Topless Women Talk About Their Lives

I confess to bias here, inasmuch as I'm a big fan of lead actress Danielle Cormack, but I loved this movie. It details the various interrelationships within a group of twentysomethings in Auckland and the key events in their lives that occur over a period of several months, some hilarious, some tragic. It's an exhilarating mixture of naturalistic insight and sheer absurdism, generally mundane events unfolding and being twisted into constantly tragicomic consequences. Wonderful ensemble performances (from a cast who will be very familiar to fans of TV's 'Xena: Warrior Princess,' a much less naturalistic drama but also the product of New Zealand!)give life to characters who are fully human in their self-absorption but utterly flawed understanding of their own lives. The brutal and tender moments of the film say far more about human relationships than a dozen feelgood Hollywood movies, and it's a great shame that this excellent piece of work didn't receive a major international release.

(By the way, the movie is available on tape in Canada and Region 2 DVD in Germany, including on Amazon's German site. Good luck in hunting it down).

I saw this movie one night on second channel of the Czech state TV. I was "shocked" by its quality - it cost several dollars, but it's better than standard Hollywood's production. There are witty and clever gags, intelligent humor... I find very comical a person called "Ant" - young film-maker with no talent and art dispositions, troubled by his terrible complexes and having hallucinations; he's more funny than Charlie Chaplin. 9/10

"Topless Women talk About Their Lives" is a lively, quirky and unrelentingly honest film about a group of twenty-somethings living in Auckland, New Zealand. The Director, Harry Sinclair, has succeeded in portraying the problems faced during the ever-present 'Quarter-Life Crisis' in a way that is candid and original. The film follows the lives of a group of friends who face marriage, infidelity, careers, insecurities and pregnancy. The naturalistic and open script provides endless opportunity to bring the story to life through genuine performances from the cast. It was one of the low budget kiwi feature films that gained a national cult following as well as international critical acclaim as the New Zealand film industry boomed at the end of the 1990s. Bear in mind that the film was originally shot as a series of five minute episodes that were shown on television late on Friday nights in the late '90s. This results in the film having an obvious episodic structure made up of distinct scene by scene sequences. The story is told as a number of short episodes alternating between each character and their current crisis. However, the swift cuts are supported by a musical soundtrack that reflects the mood of the scene. The soundtrack is made up entirely of New Zealand music, mainly from the Flying Nun Label, which enriches the distinctly New Zealand nature of the film. The constant cuts and overlapping music resembles the structure of a music video and consistency is maintained by repeating snippets of certain tracks during recurring themes. In short, "Topless Women" is a great film, and you're guaranteed to take something good away from it.

Some nice moments and strong performances save TWTATL from being a total waste of time. A very disjointed plot combining with pointless character revelations make this film a little hard to watch. Fairly slow moving it barely holds the viewer's interest. The main attraction that holds your attention is your sympathy and interest in the plight of Liz and her pregnancy. An interesting slice of New Zealand life and sexual indifferences. Not for everyone. You have been warned.

I first saw this film at the Sydney Film Festival and absolutely loved it.

It is so fresh and funny yet very moving. Very New Zealand.

The soundtrack is sensational too. The acting is great and the script is very clever. The story is based around a group of friends at a particular time in their lives and you get to know and love them really fast. When I first heard the title I was sure I'd hate it but seeing this film was the highlight of that year's festival for me. If you don't know many films from New Zealand other than 'The Piano' this is a must-see. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.