Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Peter Weir

Writers:

Joan Lindsay (novel)
Cliff Green (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 February 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Australia's First International Hit! [Video Australia]

Plot:

A story about the disappearance of several Appleyard College students, and a teacher, from Hanging Rock.

Plot Keywords:

Hanging Rock | Student | Teacher | Hanging | Disappearance

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Rachel Roberts	...	Mrs. Appleyard
Vivean Gray	...	Miss McCraw
Helen Morse	...	Mlle. de Poitiers
Kirsty Child	...	Miss Lumley
Tony Llewellyn-Jones	...	Tom (as Anthony Llewellyn-Jones)
Jacki Weaver	...	Minnie
Frank Gunnell	...	Mr. Whitehead
Anne-Louise Lambert	...	Miranda (as Anne Lambert)
Karen Robson	...	Irma
Jane Vallis	...	Marion
Christine Schuler	...	Edith
Margaret Nelson	...	Sara
Ingrid Mason	...	Rosamund
Jenny Lovell	...	Blanche
Janet Murray	...	Juliana

Runtime:

115 min | Australia:107 min (1998 director's cut)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:TV-PG (cable rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:11 | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:A | Australia:G | Spain:T | Spain:X | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Adelaide Hills, South Australia, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

The role of Mrs. Appleyard was originally taken by Vivien Merchant. While traveling to Australia, Merchant became ill in Hong Kong, and Rachel Roberts took over the role at a few days notice.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As the drag pulls out of Woodend, power poles are seen to the left of the screen, also, a television antenna is also seen on the roof of a house in the same scene.

Quotes:

Sara: Miranda knows lots of things other people don't know. Secrets. She knew she wouldn't come back.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Soundtrack:

5th piano concerto

Eerie, beautiful "romance porn".

I first saw PAHR while in high school, and it was the beginning of a long and drawn-out love affair with the film. The look, feel and sound of it drew me in at once, and the open-endedness of it appealed to my romantic teenage notions, striking me as being terribly, terribly profound. I searched out the book, and the sequel (both out of print in the US) and had a good long obsession over the film.

Years later, I still appreciate it deeply, but I realize now that if I were to see it for the first time today, I might not be quite so entranced. Yes, it is moody and beautiful, full of deliciously gossamar images, beautiful actresses, a haunting soundtrack, and a hypnotically slow and deliberate pace... but I can now see that it is a very youthful effort on Wier's part. It is decidedly a young director's film, firmly mired in the style of its era (the 70s). The heavy-handedness of the direction is evident in many ways, mostly in the repeated metaphors of Miranda as a swan, an angel, etc.... It has anachronistic costumes, makeup and hair, although the sets design is attractive and accurate enough.

However, let it be noted that the film is far more about symbolism and atmosphere than anything else, and on that front, it succeeds admirably. Among the highlights:

The repressed Victorian schoolgirls, whose burgeoning sexual longings are channeled into torrid, purple verse and close romantic friendships

The famous corset-lacing scenelet

The implied relationship between Mrs. Appleyard and the "masculine" Miss McCraw

The disappearance of only the "pure": Miranda (love), Marion (science), Miss McCraw (math), and the rock's rejecting Edith (gluttony), Irma (worldliness), and all men.

One might go on about the sexual imagery of the rock itself, with its monoliths and chasms, but I will refrain. Because after you've seen the movie, you realize how many times these things have been hammered into your head.

I still love this film dearly, despite the obviousness of it all. I wish that a soundtrack were available, as the original music is lovely. If you know a teenager, or are one, this is the movie for you. May your love affair with it go on as long as mine.