I'm at episode 3 and felt compelled to find reviews on the internet about this show. At this point I have been through the full range of emotions that I see in all the reviews. I think I can explain..
The only reason I watched this is because I liked the Piano and a friend of mine said it wasn't as bad as what 'In the cut' looked.. I knew going into this that Campion is an out-and-out feminist.
To a Kiwi, the acting was awful. The accents were hard to listen to and detracted from the story at times. To a foreigner, these would seem like charming quirks.
This movie is The Killing meets Twin Peaks while smoking on a Mad Men pipe. The story follows along the lines of Twin Peaks in that the young girl goes missing, and there is a lot of WWS (Weird For Weird's sake) going on. On the Killing, Mireille Enos plays a strong detective who herself had been abused just like the young girl she is searching for. Made Men was outright patriarchal and chauvinistic, which is what Campion mirrors in her male characters.
I think Campion tried to do too much in this show. She copied 3 shows that appealed to her and hoped the uniqueness of the location would add something (which it obviously did for people outside of NZ). The passiveness of many of the characters was, I think, the element that lost you. Dave Wenham's character was so apathetic, it seemed everybody knew Bob's murderer was Matt, but nobody cared, not even the chief of police.
It is hard to connect with the characters, particularly for males because the males were so extremely patriarchal. But there were so many metaphors for a female's perspective in a male-dominated world. Feminists would probably be the most gratified by this show.
People who don't know Kiwis very well might love the oddities-GJ and other weird elements were intentionally weird and pointless. People who watched to get closure on a mystery will be disappointed. Most Kiwis hate it I think because it makes us look stupid, and seems far from Kiwi. But I think the show turned out how someone wanted it-Garth Davis maybe?
The show certainly will have a cult following for those love the exotic. But for pure film lovers who appreciate realism and subtleties in character development need not look here. By the way did anyone get the irony of GJ's name? (GJ Gardner homes)-living in container homes...
The only reason I watched this is because I liked the Piano and a friend of mine said it wasn't as bad as what 'In the cut' looked.. I knew going into this that Campion is an out-and-out feminist.
To a Kiwi, the acting was awful. The accents were hard to listen to and detracted from the story at times. To a foreigner, these would seem like charming quirks.
This movie is The Killing meets Twin Peaks while smoking on a Mad Men pipe. The story follows along the lines of Twin Peaks in that the young girl goes missing, and there is a lot of WWS (Weird For Weird's sake) going on. On the Killing, Mireille Enos plays a strong detective who herself had been abused just like the young girl she is searching for. Made Men was outright patriarchal and chauvinistic, which is what Campion mirrors in her male characters.
I think Campion tried to do too much in this show. She copied 3 shows that appealed to her and hoped the uniqueness of the location would add something (which it obviously did for people outside of NZ). The passiveness of many of the characters was, I think, the element that lost you. Dave Wenham's character was so apathetic, it seemed everybody knew Bob's murderer was Matt, but nobody cared, not even the chief of police.
It is hard to connect with the characters, particularly for males because the males were so extremely patriarchal. But there were so many metaphors for a female's perspective in a male-dominated world. Feminists would probably be the most gratified by this show.
People who don't know Kiwis very well might love the oddities-GJ and other weird elements were intentionally weird and pointless. People who watched to get closure on a mystery will be disappointed. Most Kiwis hate it I think because it makes us look stupid, and seems far from Kiwi. But I think the show turned out how someone wanted it-Garth Davis maybe?
The show certainly will have a cult following for those love the exotic. But for pure film lovers who appreciate realism and subtleties in character development need not look here. By the way did anyone get the irony of GJ's name? (GJ Gardner homes)-living in container homes...