Picnic at Hanging Rock
Directed by:
Peter WeirScreenplay:
Cliff GreenCinematography:
Russell BoydComposer:
Bruce SmeatonCast:
John Jarratt, Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Jacki Weaver, Margaret Nelson, Dominic Guard, Garry McDonald, Olga Dickie, Helen Morse, Karen Robson (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
St Valentine's Day, 1900. On a beautiful summer's day a party of Australian schoolgirls from an exclusive finishing school giddily prepare for an excursion to Hanging Rock, a magnificent natural monument drenched in a mysterious atmosphere. Among the white-gloved pupils of Appleyard college are senior boarders Miranda, Marion, Irma and Edith. The girls gain permission to explore the upper slopes of the rock. Edith takes a nap and wakes to discover that the other three girls have removed their shoes and stockings and have resumed their trek as if in a dream, disappearing into a passageway in the rock itself. Mathematics mistress Miss McCraw goes to investigate, but neither she nor the three other girls are ever seen again. They have vanished without a trace. Based on the classic novel by Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock, is both sublimely spooky and majestically beautiful. Boasting visually hypnotic photography by Russell Boyd, a haunting score by Bruce Smeaton and the timeless ethereal beauty of Anne Louise Lambert as Miranda, Picnic at Hanging Rock helped revive the Australian film industry and established Director Peter Weir as a major International talent. (Umbrella Entertainment)
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Reviews (7)
Visually magical and musically captivating. Although the plot is absolutely empty, thanks to Weir's skill, and his confident grip on several themes (the detective story, horror, love between women), it is an atmospherically unbelievably gripping and emotionally charged work, which proves the director's genius, which is unrivaled on the other side of the planet (for now).
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My first Peter Weir film. What caught my attention right from the start was the distinctive soundtrack, which later works as a great vehicle to achieve just the right mystery atmosphere. And it's the atmosphere and the fact that the viewer doesn't really "suspect" throughout the film that are probably the most important draws of the whole thing. Quite inventively made for its time, so now I'm just waiting to see what Peter Weir will surprise me with in his later work. 90%
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While the first part is beautifully and mysteriously disturbing, melancholic with wonderfully dreamy camerawork, the second part turns it into a completely different mood; still quality work, but not quite as much as before. Despite this Peter Weir already back then in his very beginnings Peter Weir was brimming with talent like only a few did and here it’s clearly visible.
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I quite like Peter Weir, but not his early period (based only on The Last Wave and Picnic at Hanging Rock). This tedious and empty story from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries set in Australia really didn’t work on me. From the noisy chicken coop feeling to the persistent effort to generate a mysterious atmosphere (successfully some times, not to be just critical), this is far from my idea of an interesting or stimulating film.
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An intriguingly conceived film that, at first glance, appears to be an Austen-esque drama, but in reality, it's a period mystery drama that, however, doesn't deliver what you might crave - answers. I'm a person who wants answers, and when I don't get them - at least some - I'm disappointed. In this case, I was disappointed.
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Gallery (109)
Photo © Greater Union Organisation
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