvy is a satisfying love letter.

| May 27, 2022

Topsy-Turvy, then, is many things: a portrait of Gilbert and Sullivan through the example of a single production, a study of the artistic need to reflect reality through fantasy, and a microcosmic example of Leigh's techniques as a filmmaker.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

The film runs out of momentum about two-thirds of the way through, but by then its exquisitely wrought human and historical detail- and its lavish servings of fine singing- have cast a lingering spell.

| Oct 14, 2019

The notion of art as an organically evolving process is crucial to Leigh. Almost alone among directors, he creates his scripts in the rehearsal period through improvisations.

| Mar 6, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jan 20, 2013

Leigh's strict attention to detail and his uncommon method of involving his actors in the creative process of forming the script infuses life into material that could have easily become another stiff, British period production

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 6, 2011

The sense of a work of art coming to life has rarely been more beautifully or excitingly portrayed. This is a film not to be missed.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 30, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 18, 2008

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 13, 2008

A great study on the struggle to create live theater, containing beautiful musical sequences and fantastic portrayals of the musical's creators.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2008

[A] beautifully crafted and lively romp around the 1880s stage world.

| Jun 17, 2008

There is not an unrealized or extraneous character in the film, and I can't remember a movie that so completely studies the intricacies of bringing a production to the stage.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 14, 2007

Leigh's cast are beyond compare, and the whole bighearted, splendidly droll celebration of the entertainer's lot surely stands among British cinema's one-of-a-kind treasures.

| Feb 9, 2006

The real magic of this film is in the way most of the characters skillfully navigate their way around each other's sizable but fragile egos.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

If you are a Gilbert and Sullivan buff, you will be in heaven. If you are not, the first thing you will need to know is that the film is nearly three hours long.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2005

Leigh has handcrafted a big production and succeeds, mostly, in entertaining the viewer to the end -- especially for fans of Gilbert and Sullivan.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 9, 2005

... an enlightening exploration of how artists must sometimes journey into unknown territory before they find inspiration enough to keep from repeating themselves.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 15, 2005

Criado, em boa parte, atravs de improvisao (tradio de Leigh), o filme tem vrias subtramas que jamais se resolvem - mas interessante, especialmente ao mostrar os bastidores de um espetculo em produo.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2003