"Listen to this one, Megs." "This sounds like you." ""Single person with interest in witchcraft"" ""to share huge, slightly decrepit but very atmospheric house"" ""with four guys, three girls and five cats."" "Ow, Christ!" "Christ!" "Oh, no." ""Loving, hetero household of five..."" ""..seeks uninhibited, freewheeling female to make it three-all."" ""Own room." "No wallflowers or party poopers."" "Telephone for you, Megan." "Yeah, come on, Megs." "The dishes will wait another few days." ""Intelligent, statuesque young girl from Canberra"" ""seeks freedom from slobs who don't even have washing-up detergent"" ""or steel wool in the house."" "Thank you." "Hi." "Megan Goddard." "Uh... the room?" "Oh, yeah, the penny drops." "Sorry." "Miles Haggard." "Hi." "Um, come in, come in." "I thought I should've known you." "Oh, no." "Careful." "You right?" "Yep." "Maybe I haven't paid the gas bills..." "Oh, no, it was the bit in the ad about a sense of humour that got me in." "You have got one?" "Oh, yes." "Wow!" "It's so big!" "Did you do it all yourself?" "Yeah, well, with a bit of help from friends." "I tried to open it right up but now there's a bit too much space, too much for one person." "Oh, it's beautifully done!" "It's great!" "Yeah, well, it will be when I get it finished." "Right, do you want to see the room in question?" "Oh, yeah." "Yeah." "Ta-da!" "Up there?" "Up there." "Watch your head." "I put this room in about nine months ago." "It was supposed to be a work room." "Wanted to break the habit of working in bed." "Bad habit." "Ink stains on the sheets." "Turned out to be an expensive way of finding out that bed's the only place where I can come up with any good ideas." "Did you do these?" "Yeah." "They're really good." "You think so?" "Yeah." "They're better than the cartoons in the papers." "No, no, not really." "No, truly!" "Have you ever shown them to any of the newspapers?" "Yeah, well, I tried once at the 'Herald'." "They didn't like them?" "Well, they said they liked them." "But?" "Well, they said if I could produce two or three good ones a week, they'd use me as a cartoonist." "Oh, you bugger." "At the 'Herald'?" "Come on." "Look, you've got to see the backyard if you're really gonna audition this place." "I suppose you're a uni student, you won't be able to afford the rent?" "Oh, no, no, I'm working." "Public servant." "Foreign Affairs." "Really?" "What sort of thing?" "Research." "Yeah?" "Anything in particular?" "Oh... well, it's fairly general." "But I am starting to specialise in South-East Asia." "Vietnam, that sort of thing." "Maybe you could leak me secrets and I could use them in the cartoons." "You never know your luck." "It's nice." "There's nowhere to hang the washing." "It's fabulous, Miles." "Just fabulous." "I've got a few other people coming around this afternoon to have a bit of a look." "Oh, what the hell." "Do you want it?" "Yeah!" "It's yours." "Oh!" "Now, let's go have a glass of wine and, uh... you can tell me all about your real job." "Attention!" "Prime Minister." "How do you do?" "This is the head man of the province." "This is the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Gorton." "Private Beetson, isn't it?" "Yes, sir." "How's the recovery going?" "About as well as can be expected, sir." "That's the way." "Captain Reid has told me about your bravery and... and that of Private Fellows and the rest of the platoon." "It won't be forgotten." "Makes up for everything, doesn't it, mate?" "Attention!" "He can hardly make Laurie walk again." "And I'm proud that in the midst of the tragedy and destruction of war, that there can be found this oasis of peace, a monument to the constructive spirit of mankind." "Trung Luong is a tribute to all of those in the Australian Army that made it happen and to the villagers that are making it work." "It speaks more clearly than any words could of the reasons for Australia's presence in this country." "For us, this is not a war for territories or resources or power." "It is a war for peace." "Shall we have some refreshments in the tent, sir?" "John, I'd like you to meet my son, Philip." "Phil, this is Mr Gorton." "G'day." "Very pleased to meet you." "Your father mentions you in dispatches all the time." "Did you do a bit of work on the village?" "On the edges, so to speak." "Very impressive." "Very, very impressive." "The water supply is the other huge leap forward." "The old village only had two wells." "They used to queue for hours." "Here, there's a well with every house." "More time for the crops instead of wasting time on a water line yabbering." "There are other things I'd like you to see, if you're ready." "Mmm, sure." "Uh..." "There go the drinks." "Increased protection against infiltration..." "Oh, Phil, I'd like you to meet Dave from the embassy." "He has no other name, as far as I know." "'Dave number one', they call me around the traps." "G'day." "Pretty impressive-looking place." "It's stuffed." "Huge load of bullshit." "If you believe what Reid says, you'd swallow that huge mountain of crap that Gorton fed us." "I wrote that mountain of crap." "I flushed it down the toilet back at the dorms." "Want to come for a walk?" "This place doesn't support the