Three to Go

1970, Total Running Time 91 Minutes (3 x 30 Minutes)

This dramatised, black and white series of three short films from 1970 offers an intimate portrayal of the coming of age of three young people from very different backgrounds, as they seek to assert themselves in the adult world. The stories also allow us a glimpse into the maturing minds of the generation that later became known as the 'Baby Boomers'.

EPISODES

Michael Until now, Michael's life has followed a relatively straight and narrow path. A chance encounter with an actor involved in a film about guerrilla warfare leads him to question his safe job and conservative lifestyle. In this experimental drama, Michael is taken on an excursion into the world of the young radical, but is it where he belongs? Acclaimed director Peter Weir interweaves Michael's story with footage showing dramatised armed resistance in a Sydney under siege and segments from 'Youth Quake', a panel discussion about the youth revolution.

Toula Toula is a young woman living in a Greek migrant community in Sydney. She wants desperately to be a modern Australian, but her parents whom she loves and respects demand a different way of life for her. Her Greek girlfriend has an Anglo-Australian boyfriend, and Toula would also like a boy of her own choosing. Toula's brother rebels against family traditions and fights with their father, but Toula finds a way around their differences.

Judy Like many people her age, Judy longs to see more of life, to find the fun, romance and adventure that is waiting around the next corner. Lured by the promise of the big city, she wants to escape the country town where she grew up, to lose herself in the crowd and find herself as an individual. The film follows Judy during the last few weeks before she leaves home. We meet her parents, workmates and boyfriend, and in their comments discover some of the issues a young woman like Judy has to face.

An Australian Commonwealth Film Unit Production (News and Information Bureau, Department of the Interior). © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

EXTRAS

Three Directions in Pop Music (1972, 11 mins) directed by Peter Weir.

This short film directed by Peter Weir provides a glimpse into the thriving Australian pop scene of the early 1970s. It showcases one song each from three different bands during a live performance at the famous TF Much Ballroom in Melbourne. The first song ‘I Think of You’ features theatrical rock artist Wendy Saddington and Teardrop - the singer and an accompanying performance artist dressed as harlequins. Next, the exuberant Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band plays ‘Who Walks in When I Walk Out’ with their unique brand of psychedelic jug-band music, followed by the experimental progressive guitar rock group Indelible Murtceps with ‘A Song that I Know’.