The top of the lake ( English Top-the Lake ) - a serial British - Australian detective drama , created by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee and broadcast on the channels "Sundance Channel" in the US , BBC UKTV in Australia and New Zealand and BBC Two in the UK. The premiere of the first season on television took place on March 18, 2013. The second season started after a long break on July 27, 2017.
| Top of the lake | |
|---|---|
| Top of the lake | |
 | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Creator | Jane Campion Gerard Lee |
| Screenwriter | Jane Campion Gerard Lee |
| Cast | Elizabeth Moss David Wenham Peter Mullan Thomas M. Wright Holly hunter Gwendoline Christie David Densik Ewan Leslie Alice Englert Nicole Kidman |
| Composer | Mark Bradshaw |
| A country |  United Kingdom  Australia  New Zealand |
| Original language | English |
| Number of seasons | 2 |
| Number of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Emily Sherman Ian Canning Jane Campion Jamie Lawrence |
| Producer | Philip Campbell Libby sharpe |
| Location | Queenstown (New Zealand) Sydney (Australia) |
| Timing | 50 min |
| Studio | See-Saw Films |
| Broadcast | |
| Tv channel | Sundance channel BBC UKTV Bbc two |
| On the screens | March 18, 2013 - present |
| Video format | |
| References | |
| Official site | |
| IMDb | ID 2103085 |
Actors and Characters
Season One
Basic composition
- Elizabeth Moss - Robin Griffin; a detective from Sydney specializing in investigating cases of sexual violence, who is returning to her hometown of Leaktop in New Zealand to visit her sick mother. At this time, the 12-year-old pregnant girl Tui Mitchem disappears there, and Robin agrees to take up this matter. However, the investigation makes Robin recall the terrible events that happened to her in her teens.
- David Wenham - Al Parker, Detective Sergeant at Queenstown Police Station , a proponent of traditional police practices; It is popular with locals; He also oversees a cafe, which employs juvenile delinquents and difficult teens.
- Peter Mullan - Matt Mitchem, a Scottish national and the head of the Mitchem family; unofficial landlord keeping people at bay; has serious psychological problems.
- Thomas M. Wright - Johnny Mitchem, Matt's Youngest Son and Robin's First Love; severed all ties with his father. Returns to Leuktop after 8 years in Thai Bankwang prison for drug possession.
- Holly Hunter - JJ, a spiritual leader from Switzerland , has an androgynous appearance. I arrived in a place called "Paradise" near Leyktop and founded a community for women, each of which suffered some kind of trauma.
Background Composition
- Kip Chapman and Jay Ryan - Luke and Mark Mitchem, sons of Matt.
- Jacqueline Joe - Thuy Mitchem, Matt's 12-year-old daughter, who disappeared in her fifth month of pregnancy.
- Robin Nevin - Jude Griffin, Robin's mother, suffering from cancer.
- Calvin Tuteo - Turangi, Jude's boyfriend, Māori by nationality, is prone to violence.
Season 2
Basic composition
- Gwendoline Christie - Miranda Hilmarson, a 35-year-old Sydney police constable who becomes team mate Robin Griffin.
- David Densik - Alexander “Puss” Brown, a 42-year-old charismatic German, originally from East Germany , who lives on the second floor of a brothel called “Silk 41”. Is Mary's boyfriend; their relationship is very worrying Robin, Pike and Julia.
- Ewan Leslie is Pike Edwards, Mary's successful lawyer and adoptive father.
- Alice Englert - Mary Edwards, 17-year-old natural daughter Robin, whom she gave for adoption. He begins to rebel due to the separation of his adoptive parents.
- Nicole Kidman - Julia Edwards, Mary's adoptive mother. Separates from her husband and moves away from her daughter because of a lesbian romance with her colleague - teacher Isidora.
Production
Season One
Initially, the British-American actress Jennifer El auditioned for the role of JJ, but later this role was given to Holly Hunter . Jane Campion offered the lead female role of detective Robin Griffin to New Zealand actress Anna Paquin , who starred in her film “ The Piano ”. However, Paquin abandoned the role because of her pregnancy, and the role went to American actress Elizabeth Moss [1] .
