Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

jack_of_tears Tipping the Velvet is the film against which I measure all other lesbian dramas and I don't know if it's merely nostalgia for my first film in the genre but I have never found another that touched me so profoundly as this. Yes it is a very adult film and it will deliver on titillation if that's what brought you to it (and no judgement, that's what brought me) but it also a very meaningful and powerful exploration of character and human growth. Not to be missed.

Red-125 Tipping the Velvet (2002) (TV) was directed by Geoffrey Sax for BBC television. The basic plot is a coming-of-age story for the protagonist, Nan Astley, played well by Rachael Stirling. As a teenager, Nan works in her family-run oyster house. Everyone expects her to stay at home, then marry an appropriate husband, and settle down to family life. Nan expects this too.Everything changes when Nan meets Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes) a beautiful and talented performer who dresses in men's clothes and captures the hearts of her audience. The audience includes Nan, who is sexually attracted to Kitty in a way in which she's not attracted to her boyfriend. The remainder of the film follows Nan to London and through her ups (sort of) and her downs (horrible) as a lesbian and sometimes male impersonator. As is typical for the BBC, every role, no matter how small, is performed by an excellent actor. The BBC has a depth and breadth of performing artists that is truly marvelous. None of the supporting actors stands out above the others--they were uniformly good. Both Stirling and Hawes are wonderful, and their acting carries the film along.It's always sad to be reminded of how difficult life can be for someone who doesn't fit society's mold for what is normal. I know it isn't easy for lesbians in the U.S. or England today. Imagine the obstacles to love and happiness for lesbians in Victorian England. We've made progress, but we still have a long way to travel.The mini-series was made for TV, and watching it on DVD worked very well. It would work just as well on the large screen in a theater.

SnoopyStyle It's 1890s Victorian England. Nancy Astley (Rachael Stirling) works at the family seaside restaurant as an oyster girl. She falls completely upon seeing vaudeville actress Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes) who dresses as a man on stage. She leaves her boyfriend Freddy (Benedict Cumberbatch) to be with Kitty. The sisterhood turns into a lesbian affair as Nan joins Kitty on stage. Later, Nan catches Kitty in bed with manager Walter Bliss who then get married. Nan starts dressing as a man and working the streets. She's taken with the innocent Florence (Jodhi May). Wealthy widower Diana Lethaby (Anna Chancellor) takes her off the streets to be her lover. Nan gets tired of the life and gets into a fight with Lethaby protecting the maid Zena Blake (Sally Hawkins). Nan gets thrown out onto the streets. She finds a colder Florence with a baby living with her brother Ralph Banner (Hugh Bonneville).The first part sets it up as a lesbian love story. It doesn't follow through on that front. It turns into a melodrama of the Victorian London's lesbian scene. In fact, Kitty gets sidelined for the other two parts. The first part led me down one path and then I got thrown a bit going down the other path. This unusual world is fascinating. Rachael Stirling is quite compelling going from innocent ingénue to rundown weariness. This is an interesting TV mini-series.

cubus_nitrate At the time of its release, Tipping th Velvet got a lot of hype for being perhaps the most "raunchy" lesbian thing that had managed to get onto the BBC. Ho hum.I can see why people give it such rave reviews (well, sort of). With lesbian movies/TV shows/characters you can be hard-pressed to find a decent, fleshed-out representation without falling into ghastly clichés. So when this came out (no pun intended) I can 100% see why people went nuts over it.But we are a lot of representation later now... and as a fan of the book, I have to disagree with all the rave reviews on here. Tipping the Velvet doesn't stand the test of time.Firstly, I do not deny that the production value for TTV is brilliant. The stage shows are wonderfully directed, the scenes and costumes do not pose a problem for me. The acting is no great problem either.It's the story and the mashing up of the original book into some cheap, clichéd ending that bothers me the most. That and the weird and obtrusive editing and background music.The character of Nan, the main protagonist and heroine, is a far cry from her representation of the book. Racheal Stirling is not a bad actor, but she is too feminine for the role...and the voice? ...Hmm. The Nan of the original story could pass for a man. This nan walks around with slightly shorter hair slathered in make-up with a petite little body and we are supposed to believe she passes off as a man? Hmm indeed.The biggest let-down of the entire film however was the relationship between Flo and Nan. What happened? They literally gave the characters each other's lines and swapped their personalities around. It skewed the point of Nan's story. Flo is supposed to humble Nan by showing her how little she really knows...not by batting her eyelids.Lastly...aside from a cursory chase from a couple of cliché cockney thugs there is almost no mention of homophobia in the entire film. Without it, Kitty's betrayal makes little sense.A bit like this film. It makes me yell every time I see it.It's little but gaudy melodrama to me, if you want the best version of this film available on TV consult the French and Saunders parody.A huge let down. Especially for someone who loves the book.