User reviews

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.

On the BBC iPlayer at present (Dec20). Enjoyable Sunday afternoon film. If you fancy something that's not too heavy then give it a go.

I guess the most immediately noticeable thing about Three Summers is that its writer/director is Ben Elton. Seemingly, he has been living in Australia for some time and this is I guess his take on his adopted home. The set-up is quite good, with the action taking place over three summers at a music festival in Western Australia called Westival. While it has a romantic comedy as its main plot thread, it is essentially fairly plot-less and is much more a character-driven ensemble piece, which focuses on many Aussie stereotypes. As such, it mixes a lot of humour with serious social issues, such as racism.

I have to say, I found this one to be a very enjoyable affair. There were enough characters and varied goings-on at the festival to ensure it always remained entertaining and if something isn't working so great then something else is sure to come along soon to take us in a different direction. Like most comedies, it is only sporadically laugh-out-loud funny but it was definitely funny reasonably often. I found Robert Sheehan's uptight Theremin player to be the most consistently funny element of the story. His rocky romance with the rather gorgeous Rebecca Breeds was well done too I thought. The film probably floundered most when it went for the serious stuff, such as racism and bigotry. It was a little heavy-handed and contrived to be honest but fair play for introducing a bit of social consciousness into the mix at least. The music on the other hand was a lot surer footed, with some particularly interesting folk-Theremin fusions - which is not the kind of thing you hear every day, lets be honest. All-in-all, I definitely would put this down as a very fun bit of Aussie comedy.

Over three years, the same people attend a music festival Westival, staged in rural outback Western Australia and during this time relationships change and evolve. 

The main storyline concentrates on the love story between Keevy (Rebecca Breeds), a down to earth pub band fiddler, and theremin player Roland (Robert Sheehan), together they meet at the festival. Roland encourages Keevy to apply to a music conservatorium which causes great drama, especially with Keevy's father played by John Waters. There are great supporting characters in the film, such as Michael Caton, who plays a racist and Magda Szubanski who is the community radio announcer and Deborah Mailman who plays a therapist who runs the festival's Alcoholics Anonymous sessions. As a secondary storyline, the film concentrates on some aspects of contemporary Australian society such as the plight of refugees left in unlimited detention and the problems some Aboriginals experience in their communities. 

The film was beautifully shot, capturing the beautiful Aussie outback in rural Western Australia. It also ticked all the boxes which is a good step forward in terms of diversity, portraying Multicultural Australia in film. My only question is, "Did the filmmaker concentrate on ticking all the boxes more so than creating a more organic storyline?"  

Ben Elton says, "The idea for Three Summers came about during one of my family trips to the Fairbridge Folk Festival in WA. I was sitting in the bar tent doing some people watching, there's such a rich tapestry of humanity at these sorts of family music events and so much comedy. People from different walks of life suddenly living in a field together with only sheets of canvas and polyester between them. Everybody's equal in the queue for the portaloos!"

Three Summers' Aussie soundtrack includes tracks by Little Birdy, Dan Sultan, the John Butler Trio, Xavier Rudd, Gotye, Sarah Blasko , Dr. G. Yunupingu and many more.

The Run time 102 minutes

6.5/10

Oh dear. That this was written and directed by someone - Ben Elton - that I used to love and admire so much is bitterly disappointing. It has all the hallmarks of a twee, naive Australian comedy that can be done entertainingly - witness "The Castle" or "Muriel's Wedding" - but is more often than not a cringe-worthy embarrassment filled with poor dialogue, manufactured awkward script and atrocious acting.

Ben Elton is for me the man who saved Blackadder - his input into Series 2 lifted the show and who displayed socially progressive views early in his career, but this bloated, embarrassing thief of time is indicative of how far Elton has fallen.

I can't fault the actors: they had such appalling dialogue I swear I could see in their eyes a fear and horror that their careers could be over as the words left their lips.

I am fully supportive of the themes in the film - the need for kindness and compassion in society, taking care of refugees and supporting Aboriginal land rights but the absolute lack of subtlety and the preaching smarmy way these things were delivered made me recoil.

