I was astonished and delighted at finding Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy on YouTube the other day. Watching it I couldn't help but think of how much Tony would have loved to see it, him being both a major Gilbert & Sullivan fan and devotee of ML's brilliant Nuts in May.
Every performance in Topsy Turvy is wonderful, but Jim Broadbent's note perfect portrayal of W.S. Gilbert has got to be his finest performance. The sense of emotional depth behind the blustering façade is deeply moving, especially in the final sequence of the film. But then so many details of the movie point the viewer to the rich humanity behind the loving evocation of the 'low burlesque' of the Savoy Operas.
And to think that work of this quality is made so easily available.
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