people." "Half the young ones have moved to Saigon." "Nothing grows." "They live off the food WE give them." "We dragged them out of their homes." "They hated us for that." "We certainly aren't winning back any hearts or minds here." "This way." "This is where the village head man was executed." "The VC making sure the village was under its thumb." "And then they go and ambush my platoon half a mile down the road." "And the fact is we're not winning the war either." "Surely, this set-up has at least dented the Vietcong presence." "I reckon..." "I suspect it's probably increased it." "What would you do?" "Charlie's a guerrilla fighter." "One of the best." "But for him to keep fighting, he needs support from the villages - information, shelter, supplies." "Without that support, the whole structure would collapse." "Now, we can fight them out there." "And we're good at it." "Bloody good." "But even when we thrash 'em, he comes back into the villages where we can't get at him and he rebuilds." "The whole thing's ridiculous." "You've got to be a guerrilla to fight a guerrilla." "That's the reality." "We either learn that... or we lose." "Phil!" "There's someone I'd like you to meet." "Would you be interested in a trip to Saigon?" "Over here." "Over here." "Buy me a drink." "I love you so much." "Please buy me a drink." "Not tonight, Josephine." "Phil?" "Phil, I want you to meet..." "My God!" "The army's the smallest of all possible worlds, Dave." "How do you do, digger?" "Not dead yet?" "I'm still working on it, sir." "Drink?" "Oh, yeah." "Thanks." "I see you've been doing a bit of decorating." "Dave mentioned some interesting things you were telling him up north." "What was it in particular?" "Just that you weren't too happy with the army's response to the Vietcong." "Well, it's fine, as far as it goes." "I just don't think it goes far enough." "How far is "far enough"?" "What is all this?" "I'm interested." "Well, I don't think the army's the real problem." "I think it's the South Vietnamese." "Well, they're the ones that are supposed to be going into the villages, weeding out the VC, breaking up the infrastructure, but they don't." "Agreed." "So what do we do?" "You're asking me?" "Mmm." "Well, somebody's got to tackle the bastards." "Why not us?" "We should go into the villages." "We should knock out the important VC." "Throw out the bloody rulebook." "We're not gonna win anything with one hand tied behind our backs." "That's good." "That's good." "I've got a project on, that's all." "You might be hearing from me." "Is it military, or what?" "Finish this up for me, will you?" "Oh, and don't touch the girls here." "They're walking clap-traps." "Interesting fella." "Oh, it's Disneyland." "Pure escapism." "Completely undisturbed by the real world." "I love it." "I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't seeing it." "Bonjour." "Qa va?" "Monsieur, bonjour." "They've got a fantastic champagne cellar." "Certainment." "Moét et Chandon." "Soixante-deux." "Merci." "Oui, madame." "So they've been keeping you busy?" "They certainly have." "I've been doing the diplomatic rounds, the military rounds." "It's all show, really." ""PM shows his face on the battlefield" - that sort of thing." "And you leave tomorrow?" "I'm afraid so." "Oh, it's no good, Douglas." "I wanted to continue your education." "You're staying on in Saigon?" "No, not for long, I shouldn't think." "Since the Tet offensive," "I've lost the feeling that it can't touch me." "They say we've lost the initiative to the Vietcong." "Who says?" "We're not using effective tactics against them." "I don't know anyone in the embassy with that much nous." "What do you think?" "It's true." "If it was just the North Vietnamese Army, we'd be doing pretty well." "The Yanks are good against armies." "But fighting the Vietcong guerrillas they're invisible." "It takes too much sensitivity and subtlety to get at them." "Cheers." "They say it's dangerous to swim after drinking champagne." "Who says?" "Cheers." "Mmm, that's wonderful." "Turn over." "Hands too cold?" "Mmm, getting warmer." "Warm... warm..." "I have got..." "Wherever we're heading, it's near as shit due north." "When are we gonna know our destination?" "It ain't far now." "You just dropping us?" "Maybe we'll be making a return trip with some of you guys." "Who's going back?" "If you're lucky, you'll go back today." "If you're not, maybe you'll go back in a strait jacket next week." "OK, this is it." "As far as we go." "There's a hooch over in those trees, so get your orders over there." "Move it!" "There's no cover here." "No-one's in command." "Just get over to the trees, bud." "We'll cover you." "Hey!" "Stay down, you idiot!" "This isn't right." "What's going on here?" "Keep moving." "There's nowhere we can take 'em out." "Beer?" "Beer, Johnny?" "Beer for you, sir?" "Want a beer, Johnny?" "What the hell's going on here?" "Good afternoon, gentlemen." "Theatrical bastard." "Right, you must be shitting yourselves to know what this is all about." "Well, I can't tell you a single thing." "Only that I'm looking for three men to do a job." "Three maximum." "And so most of you aren't going to make it." "But what I can tell you about is what to