Robert Sheehan is such a talent (Misfits) (The Umbrella Academy) as are the well know Aussie actors in this charming movie. A Ben Elton story and movie beautifully capturing different aspects of Australian culture. Be it quite cringe worthy at times. I hope our American friends "get it". Just sit back and enjoy the story.

While Elton has done some great work in the past, and is great with comedy, its mixing it with a ham fisted overt pro refugee message that unfortunately lets this movie down. Sadly lots of aspects of it could have been great, but the exagerated grandad, right from the get go, sprouting two dimensional anti refugee diatrine... who then magically sees the error of his ways was a bit childish and seems to assume the audience is a bit daft and need their story told to them in obvious parables.

Szubanksi, Caton, Mailman and Waters all do a sterling job... just a shame the movie hinges on the audience being told what most of us already know, and those that don't, certainly won't be changing their mind because of this.

Surprisingly great little film, during lockdown have missed live music even local festivals and this filled that void

I started watching this with great anticipation due to the cast and Ben Elton as script writer, but ended up extremely disappointed. I like most of Ben's work, especially the recent Upstart Crow, but this script is poor. You could see every attempt at humour coming a mile away, and all so cliched. Even (my favorite Australian actor) Kate Box had to deliver rubbish lines that appeared poorly directed (Ben again). Great idea for a movie, great cast but just poorly written and directed.

Ben Elton writes and directs Three Summers. A film set in the Westival folk and country music festival in Western Australia over three successive years.

Elton who moved to Australia some years ago has written a romantic comedy but he also throws is a little bit of politics.

The main story concerns Roland (Robert Sheehan) a well meaning but pretentious theremin player. The instrument people think Brian Wilson used in Good Vibrations. After a bit of musical improvisation he falls for Keevy (Rebecca Breeds) a sultry and talented singer/fiddler in her dad's band. Roland wants Keevy to do better and expand her horizons. Keevy finds him rather elitist and up himself.

The festival brings towards a cross section of people. Aboriginals who regard the white Australians as the illegal invaders. Henry who was sent over from England as a child but grown up to be a bigot, especially towards the the aborigines and the new wave of asylum seekers from Afghanistan.

There is a nod to the film Lion, as a couple have taken in a traumatised boy from Afghanistan who hardly speaks to anyone in that first summer in Westival. There are two couples who visit every year just to eat and drink wine, they never bother to see any of the acts. Then there is the humourless security guard who is a real jobsworth.

Each successive year we see Roland trying to progress his relationship with Keevy who is still frosty towards him, especially as he cajoled her to apply to a music academy which then rejected her. Henry comes to understand that for years he has been telling the story of his life as being the only story about Australia but he needed to listen to other people's stories and experiences.

Ben Elton certainly adds a political dimension to the story but it does feel rather bluntly crowbarred in. I speak as a lefty who has seen Elton on his comedy tour.

The story is light but amiable enough. It helps that Breed is appealing but the real revelation is Sheehan. I just did not think he could do light comedy and he astonished me with his performance. When I saw his name starring in a Ben Elton comedy, I expected a car crash as I have only seen him in dramatic roles.

There is one flaw in the plot. Why does Keevy use her dad's email address? She told Roland that she is on Tinder!

Sometimes you watch a movie because you like the trailer, and then it leaves you underwhelmed and disappointed, because the only good bits were in that trailer. With 'Three Summers', it's quite the opposite. The trailer didn't tempt me at all, and I didn't intend to watch it. I accidentally left the TV on, whilst I was doing some chores, and by coincidence, when I re-entered the room, I happened to see a scene that made me laugh out loud. So I decided to give it a chance anyway, and started to watch from the beginning. I'm glad I did, because it's a delightful little gem of a film.

It's not pretentious or high-brow, but it's sharp and witty. It effectively takes the mickey out of identity culture, activists, boring middle aged couples who do exactly the same thing every year, posh music-snobs, security guards, feminists and yobs. At the same time it lovingly depicts families with teenagers noticeably growing up over three years time, whilst the adults are doing a bit of growing of their own. We learn a bit about Aboriginals, colonialism, the big child migration from the UK to Australia, and the inevitable modern day refugee crisis. Nothing new there, necessarily, but it does so in a very organic way that is lighthearted and yet poignant. It's brought back to the level of individual people, and that's always good if you want to understand one another a little better. It is a bit of a feelgood movie, but in the best possible way. And it's truly funny on so many different levels.