The series was to be produced in conjunction with ABC , Australia's national public broadcasting corporation. However, after the American actress Elizabeth Moss was selected for the lead role, ABC refused to finance the shoot, citing its decision that the main condition for the signed contract was the participation in the lead role of the Australian actress [2] . Soon, the Australian channel UKTV agreed to fund the filming of the series [3] . Philippa Campbell became the New Zealand producer of Lake Tops.
Filming the first season took 18 weeks and took place in the New Zealand Otago district in the cities of Queenstown and Glenorchi. Queenstown in the series acted as himself, while Glenorchi turned into the fictional city of Leuktop. Scenes related to the female community were filmed on Lake Moke [1] .
Season 2
In early 2013, one of the creators of the series, Jane Campion, announced that the series "Lake Top" had reached its logical conclusion, and it was not planned to continue. However, in October 2014 it became known that the series was extended for the second season [4] . His filming began in December 2015 in Sydney .
In the second season, Jane Campion and Gerard Lee remained the leading screenwriters, Jane Campion also continued to be one of the directors of the show. Due to his employment in other projects, Garth Davis , the second director of the first season, was replaced by Australian Eriel Kleimen. Philip Campbell continued to play the role of producer. Famous actress Nicole Kidman joined the main cast of the second season because of a desire for the second time in her career to work with Campion. Kidman plays "an Australian mother whose fate is closely intertwined with the fate of Detective Robin Griffin" [5] .
Show
All episodes of the first season of Lake Tops were shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013. Sundance positioned Lake Top as a mini-series, and its show was presented as a seven-hour program, interrupted by only one intermission and lunch break. It was the first mini-series in the history of Sundance , which was included in his program [6] . Also, “Lake Top” was additionally shown at the 63rd Berlin Film Festival .
The premiere of the series on television took place on March 18, 2013 on the American channel Sundance Channel [7] ; in Australia - March 24, 2013 on the BBC UKTV; in New Zealand - March 25, 2013 also on the BBC UKTV.
The premiere of the full second season of “Lake Tops” took place in May 2017 at the Cannes Film Festival [8] . In the UK , the second season premiered on BBC Two on July 27, 2017. Also, the whole season was released on the BBC iPlayer service [9] . In the United States, the Sundance Channel will launch the second season of Lake Top in September 2017. [10] In addition, each episode shown in the US on television the next day will be available on the Hulu service [11] .
Episode List
Season One (2013)
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Producer | written by | Premiere date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| one | one | "Episode 1" "Episode 1" | Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | March 18, 2013 |
| In the small New Zealand town of Leuktop, a 12-year-old girl, Tui Mitchem, enters the lake to commit suicide. However, she is saved by a passing school nurse; then she examines the girl and realizes that she is pregnant. Robin Griffin, a Sydney police officer specializing in sexual crimes against children, comes to his childhood city to visit a sick mother. Soon she received a call from the local police station and asked to come and interrogate Tui; Robin agrees. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" "Episode 2" | Garth Davis and Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | March 18, 2013 |
| On the road, Robin meets two women from the community; they tell her that Tui spent the previous night with them, and in the morning she left and did not return. Robin is organizing an operation to find the missing Tui Mitchum. During the search, Robin enters the lake and is visited by a vision of how Touie does the same; Robin gets scared and runs out of the water. In the evening, Robin decides to independently check the clue associated with a local resident who was convicted of pedophilia, but she overestimates her own strength and finds herself in a dangerous situation, and in order to get out of it Robin has to ask Johnno for help. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" "Episode 3" | Garth Davis | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | March 25, 2013 |
| Al secretly meets with Matt on the lake. Robin visits Paradise, the place where Tui was last seen. There she meets JJ, but her interrogation does not lead to anything, as the head of the community speaks in riddles. Later, Robin receives a search warrant for the Mitchem house and goes there with Al. Matt comes to Paradise, and women invite him to a meeting held by JJ. | |||||
