I finished watching Top of the Lake last night and I now have mixed feelings about it. Top of the Lake is a seven episode mini-series set and filmed in New Zealand. It's sort of a thriller/horror/mystery/drama and I definitely recommend it. The show was written and created by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, neither of whose previous filmography I am familiar with.
The show is about twelve-year-old Tui, played by Jacquline Joe, who tries killing herself after discovering she's pregnant. Tui is so young that she doesn't even really understand what's happening to her. She does not know how or why the baby got inside her or how it's going to come out. Detective Robin Griffin, played by the oh so talented Elizabeth Moss, is obsessively determined to solve this case. The picture above is of Tui entering "Paradise." She's running away and this land is no paradise, that's for sure.
Robin is back in her home town to care for her dying mother when the local police (a woman called her, by the way. I find that interesting) ask for her help because she is trained in working with children. The policeman treat her like absolute trash, even though she is much smarter than they are. Despite having to work with these pigs (haha, get it? Pigs?) she presses forward through the difficulty of small town secrets and lies.
With the help of her former high school boyfriend and current lover Johnno, played by the handsome Thomas M. Wright, she goes after the town bad-guy Matt. Matt, played by Peter Mullan, is Johnno's father.... or is he?..... and he has all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. Matt is also Tui's father and Johnno's half-sister. Seems like Matt has children all over town. That scum bag.
Top of the Lake is dramatic and the end took a turn that I NEVER saw coming. In fact, it seemed random and I'm wondering if I should watch it again in case I missed something.
Oh also, what the heck is Holly Hunter doing in this show? Her character GJ is like some sort of weird, self-help guru who is actually rather mean. Wardrobe gave her this terrible, long gray wig that looks like a wig. And she wears these strange, out of style, mega high-waisted brown pants. And Hunter isn't a very good actress in this but I don't think it's her fault. Her character is just so weird! I don't have any other good adjectives to describe it. The whole thing confuses me. GJ did have one good line, though. When Tui asked her how to get the baby out she simply replied, "Follow the body. It will know what to do." And boy did it.
I really did like this mini-series. Mini-series are odd because it's like watching a really short show or a really long movie. This one has so many twists and turns and drama and and and.... I don't even know what else to say about it. It was so good! I am confused about the ending and that in turn confused me about my feelings on the show as a whole. I suggest you watch it if you haven't already. Each episode is about 40-50min long, there are seven episodes, and I think you'll enjoy it.
New Zealand is gorgeous so Top of the Lake has some great shots of the land. Plus, the accents are fabulous and that's always a plus in my book!
Check out the video below. It has a trailer to introduce the show and some behind the scenes looks with the show creators. Interesting to me how much Holly Hunter in the trailer when her character has such a small role in the show. Guess they needed one big(ish) name to help promote them.
Michael and I watched this and I disagree about Holly Hunter. I think she did great, it was just a bizarre character. I did find this mini-series strangely disturbing. I didn't pay full attention while watching it but I think i would watch it again if ever extremely bored.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe I'm just not a Holly Hunter fan at all. I think it's her voice and accent. And as strangely disturbing as this show is, I still think it's worth watching. I learned I'm an Elizabeth Moss fan!
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