Love, Lust & Lies

I know Gillian Armstrong more for her feature films such as My Brilliant Career, Oscar And Lucinda and the recent Death Defying Acts and was not aware of this series of docos, the first (Smokes & Lollies) of which was commissioned by the South Australian Film Corporation when Armstrong was a recent graduate of the Australian Film and Television School. About one-third of Love Lust & Lies is made up of footage from the prior four docos, and what a fascinating time capsule it is – a riveting insight into the lives of the teenage girls back in the 70s and an intriguing social history.

Back in 1975 all three professed a desire to be married by age 18 – in fact two of them were married or single mothers even younger, Josie having a child at 15!  But what we also see is the dramatic changes in the way girls’ aspirations have changed over the years – all the women profess a deep regret at not having taken their education further, while several of their grandchildren express totally different expectations and goals in life. 

One can’t help but think of the fabulous 7-Up series in which British director Michael Apted took a group of children at the age of seven and continued to chronicle their lives at seven year intervals. Armstrong’s film is way more of a challenge, since the whole story fits into such a short running time, and now also deals with the children and grandchildren of the women. This is in fact my one reservation – that there are so many characters it took me quite some time to get a handle on exactly who was who and at times Armstrong jumps too quickly between the women before we have a chance to absorb facts.

One of the aims of the first film was that everyone be totally honest, and certainly the three are very open, talking of their attitudes to boys and virginity, how they feel about their looks and so on. There was a certain amount of deception involved on Armstrong’s side however, insofar as many amazing things happened in each of the lives that were not revealed in the earlier films, but which have been brought into the open in this chapter.  The way the various revelations unfold is part of Armstrong’s clever directing.

Although many of the circumstances of the women’s lives have been tough and emotionally challenging, the film approaches it all with a light touch – plenty of good-natured humour and countless candid interviews with the women, singly, together and also with the men in their lives. The men in fact add another excellent dimension, and it is refreshing to see them also being relatively open about their emotions.

What really struck me was that although these women came from a distinctly working class demographic where education was not prized, there is a universality to the stories, experiences and emotions presented in the film. Who, especially among women viewers, cannot easily relate to the ponderings, regrets, joys and sorrows one invariably goes into as middle age takes hold? 

As the surprises unfold, any confusion about who is who will be smoothed over by the warm and engaging, no-frills, tell-it-as-it-is charm of this very entertaining and heart-warming film.

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