expect in the next 10 days." "Basically, what I'm gonna try and do is break you." "Break your will, break your spirit, destroy you." "And I warn you, it's gonna be on the edge." "We will be playing it for real." "And accidents can happen." "Take your bag, sir?" "No, no, it's alright, Terry." "Evelyn?" "Darling?" "Good luck with it, then." "Great." "That's fabulous." "Thanks a million." "Not stable." "Well, anything but." "But the morale of the troops seemed very high." "Oh, sorry, Barry, I'm being called away." "Can I call you back?" "Bye." "Found the removal company, got the address." "She's in Sydney." "You're a marvel." "Hello." "My God, that was quick." "Er, I can't offer you anything much." "There might be some, um, creme de menthe." "That'd be nice." "This is, er, very nice." "Did you see Phil?" "Yes." "He's alright." "He seemed intense somehow." "Driven." "He was healthy, though?" "Oh, yes." "Have you signed a lease?" "Of course I have." "The house looked empty." "It was quite a shock." "For me to." "Still is." "Oh, for Christ's sake, sit down." "Phew!" "Thanks." "Darling, isn't all this a bit silly?" "A bit melodramatic?" "It's certainly an expensive way to make a point." "I'm not making a point, Douglas." "I've made a decision." "It seems rash to me." "What are you going to do here in Sydney?" "It's not as if you know anyone here." "Megan's here." "Look, I know there have been problems." "I know that some of the blame rests with me." "But we've hardly tried to work them out." "You've hardly tried." "Well, I'm prepared to try." "We've got 23 years of our lives invested in each other." "And now we're at a turning point." "We can sit back and take stock and formulate a new life together." "We're part of a community in Canberra." "We know people." "People know us." "They know us as a couple." "I don't want to lose all that." "Yes, that's the real point, isn't it?" "You're worried about how it'll look!" "Ohhh!" "Not a mention of love or need or desire." "Or affection." "There hasn't been any of that since you started climbing ladders." "I have ever only been ambitious for the sake of the family." "Oh, that's rubbish!" "Huh!" "Maybe that's how it was in the beginning." "Or maybe that's how you've justified it to yourself." "But now you're a slave to it." "I put up with it for 23 years but now I'm going to try something different." "Now, if you have any quibbles about what I've taken and what I've left behind, perhaps you can write me a letter." " Mille." " Mille." "Mille." " Due mila cento cinquanta." " Due mila cento cinquanta." "Due mila cento cinquanta." " Un milione." " Un milione." "Un milione." " Cinque milioni." " Cinque milioni." "Cinque milioni." " Primo." " Primo." "Primo." " Secondo." " Secondo." "Secondo." " Terzo." " Terzo." "Terzo." " Quarto." " Quarto." "Quarto." " Quinto." " Quinto." "Quinto." " Decimo." " Decimo." "Decimo." "What is your name?" "Goddard!" "What is the name of your officer?" "What was your mission in this area?" "What's the name of your unit?" "Who's your commanding officer?" "Where is your unit located?" "We have to bust your head, asshole!" "It's all over, boys." "You're the graduates." "Be there in an hour 15." "You want a number?" "G'day." "10 points!" "Accurate even with distraction." "Welcome to Firefly, boys." "So I want you to get rid of everything." "No dog tags, no names, addresses, photographs, nothing." "If you're ever captured or killed, or this place is ever overrun, nobody knows who you are." "Not your government, not the CIA, not the enemy." "We don't exist." "That's Megan, Mum, Dad." "And this is the weapon that has the government on the run - the statement of defiance asking young men not to register for the conscription lottery." "What work is it?" "Yeah, come on, tell us." "Oh, it's not much of a job, really." "Part-time waitressing in Kings Cross." "I have to wear this really skimpy see-through number." "Oh, yuk!" "Sounds alright to me." "Oh, yeah, that'd be just your style, Serge." "...after this meeting." "Thank you." "And now, folks, I think we're ready." "Yes?" "I'd like to introduce one of the heroes of the anticonscription movement." "Simon Hearn has come out of hiding to speak to us today." "I believe that we all have a moral obligation to refuse to cooperate with an immoral law." "He's gorgeous." "I believe that any law which forces human beings against their will to kill other human beings is immoral." "And so I believe that Australia's National Service Act is an immoral law that deserves our contempt and demands our defiance." "The major moral problem of this law is its limited provisions for conscientious objection to military service." "Watch out!" "It's the pigs!" "It's the police!" "Are you alright?" "If I could have your attention, please." "Can I have your attention, please?" "Those upholders of the law have broken the law by making an arrest here today." "They're not allowed on campus unless invited by the vice-chancellor." "We're gonna march on his office and demand an explanation, OK?" "Hey, we're gonna go." "Come on." "I'll patch you up." "It's about time you saw my new place, anyway." "At least I didn't get arrested." "If I missed my exams, I'd kill the bastards."