| four | four | "Episode 4" "Episode 4" | Garth Davis and Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | April 1, 2013 |
| Robin comes to dinner with Al and tells him that, in her opinion, Tui’s note with the word "no one" in which she had to write the name of her rapist should be interpreted literally: "not one", that is Touie wanted to report a gang rape with her. However, Al does not support Robin and tells her that she is too obsessed with this affair, and the reason for this is the fact that Robin herself was the victim of gang rape at the age of 15. The memories that rushed over Robin after this conversation lead to a skirmish with her participation in a local bar; after what happened, Al fires her. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" "Episode 5" | Jane Campion and Garth Davis | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | April 8, 2013 |
| Johnno tells Robin that on the night that she was raped, he was there, but did nothing to save her because he was too scared. Mother Robin finds out about the relationship of her daughter and Johnno and tells Robin to stop talking to him immediately. Matt sends his people in search of Tui, and they get evidence that the girl is alive. In the forest, they encounter Robin and Johnno, and as a result of the conflict, a phone with pictures of the living and healthy Tui falls into Robin's hands. Meanwhile, Jamie, a friend of Tui who refuses to talk, is again caught stealing from a store and sent to the police station. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" "Episode 6" | Garth Davis and Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | April 15, 2013 |
| Robin believes that Tui’s disappearance and her father’s illegal drug production, including rogipnol , are connected, and the girl is afraid to return because of this. Therefore, Robin wants to start a case against Matt and shares his plans with Johnno. However, he speaks sharply against and says that she will only make enemies, because half of the city works at Matt's production. Robin is not going to give up and talks to women working for Matt, convincing them to testify against him; however, they refuse to cooperate with the police. After this conversation, someone shoots at the window of Robin's house so that she refuses to investigate. Tui's friends go to her secret shelter to wish her a happy birthday. At the same time, Matt sends a whole group of armed men in search of his daughter; they catch Tui’s friends and make them tell about the girl’s location. | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" "Episode 7" | Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | April 15, 2013 |
| Tui's birth day is approaching, but the girl is still on the run. Robin goes to Matt, as he promises to formally confess to her what he did; however, this confession does not send him to prison, but shocking Robin and ruining their relationship with Johnno. Armed Matt sets off on his own in search of his daughter, and Robin needs to catch up and stop him before the irreparable happens. | |||||
Second Season (2017)
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Producer | written by | Premiere date | Viewers in Great Britain [12] (million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | one | "China Girl" "Chinese girl" | Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | July 27, 2017 | 3.39 |
| After breaking up with his fiance Johnno, detective Robin Griffin returns to Sydney. She tries to leave psychological traumas in the past and adapt to a new life, but she finds out that the former detective Al Parker, whom she shot, after learning that he was covering a network of pedophiles, filed a civil lawsuit against her. Robin also wants to meet her daughter Mary, whom she gave for adoption. Mary is now 17 years old, and she is dating a 42-year-old man named Puss, who lives on the second floor of the Silk 41 brothel. Meanwhile, a suitcase carrying the corpse of an Asian girl lies on the beach. Robin and her new partner Miranda are taking on the investigation of this case. | ||||||
| 9 | 2 | "The Loved One" "Favourite" | Eriel Kleiman | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | August 3, 2017 | 2,38 |
| From flashback we learn that Robin broke up with Johnno because he cheated on her on her wedding day. Robin is annoyed by her partner Miranda, and she wants to work on the "Chinese Girl" case alone. However, her boss insists on the cooperation of the girls. Soon, detectives find out that the murdered woman was in the fourth month of pregnancy. Robin finally takes courage to contact Mary and invite her to meet. The mother and daughter meet in a cafe. Mary tells Robin that she knows that she was born as a result of rape. | ||||||
| 10 | 3 | "Surrogate" "Surrogate" | Eriel Kleiman | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | August 10, 2017 | 1.97 |
