But alas.
It seems that the creators of the series decided to turn it into a feminist agitation. The male characters in "Top of the Lake" are, for the most part, either scumbags who only have sex and violence on their minds, or very well disguised. There is a truth, the guy of the main character, Jonah is a dull hen-heeled man with an eternally perplexing face, whose infantile behavior contrasts with impressive muscles. And then there's this gay guy. The rest are animal-like macho, or two-faced scoundrels.
Female characters are no better. The women of the commune in Paradise are completely anecdotal complexed fools. Robin Griffin, the main character is a self-confident bitch who breaks firewood on an industrial scale during the investigation, and does not doubt her erroneous theories for a second (but in the end she falls so deeply into a spiritual crisis that even John with his trademark expression “what was it now?” looks like a hero and a natural leader). Her mother, dying, still continues to speak riddles and frightens her daughter with family secrets, not wanting to reveal them. Even that same girl, Tui, by the end of the series disappoints, completely destroying her image of an angry savage. But at least she is a child - although at twelve years old she should have been smarter. Apparently, directors and screenwriters seem to want to show women what not to be. And as long as they are like that, it is a sin to blame the men.
As a result, the series turned into a wild panopticum of unpleasant characters. On the one hand there are scoundrels, on the other there are fools. There's no way out. It's time to swell. Which is exactly what Robin does after all.
Well, pretty bad. A very interesting character GJ - an elderly philosopher and hippie, who founded the same commune in Paradise. Her "sermons", or rather, brief teachings - a ray of light and reason in this realm of gender conflict.
No matter how hard the writers and directors tried, and Matt Mitchum, who, in theory, is the main antagonist of the film, turned out to be a wildly charismatic and pleasant character. A scumbag, a sociopath, but a tragic, complex personality. It has something from Dostoevsky’s characters... and it was very offensive for him.
It is also worth highlighting such an interesting personality as classmate Tui Jamie ... but he is to a certain extent a character-function, ideologically. What this ideological function, unfortunately, without spoilers can not explain. But the character is colorful.
In general, the series made a rather depressing impression, but not what it should. That is, it is not about the masochistic pleasure from the frightening and depressing atmosphere familiar to thriller fans. I felt like I wasn’t watching what I was going to see. And not that I was an ardent opponent of feminism and a fierce conservative - but as a man, I was offended for men. Yes, and women Jane Campion (head director, screenwriter and one of the producers of the series) treated mercilessly, so the fair sex, not prone to harsh self-criticism, the series may not like.
And after all, in principle, I like stories where everyone has their own skeleton in the closet, and absolutely positive characters are not at all (the same series “May Holiday” with a similar plot and atmosphere). But there is no such noble noir misanthropy, only a message like: “Don’t be stupid cows, because there are only chauvinistic boars around.”
Result: drama about the conflict of the sexes under the guise of a thriller. The series is beautiful, with a lot of curious characters, but very unkind and very feminine. Playing actors (especially Peter Mullan as Matt Mitcham) and the philosophy of G.J. elevate "Top of the Lake" over murky mediocrity, but still the work turned out very specific. 6 out of 10
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