The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (2009)

Directed by: Leanne Pooley | 84 minutes | music, comedy, documentary | With: Jools Topp, Linda Topp

‘On paper they are nothing, on paper they are a commercial flop. But time and again they manage to hit the audience,” comedy writer Paul Horan says at the start of the documentary “The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls.” A documentary about lesbian twins who have held New Zealand in their grip for decades with their comic music performances.

Horan’s statement is not strange. He succinctly describes the feeling that dominates after seeing this documentary. The sisters are not particularly pretty, perhaps not particularly funny and their music is not necessarily progressive or striking. And maybe that’s why Jools and Lynda Topp are so fascinated. They stand shamelessly as themselves entertaining the audience without feeling the slightest embarrassment or needing to put on a publicly acceptable act; a striking couple. Where everyone would take a step back to preserve their identity, the terrain of The Topp Twins begins. It has to be said that ‘The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls’ will of course especially resonate with the New Zealand viewer. Because apart from their fame there, each continent also has its own humor and cultural influences. For the outsider, this documentary may therefore be a far-from-my-bed show. But whoever invests in this film will learn something about the special bond between twins, and about two passionate activists who became the figureheads of many gays and lesbians in New Zealand.

Cinematically, this solid production is not an exceptional display. The usual statements of friends and acquaintances against a variety of archive material and interviews with the two sisters, makes ‘The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls’ a documentary as we often see it. Nevertheless, it led to multiple nominations for various film festivals. The popularity of the two ladies in combination with their special life story will have contributed to this in this case. They are themselves, they are independent and therefore untouchable. Or as the title of their most famous song and also subheading of this documentary is: ‘Untouchable Girls’.

In 2008, the two sisters received a lifetime achievement award for songwriting and the fact that their songs and music have had a major impact on New Zealand culture over 25 years. ‘The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls’ is like peeking at the distant neighbors in New Zealand. Find out what New Zealanders are interested in and what entertains them in music. Before you know it, you’re peeping too long and you’ve met a remarkable twin that will get stuck in your head anyway.