| Robin realizes that the “Chinese Girl” was a surrogate mother , and suggests comparing the DNA of an unborn baby with the DNA of couples who despaired of becoming pregnant themselves. Pike and Julia find out that Pousse is already married, and report this to Mary. However, this only further worsens their relationship with their daughter. Al's lawsuit against Robin breaks down due to Parker attacking Detective Griffin before it even begins. | ||||||
| eleven | four | "Birthday" "Birthday" | Eriel Kleiman | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | August 17, 2017 | 1.92 |
| Student Brett, who is in love with one of the prostitutes of the Silk 41 brothel, turns to the police. He says he had a relationship with a girl nicknamed Cinnamon, but she disappeared. Robin realizes that it is Cinnamon that is the "Chinese Girl." Pousse's behavior is becoming increasingly dangerous and unpredictable. He believes that Mary should begin to engage in prostitution when she turns 18, and the girl agrees with this idea. Mary asks Robin and Pike to teach her friends from Asia, who turn out to be girls from a brothel, to swim. Together with them, Puss comes to the beach. He meets Robin, talks to her about her rape and attacks her, seriously biting her nose. However, Mary convinces her biological mother not to file a police report with him. | ||||||
| 12 | 5 | "Who's Your Daddy?" "Who is your daddy?" | Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | August 24, 2017 | 1,69 |
| Mary leaves Robin's house to return to Puss. From her, he learns that Robin is conducting the case of the disappearance and death of Cinnamon. Brett goes through the official identification of the body of the “Chinese Girl”, after which his emotional state becomes unstable. Miranda reveals the secret that her child is also carried by a surrogate mother, but she disappeared and does not get in touch. This information allows Robin to get closer to finding people offering illegal surrogacy services. The concern of Robin and Pike about Mary brings them very close together, this does not cause Julia's delight. | ||||||
| 13 | 6 | "The Battle of the Mothers" Battle of the Mothers | Jane Campion | Jane Campion and Gerard Lee | August 31, 2017 | 1.84 |
| Brett takes Mary hostage, and Robin is trying hard to find his daughter. Pousse tells Robin the truth about what happened to Cinnamon, and tells the whereabouts of the missing surrogate mothers. | ||||||
Reviews and criticism
Criticism reviews of Lake Top were mostly positive. When describing the series, such definitions were used as “expertly made”, “beautiful”, “mysterious”, “exciting”, “masterpiece” [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] . On the Metacritic website , the series has 87 points out of 100 [18] . On the Rotten Tomatoes aggregator site, the first season of Lake Top reached 97% freshness with an average rating of 8.94 out of 10 [19] ; the second season - 71% of “freshness” with an average rating of 9.0 out of 10 [20] .
“The top of the lake” was appreciated by feminist critics for the series’s desire to analyze in detail the rape culture [21] , as well as for plotting around the characters of single and injured women [22] .
Not without negative reviews about the series. So, Mike Hale of The New York Times criticized “carefully thought out storylines” and believed that Touie’s disappearance is not the main plot element that the story rests on, but “a metaphor for armed resistance to male hegemony”, which forms the basis of creativity Jane Campion [23] .
Awards and nominations
| Year | Prize | Nomination | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "Equity Ensemble Awards" | Best cast in a mini-series or television movie | "Top of the lake" | Victory |
| New Zealand Film Awards | The best television movie or series | Victory | ||
| Screen Producers Australia Awards | TV drama of the year | Victory | ||
| Television Critics Choice Award | Best movie or mini-series | Nomination | ||
| Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series | Elizabeth Moss | Victory | ||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series | Peter Mullan | Nomination | ||
| David Wenham | Nomination | |||
| Thomas M. Wright | Nomination | |||
| Emmy Award | Prime Time Emmy Award | |||
| Best mini-series or movie | "Top of the lake" | Nomination | ||
| Best Actress in a Mini Series or Movie | Elizabeth Moss | Nomination | ||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Drama TV Series | Peter Mullan | Nomination | ||
| Best directing mini-series, film or drama program | Jane Campion , Garth Davis | Nomination | ||
| Best Screenplay for a Miniseries, Movie, or Drama Program | Jane Campion, Gerard Lee | Nomination | ||
| Creative Arts Emmy Awards | ||||
| Best casting mini-series or movie | "Top of the lake" | Nomination | ||
| Best Cinematography in a Mini Series or Movie | "Top of the lake" "Episode 1" | Victory | ||
| Best montage in a mini-series or film | The top of the lake "Episode 5" | Nomination | ||
| Satellite Award | Best actress in a mini-series or television movie | Elizabeth Moss | Victory | |
| Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie | Peter Mullan | Nomination | ||
| The best mini-series or television movie | "Top of the lake" | Nomination | ||
| 2014 | AACTA Awards | The best mini-series or television movie | Victory | |
| Best Drama or Comedy Director | Garth Davis | Nomination | ||
| Best Guest Actor or Supporting Actor in a TV Drama | Peter Mullan | Nomination | ||
| Best Guest Actress or Supporting Actress in a TV Drama | Robin Nevin | Nomination | ||
| Best Television Operator | Adam Arkapau | Victory | ||
| The best sound on television | Richard Flynn and others | Victory | ||
| Best Original Music on TV | Mark Bradshaw | Nomination | ||
| The best production design on television | Fiona Crombier | Nomination | ||
| Best Costume Design on TV | Emily Seresin | Nomination | ||
| Best TV Editor | Scott Gray | Nomination | ||
| US Screen Actors Guild Award | Best actress in a television movie or mini-series | Elizabeth Moss | Nomination | |
| Holly hunter | Nomination | |||
| Golden Nymph Award | The best mini-series or television movie | "Top of the lake" | Victory | |
| Best actress in a mini-series or television movie | Elizabeth Moss | Victory | ||
| Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie | Peter Mullan | Victory | ||
| Golden Globe Award | The best mini-series or television movie | "Top of the lake" | Nomination | |
| Best actress in a mini-series or television movie | Elizabeth Moss | Victory | ||
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Jada Yuan . Elisabeth Moss on Top of the Lake, Working With Jane Campion, and Getting Naked (English) , Vulture (January 25, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ No funding from ABC for Top of the Lake after it learned Mad Men actress Elisabeth Moss was in cast , The Daily Telegraph (November 6, 2011). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ David Knox . David Wenham: “Top of the Lake is ABC's loss” (en-AU), TV Tonight (March 4, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Robinson, Joanna . Is This Why Elisabeth Moss Passed on True Detective Season 2? (English) , Vanity Fair (OCTOBER 16, 2014). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Bradshaw, Peter . Nicole Kidman in Cannes: her tortuous journey to Queen of the Croisette (English) , The Guardian (May 15, 2017). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Jada Yuan . Sundance: Jane Campion's Top of the Lake: Seven Hours, Two Breaks, One Engrossing Mystery (Eng.) , Vulture (January 22, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Todd McCarthy . Top of the Lake: Sundance Review (English) , The Hollywood Reporter (1/21/2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Knapp, JD . 'Top of the Lake: China Girl' Trailer Showcases Elisabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman (English) , Variety (May 11, 2017). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Fay Strang . Top Of The Lake returns for series two TONIGHT - here's what you need to know about the hit show (English) , The Sun (August 10, 2017). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Rubin, Rebecca . SundanceTV Releases New Photos of 'Top of the Lake: China Girl' (Eng.) , Variety (May 23, 2017). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Ben Travers. Top of the Lake Season 2 Trailer: Nicole Kidman in 'China Girl' - Watch . IndieWire (May 11, 2017). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Weekly Top 30's . BARB . Date of treatment June 8, 2015.
- ↑ Matt Zoller Seitz . Seitz on Jane Campion's Top of the Lake: A Police Procedural, Masterfully Made (English) , Vulture (March 21, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Lloyd, Robert . Review: Jane Campion's 'Top of the Lake' mysterious, beautiful , Los Angeles Times (March 18, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ NPR Fresh Air . NPR Fresh Air. Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Pulver, Andrew . Top of the Lake - first look review (English) , The Guardian (February 9, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ ALAN SEPINWALL . Review: Jane Campion's 'Top of the Lake' a riveting long-form mystery (English) , UPROXX (March 18, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Top of the Lake . Metacritic . Date of treatment August 14, 2017.
- ↑ Top of the Lake: Season 1 . Rotten Tomatoes . Date of treatment August 14, 2017.
- ↑ Top of the Lake: China Girl . Rotten Tomatoes . Date of treatment August 14, 2017.
- ↑ Natalie Wilson . Top of the Lake: A Non-Watered-Down Depiction of Rape Culture - Ms. Magazine Blog , Ms. Magazine Blog (April 18, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Beck, Laura . Can We Talk About How Damn Good Top Of The Lake Is? (Eng.) , Jezebel . Date of treatment August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Hale, Mike . 'Top of the Lake' on the Sundance Channel , The New York Times (March 17, 2013). Date of treatment August 17, 2017.