Stiff Upper Lips (1999)
Stiff Upper Lips is a broad parody of British period films, especially the lavish Merchant-Ivory productions of the 'eighties and early 'nineties. Although it specifically targets A Room with a View, Chariots of Fire, Maurice, A Passage to India, and many other films, in a more general way Stiff Upper Lips satirises popular perceptions of certain Edwardian traits: propriety, sexual repression, xenophobia, and class snobbery.
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Memorable, crazy movie
hyped garbage
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
Every character you have ever thought was full of himself or herself from Merchant and Ivory, especially the author EM Forster is lampooned here, and the more you know of these books and movies the funnier it is. EM Forster was a homosexual at the start of the 20th century who wrote about the British view of class and being ethnocentric. The movie takes place in Italy and India, as do the EM Forster books. The characters have servants hauling around British turf, sending cricket balls and mallets to prisoners and proving themselves inept at everything from cooking to swimming while being sexually repressed and over educated. This movie has been seriously underrated.
"Stiff Upper Lips" pokes fun at the crustiness of the British upper crust as it follows a silly ensemble of aristocrats from England to Italy to India and back. Those who groan at puns and mutter "humph!" at wry humor will likely enjoy "SUL" while those who don't will suffer the opposite reaction. How enjoyable this film is will depend solely on the sense of humor of the viewer. Funny or not, "SUL" is undeniably a jolly well done spoof.
For anyone who has seen Howards End, Enchanted April, A Passage to India, Carrington, and especially A Room with a View, this is a side-splitter. Though aiming mostly at Merchant-Ivory films, this piece takes on that entire category of films centered on the lives and loves of stuffy late-Victorian and Edwardian Brits of the upper class. Some of the gags are film specific like Edward opening his window in Rome to find a brick wall or character names like Reverend Dweeb. Others, like Emily's panicked flight through a hedge maze the size of closet are broader. I found the entire cast, especially Prunella Scales as Aunt Agnes, to be spot-on perfect. It helps that Scales and West (as Edward) were actually featured in Howards End. Peter Ustinov is also grand as batty Horace. Whether you love or hate this kind of movie, Stiff Upper Lips is a kick.
This film kept me laughing all the way. Prunella Scales alone cracked me up totally! The Bonham-Carter parody was indeed weak. That was a pity, since she is the crown princess of Merchant-Ivory Land. Samuel West was brilliant at mocking the characters he DIDN'T play in the real Merchant-Ivory pieces. His fan scene with friend was fabulous. Ustinov didn't try very hard, as usual in his later career. But, as a Merchant-Ivory junky, I have to say that I was delighted at the opportunity to laugh at myself for being such a sucker for their formula. If you watch this film, you must be prepared to lighten up, or else it will be wasted on you.