DOCUMENTARY; 1hr 24min
DIRECTED BY: Leanne Pooley
Pop of the Topps: from left, Lynda and Jools Topp
As they see it, lesbian twins Jools and Lynda Topp — New Zealand country girls who grew up to be yodelling singer-songwriters, character-driven entertainers and spunky activists — “[are] singers that are funny.” International audiences eat the smiley twosome up, both as themselves and the true-blue characters they play as part of their sunny act (farmers Ken and Ken, country singers Belle and Belle Gingham, socialites Prue and Dilly Ramsbottom…)
And why ever not? Judging by this involving look-see at their life and times, the 51-year-old mavericks are a ton of saucy fun, love what they do — and each other — and are 100 per cent real doing it. And they wear their tricky hats well: the dichotomy between the Topps’ folksy, non-threatening freshness and the topical envelopes they push strikes a chord with gay, straight, radical and regular folk alike. If you’ve never heard of them before director Leanne Pooley’s encompassing outing, which charts not only their larger-than lives but their iconic slot in New Zealand’s socio-political evolution, you’re unlikely to forget them afterwards.