If you're looking for something to cheer you up, this might just hit the spot.

Was this by the same Ben Elton who co penned The Young Ones and Blackadder? After reading other reviews I was really looking forward to get a taste of his brilliant writing skills again but it just didn't work at all for me at all. It didn't go anywhere and was like a long mindless train journey that never actually arrived at it's destination. Dull, uninteresting and not funny at all. Sorry Ben but as a great admirer of your brilliant work back in the day, this falls way short.

I am not a movie critic, just an ordinary guy writing about ordinary characters that felt perfectly real to me! I have not had so much fun watching a movie in such a long time, and I keep bursting into laughter every time I recall some of the scenes, the characters, the lines! Those who have criticised the characters in this joyous film obviously don't have an awkward teenage daughter, like most of us mere mortals do! I absolutely loved it!

I can't believe I saw something this embarrassing and awkward. It just wasn't funny. I didn't like how it handled the world of the movie. The characters were not good. The film felt boring and when it was over, I was like "thank god". This movie was horrible. I can't believe they would make something like this. What were they thinking? this is not entertaining. It was a waste of time with really stupid stuff going on. This movie shows how poor Australian cinema has become, making boring films like this.

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..

The worst film I have ever seen. Cringe, patronising, self Indulgent, badly written and unfunny. A car crash I'm astounded was even made. This film thinks very highly of itself as if it's making an Important point but it's a cliched mess that's quite embarrassing.

I came across this film on BBC iplayer. It's funny, charming, thoughtful, great dialogue and music. It reminded me of Robert Altman films. Great cast. It's a shame it did not get wider distribution

Three Summers will never win an award and plays to a select audience I would think. It's main fault is that it all seems so pointless. There are several highlights: the female security guard is great fun and the running gag of the two couples who park in exactly the same place every year and do not move from their chairs. If only the rest of the movie was up to these standards.

It's a film based around a music festival with a pious political message that I won't address.

I got about 40 min into and right from the start I was rolling my eyes thinking "How could you make a movie about a music festival and not have any idea about music." To see this was written and directed by B.Elton, who has music credits is just shameful on his behalf. Having a tween who can accurately play from memory a song she heard the previous day surrounded by copious amounts of other songs requires and not make a mistake? Oh c'mon; please. Not even Mozart, who had perfect pitch, could do that. I could go on and on about all the mistakes and impossibilities made by the writer/director when it came to the music and instrument playing, but I'll digress...

The script is horribly cliche. The cast is solid but their roles are so white-bread that not even the quality of Michael Caton, Deborah Mailman and Magna Szubanski, who were good despite their character's limited personalities, could make them believable. That Irish actor was just appauling. Cardboard acting playing a role taken from the 'Book of Cliches - Pretentious Musician' edition.

Shameful that this could be considered a comedy. Shameful that all it takes is a new setting for a movie for Australians to be bamboozled while overlooking the bland story line, obvious political messages and flawed understanding of basic instrument playing.

I laughed out loud several times during this movie and that is something I rarely do.

This film has a great heart and even though in places it might seem a little 'right-on', the characters and their development through three summers is a wonderful watch.

A real feel-good film.

Nice night in curled up on the lounge sort of movie. Michael Caton at his best.

Should have been better. Could have easily been better. Lots of good bits mixed with a heavy-handed 'preaching to the choir' dialogue. I feel embarrassed for Australian film goers.

This film was never released in the North America. I suppose that nobody bought the rights to it here. Just to even view it I had to obtain an illicit copy. Somebody (Netflix? Sundance?) ought to buy the North American broadcast rights.

I am astonished this was released anywhere but pleased it did so badly. PC cant and puerile propaganda disguised as comedy is exactly what one would expect from Ben Elton and that is exactly what we get.