The Topp Twins - Untouchable Girls

Mum said, 'wait until your sister finds out!' And I said, 'you've got another thing coming Mum!'

– One of the twins describes coming out to her Mum

The Topp Twins are New Zealand icons, and they embody so much of what New Zealand has achieved in the last 30 years. Aside from their own success, they have walked alongside New Zealand as New Zealand grew up. They were there: Māori land rights. They were there, feminism. They were there, 1981 Springbok Tour. They were part of the anti-nuclear movement. So the Twins have been part of New Zealand's history. So, in making a film about the Twins, I've been given the chance to make a film about New Zealand.

– Untouchable Girls director Leanne Pooley, in clip five

... a compelling biography . . . there's also a telling moment when Rosie Horton — one of the film's talking heads who also include Helen Clark, John Clarke, Billy Bragg, and the Topps' terrific parents — says when it came to the social upheavals of those years, looking back, she often first heard about the issues from the Topps.

– NZ Herald critic Russell Baillie in a four star review, 2009

...a sort of anarchist variety act.

– British musician Billy Bragg describes the Topp Twins, in clip four

They're prepared to do almost anything. They're relatively shameless, and that's a good thing to be; and to know how far you're prepared to go, and to know how far people are prepared to go with you. I think they're deft judges of that, and they do it on the run.

– John Clarke on the Topp Twins' crowd-pleasing talents

Music and laughter, zany characters, maybe a tear or two — Untouchable Girls is superb storytelling . . . a lens turned on the lives of the Topp Twins turns out to be an insightful look at many of the issues and events that have informed and moulded New Zealand's national identity over the last 30 years.

– Timaru Herald writer Fleur Cogle, in a five star review, 5 October 2009

...in any kind of political movement there's always some music and a song that maybe makes people feel brave or strong . . . gives them a sense of freedom or something. And people will listen to a song before they'll listen a speech a lot of the times too...

– Jools Topp, on how music can be a useful aid for protest, late in the excerpt

I've seen the Topps perform . . . to an audience of steel mill workers, farmers, the Women's Institute crowd, the local lesbians, everyone; a crowd of four or five hundred. And everyone feeling caught up and involved, and laughing at everything — not laughing at people. It's really easy to make small groups of people feel bad or feel excluded through humour. But their humour is inclusive.

– Topp Twins fan Charmaine Poutney, early in the main excerpt

A doco that has you falling in love with two of the crazier people you’ve never met . . . They attain a similar vocal purity only siblings seem able to achieve, which gives their Country-flavored music a keening, aching quality. It makes the Topps a real double threat: Their audience can choke up, or choke with laughter.

– Reviewer John Anderson, in American showbusiness magazine Variety, 13 September 2009