MovieChat Forums > Topsy-Turvy (2000) Discussion > ... so many fish in the sea

... so many fish in the sea

posted 16 years ago by aegisthus
17 replies | jump to latest

I was watching Topsy Turvy the other evening (again!) and was amused by this allusion early in the film to a line from the closing tune in the Mikado.
When Sullivan and his mistress are talking early in the film, she notes that Lady Churchill upon returning from Ireland remarks that she can't understand why the Irish are starving when there so many fish in the sea. Then towards the close of the film, Leigh includes the closing scene of the Mikado in which the chorus sings: "There' lots of good fish in the sea."
Then yet again, when Mr. D'Auban gives his closing remarks to the cast after final dress rehearsal, he reminds them how to use their fans and repeats, "... in the sea, in the sea, in the sea."

The details which Leigh infuses into this film are a mark of a truly masterful director (IMHO).

[–] wrigleyfied 15 years ago

There are a few of these in the movie. During the costume fitting scene Gilbert asks Durward Lely "What, never?" which is a line from HMS Pinafore. By then, thanks to Gilbert, "What Never" was as famous an advertising tag-line as "Where's the Beef " became in the US in its time. I think Leigh's intent was to infer that certain phrases were common in England at the time, and that Gilbert had the common ear as well as an uncommon dramatic talent.

[–] aegisthus 15 years ago

Oh, yes. I'd forgotten about that one. I thought it hilarious the first time I saw the scene.

[–] captchas-1 14 years ago

I sometimes say 'What never'. Of course nobody knows what I'm talking about.

--- CHAS

[–] smegma23 14 years ago

Count how many times the characters say '... don't you know?' or even '... don't ya know?'

[–] aegisthus 14 years ago

smegma23 wrote:
"Count how many times the characters say '... don't you know?' or even '... don't ya know?'"
Indeed. These are mostly British actors playing nineteenth century British actors, right?
Otherwise, one might think the over use of "don't you know" might be an affectation of assuming a British accent for a role. When our (US Midwest)community theater some years ago staged The Importance of Being Earnest, we all learned standard British pronunciation as instructed by the great Dr. David Allen Stern. Many of use were found to over exaggerate the word "been." However, I would not think that Topsy Turvy's cast would be prone to such affection.
I wonder why, if at all, the actors may have over used "don't you know?"

[–] Suzume-san 13 years ago

I was walking behind a young woman in London yesterday evening, overhearing her talking on her phone, as follows...

"So, I'm like, are you coming, like, to the party, like, at Michelle's, like? it's like, tomorrow, like. And she's like, yeah, like, we're, like, all going, like..."

Language has fads, phrases that come into fashion and over-use for a while, then disappear. This is probably quite accurate for the period. Don't you know, like.

[–] cookiela2001 12 years ago

In rewatching this, I also noticed that after Gilbert (or Sullivan?) (anyway, the fat one) is hit on the head by his Japanese sword at home, he envisions a musical number in which a character is singing a song about his own sword.

I think with these things they're showing us how artists are specifically influenced by day-to-day life.

[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

Cookie, I think you might attempt to distinguish between the two principal characters in the film before you make posts like that.

Legend has it, legend has had it since the Savoy operas were first written and performed, that Gilbert was inspired to write an operetta set in Japan by the incident of the Japanese sword falling from his study wall. It's probably not true.

Btw, OP and others, are you aware that 'there's plenty more fish in the sea' is a common saying in the UK - said to, or even by, someone disappointed in love?

[–] cookiela2001 12 years ago

<< Cookie, I think you might attempt to distinguish between the two principal characters in the film before you make posts like that.>>

I can distinguish between them, but I do not have their names memorized. (I suppose you'll next be lecturing us on how to include their courtesy titles?)

Really, are their names that important? I know who the characters are, their characteristics and the story, etc. I'd think they'd agree that's more important to know than their actual names.

I wonder which they'd rather hear?

A: Oh, hello. You're a wonderful composer and I've enjoyed your work so much.

or

B: Oh, hello. You're Mr. _______.

[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

I do not have their names memorized.

Gilbert and Sullivan. The film is about Gilbert and Sullivan. The operettas are by Gilbert and Sullivan. Sir Arthur Sullivan would not be at all pleased if you said to him "Oh, hello. You're a wonderful composer and I've enjoyed your work so much, Mr Err Um."

It just made me wonder how much attention you were paying to the film you were watching. Have you seen Hamlet, by that well-known playwright William Whatsisname?

Never mind. It's only a bit of fun. A source of innocent merriment.

[–] cookiela2001 12 years ago

I know who Gilbert and Sullivan are (even though they're referred to as "Sullivan & Gilbert" at one point on a prop poster) and that the film is about them. I just didn't know which was which. I identified who I was talking about ("the fat one") so there shouldn't be much confussion.

And Yes, I believe most people (or at least the kind who would be attracted to watching this movie) know the phrase "There are many more / lots of fish in the sea" in regards to romantic possibilities (?) We use it in America, too.

[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

Sullivan and Gilbert

Sullivan used to resent the billing in which Gilbert's name always came first - so maybe the poster was D'Oyly Carte's way of trying to placate him. It sound peculiar, doesn't it - like saying 'cheese and bread' or 'white and black'. Or even 'Hammerstein and Rodgers'.

Glad to hear about the fish in the sea.

[–] cookiela2001 12 years ago

I like the idea of the theater management making up a special poster for him : )

I guess it's "Gilbert & Sullivan" because it's alphabetical?

[–] jimmye184 9 years ago

Of course in opera, the work is almost always identified as the composer's rather than the librettist's.

lets go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could

[–] aegisthus 9 years ago

Indeed. Doesn't Broadbent's Gilbert retort, "Sullivan and Gilbert. Who are they?"

[–] rrb_1 8 years ago

I do not have their names memorized...Really, are their names that important?

Utterly unbelievable. What staggering idiocy.

[–] mesaxi 8 years ago

On a recent watch I noticed that Gilbert, when aiming to placate Lely's wardrobe objections, tells him "this is not Grand Opera in Milan, it is merely low-burlesque in a small theater on the banks of the river Thames". In the next scene when D'Auban is listing his credentials in objection to Gilbert's choreography, he says "this is not low-burlesque. It is an entirely original Japanese Opera". Some of that golden Mike Leigh dialogue that I'd never picked up on, something new every time around.