Australian Filmmaker, Gillian Armstrong is well-known for her strong, independent female protagonists (My Brilliant Career, Oscar and Lucinda), but her interest in the female experience extends beyond her feature films. Since 1975, Armstrong has been making a documentary series, following three Adelaide women; Diana, Josie and Kerry. First meeting the friends as fearless 14 yr olds at a community centre, Armstrong has documented their lives in five films, the latest being Love, Lust & Lies. This series of films is a comprehensive insight into the lives of Australian women and is surely an important historical record.
Love, Lust & Lies rejoins the women at 47, their lives altered over the years after failed relationships, marriages, children and grandchildren. While these women have been through many changes, what has stayed the same is their honesty and the courage to tell us their feelings, experiences and mistakes without sugar-coating or vanity.
There is an amazing bond between the director and her subjects, as they have all essentially grown up together. Armstrong was in her mid-twenties when she was commissioned by the South Australian Film Corporation to make a documentary about teenage girls, looking specifically at whether they were freer and more independent than their 60s counterparts.
Mutual trust and respect has grown over the years with Armstrong returning to the women’s lives at 18 (Fourteen’s Good, Eighteen’s better), 26 (Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces), and 32 (Not Fourteen Again) and Armstrong’s approach and delicacy has allowed the women to feel safe enough to continue the project each time a new documentary is suggested.
Love, Lust & Lies has been developed so audiences who haven’t been initiated into the series can still watch and enjoy, with footage from earlier films leading viewers into the latest instalment. This film almost feels like it should be compulsory viewing for teenage girls, with its narratives of love, the film beautifully illustrates generational consequences and ideas of responsibility through these engaging women’s stories.
First Published on Trespass
