In "Paradise" comes a group of women outcasts from society, discriminated against, outcasts, sick, marginalized women of all kinds. No one pays attention, and they achieve their relative freedom. Every day, they took off their clothes and rolled up their sleeves and jumped into the lake as beautiful as the Garden of Eden.
It's great to find out that Jane Campion hasn't aged or changed since The Piano Lesson. I am an extremely amateur movie fan. I use pictures to tell stories. Piano is a lesson. The white waves that catch the sky and the sun are like a white light, which still stuns my soul.
The first-look beauty of "Mystery Lake" is equally astounding. It was a silent long shot, and Lake Eden was silent and beautiful, like a dream. Lengshan and Shushu Ducks were silent, as if they were frightened by something. The lake is filled with a faint haze, like a spell of ecstasy. The picture is extremely beautiful, even terrifying.
Recently, I have been intrigued by the British drama. The production of this multinational force is not entirely British quality, but the boring show is consistent. Not to mention Jane Campion, many surprises.
American actor Elisabeth Moss is quite strong, but the play is sensitive and intelligent. She is a hero, persevering, fighting against evil and protecting the weak.
Although Holly Hunter is listed as a double protagonist, she, who was so amazing in Piano, basically played soy sauce in this play. The GJ she plays is a bit like "The Wise", "The Master" or something. The shape is cool, but it doesn't seem to do anything except a few poisonous tongues. I'm a little bit puzzled by Jane Campion's intentions in designing this character, and this is the only part that makes me feel like maybe the director is getting old and wants to jump out and say something. And Holly Hunter's speech has always been a problem, she always seems to have an extra tongue, she is better to shut up and act.
This drama is extravagant in my opinion, a lot of unnecessary big names. David Wenham turned out to be a middle-aged rough guy (sheriff); Peter Mullan's brutality reminds me of Robert De Niro from Cape Fear. Tom Wright, who plays Johnno, also has a grungy charm. And the young Asian actor who plays Tui is so aura, it seems that she should be the dual protagonist.
I don't really like to mention feminism, it seems that feminism is either weird or gay lately. I also don't think Jane Campion's films are feminist films, whether it's "Piano Lesson" or this Top of the Lake heroine has a male partner, and they can be called the heroine's soul confidant. But the power of women in short films is clear.
I don't see a lot of Jane Campion's work, but these two seem to deal with marginalized people. Ada's mute status and her strength and arrogance form a great conflict. A group of women in the Top of the Lake camp did not have Ada's elegance and beauty at all, and were simply outcast women on the fringes of society; Tui was devastated at a young age. Almost all the women in the play are tortured in a cruel life state. A middle-aged woman at camp finds comfort in Peter Mullan's solitude when the Cape Fear criminal treats her like a dog after a one-night stand. That animal cruelty is chilling.
Deep in Robin's heart is a child who, like Tui, suffered as much trauma as a child. Compared with the mountain where Tui lives alone, Robin needs to face unpredictable humans. Drug trafficking, corruption, collective sin, and even the murder of girls are not the worst. In the play, the brutality shown by the lower-level criminals and the middle and upper-level high-level officials is animal in nature, and it is not at all that human beings are good and evil, good and evil can be limited. In such an environment, the female police officer Robin is like a white child against a black background, and the strength contrast is completely unbalanced. But Jane Campion's female power strikes me again. Tui is like the children's version of Ada, silent, fragile and dangerous. She walked into the mountain alone, picked up the gun without hesitation, and shot the intruder like a lamb in armor. Robin's struggles are similar. Of course, she can't compare to the entire male world, but she is like a set of stubborn teeth, she may not be able to overcome, but she will not let go. From "Piano Lesson" to "Top of the Mysterious Lake", Jane Campion is still dead. This is what I have seen, women in the most complete state of spiritual independence, unrelenting to the world.
Jamie is Tui's little friend, a teenager with beautiful features. In order to distract the people who were following Tui, he fell off a cliff. From the rubble-strewn cliff, Jamie fell straight down like a piece of clothing. The soundtrack uses Hey Joga's song, which is extremely sad and beautiful.
The film is full of mysteries, some of which are difficult to justify even after the episode ends. For example, whether Johnno and Tui's biological mother are lovers; for example, whether Mitcham, who loves his daughter so much, makes a deal with his daughter... But these are not important. Just as Johnno, who is Robin's staunch ally, is full of confusion and even guilt, although the show follows the lines of melodrama, it doesn't seem to care about the answers and instead asks a lot of questions. That's why I love the show so much.
On that terrifyingly beautiful lake, there is a monstrous aura, and in any direction it floats, there may be a new mystery buried in it.
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