Many words can be ascribed to New Zealand comediennes The Topp Twins, not the least of which are: yodeling lesbian sister act, politically driven sketch comedy duo, and world recognized singer-songwriters. But all of these descriptors (no matter how kitschy or chic) fail to encompass the Topp Twins in their entirety, which is something The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls strives to achieve.
By intercutting interviews, home movies, and video of more than twenty years worth of performances with a deeply personal and autobiographical retrospective concert, Untouchable Girls strives to chart the lives and careers of Jools and Linda Topp, who began life on a dairy farm in rural New Zealand. These two charming sisters left home at 17 to join the army before turning to music, busking on the streets before scoring cabaret performances that eventually landed them on television. By the 1980s, these openly queer performers were playing their uniquely kiwi-tinged country songs on the world stage while fearlessly backing progressive politics by attending protests and scribing songs that were both catchy and subversive. Theirs is a compelling story of two women who never feared being different and who strive to have fun above all else. The Topp Twins, like their music and comedy, are instantly charismatic, making them accessible to old and young, rich and poor, black or white — Maori or Pakeha. However, while their appeal is evident, the film fails to prove as lithe or deft in execution as its adored leading ladies.
Jools and Linda are quickly shown to be masterful comedians, who craft telling caricatures of kiwi life that delight their audiences while leaving them something to ponder. With the smarmy Ken and Ken they are able to speak to male machismo without bruising egos. With their most popular characters, Camp Mother and Camp Leader, the twins are able to tell raunchy jokes with a wink while commenting on current social mores. It makes them sharp satirists. Sadly the documentary fails to be as incisive and quick-witted. Instead the pacing slogs along, stumbling through anecdotes and concert footage until a sucker punch in act three reveals Jools has been diagnosed with breast cancer. While it’s inspiring to see the twins take on cancer with the same fearlessness and bravado they’ve displayed in the rest of their lives together, the filmmakers fail to craft this documentary into anything other than a rambling retrospective.
Ultimately, Untouchable Girls contains intimate interviews with two deeply funny and fascinating women and the people who know and love them. Jools and Linda are ever-joyful, and it’s easy to see how they went from yodeling country girls to national treasures. Sadly, they deserve more than this documentary, which lacks the bubbly enthusiasm of their performances and the engaging gravitas of their stage personas. The Topp Twins are unquestionably effervescent, but this doc falls flat.
