Three Summers (2017)

Too much of everything

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I loved this movie. Part of the reason I did was because my family were extras, or as Ben Elton calls us, Background Artistes. The movie is funny and yet provocative. It shows a lovely cross section of characters, and I'm betting you'll be able to relate to quite a few of them.

I think Ben Elton nailed it in this movie about attendees returning to a large folk festival, Westival, held annually in W.A. The audience were reacting with out-loud laughs and even applauding at the end. The script was well written and Magda Subanski as the local radio announcer was superb. The characterisations were exaggerated but, I thought, honest, and anyone who likes camping or caravanning will have come across these exact people at times, although perhaps not in the guise of Morris Dancers with Michael Caton as their leader. It covered romance, bigotry, racism and refugees but in such a way as to be inoffensive. The musical score was also very good even if you aren't a fan of the theremin..

It is absurd that any filmmaker would try to snapshot an entire nation in one movie, but Three Summers (2017) comes very close to doing just that. Almost every social and political issue that is near and dear to the Australian heart is brought together in one big tent full of ethical potpourri with lashings of larrikin humour and subversive irreverence. What's not to enjoy?The structural frame that holds the film together is both elegant and contrived. Multiple story lines are interleaved across three successive years of 'Westival', a fictional country music festival in Western Australia. There is no plot line as such: it's more a montage of stand-up gags and music intended to reflect our changing social values over time, warts and all. Narrative continuity comes from following the romance between pretentious theremin player Roland (Robert Sheehan) and down-to-earth pub band fiddler Keevy (Rebecca Breeds). We meet a cross section of Aussie caricatures: festival radio announcer Queenie (Magda Szubanski) who doubles as narrator; a racist bigot (Michael Caton); an alcoholic father (John Waters); recidivist caravan dwellers; a cast of Indigenous and migrant identities; and a stone-faced security guard (Kate Box) who keeps stealing her scenes. Between them, they skip all too lightly across issues of race, class, colonialism, refugees, sexuality, musical culture, and national history.Few of these issues are inherently funny or lightweight and if the gags were read from script they would struggle to get a chuckle. But timing is everything and in the hands of this ensemble it is all great fun. The actors play to stereotype rather than well-developed characters, except for Rebecca Breeds whose role traverses a wide emotional terrain. The warm spot is the romance between Roland and Keevy, which is as rocky sweet as their music is brilliant. The filming is exuberantly colourful and lively, lifted by a score full of festival joy drawn from a variety of musical genres. The quirky humour works on visual irony, such as when Michael Caton ridicules Indigenous dancers because of their native adornments while he himself wears a comical Morris dancing costume. Amidst the self-deprecating sendups of real life there are many issues that prick our national conscience, such as our unresolved relationship to the Indigenous owners of the land we invaded and our treatment of refugees. It is implausible, however, to suggest that the three-festival timeframe is enough to see substantial changes in attitudes; die-hard racists do not become exemplars of inclusion that fast.Whatever faults one can find, none detract from the film's enjoyment for both Aussies and overseas audiences wanting to know us better. Good-natured and big-hearted gags are entertaining, but the film's bigger purpose is hidden inside the squirm-in-your-seat humour that holds up a mirror to the dark side of the Australian character.

Ben Elton has done a terrific job of capturing everyday Australians; the good and the bad. This movie had so many of laughs along with serious moments. I find that some movies depend on big names to carry it but this is just not the case with Three Summers. I wonder how many takes they had for some of the scenes with Magda Szubanski. Her dialog was hilarious and she did it with a straight face but I don't know how. Peter Rowsthorn did the same scene 3 times in the movie and it just got funnier and funnier. Michael Caton did such a credible job of the older bigoted Australian that all I could see was my father-in-law until the turnaround at the end. I could go on and on but I don't want to spoil it. Go see it for yourself. There's something for everyone; young and old. I haven't even mentioned the music. Go see it for yourself. I'm getting the DVD when it comes out. I just loved it. It's going to be a classic, like The Dish.