Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.

Director:

Peter Weir

Writers:

Joan Lindsay (novel), Cliff Green (screenplay)

Stars:

Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Three students and a school teacher disappear on an excursion to Hanging Rock, in Victoria, on Valentine's Day, 1900. The movie follows those that disappeared, and those that stayed behind, but it delights in the asking of questions, not the answering of them. Even though both the movie and the book it was based on claim to be inspired by real events, the story is completely fictional.

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Plot Keywords:

australia | year 1900 | sexual hysteria | sexual repression | vanishing | 

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Taglines:

On St. Valentine's Day in 1900 a party of schoolgirls set out to picnic at Hanging Rock. ...Some were never to return.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Criterion Collection [United States] Criterion Forum 2 [United States]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English French

Release Date:

2 February 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Filming Locations:

Mount Diogenes, Hanging Rock Reserve, Woodend, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 440,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,492, 28 June 1998, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$232,201

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,953,633

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Empire Films Australia, The South Australian Film Corporation, The Australian Film Commission

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 107 min (1998 director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While filming on location at Hanging Rock, actress Anne-Louise Lambert (Miranda) had a most surreal encounter. During a break from shooting Lambert went for a walk through the woods. She turned to see Joan Lindsay, author of the novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, stumbling toward her. Lambert said Lindsay then embraced her with strong, joyful emotion and called her Miranda. It was a powerful moment for both of them.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Miranda: What we see and what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream.

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Alternate Versions

The director's cut deletes several scenes from the original release version:

• Irma thanking Albert for finding her and Michael's growing relationship with Irma, climaxing in his demanding to know what happened at the Rock.
• a brief sequence inside the church during the memorial service of the girls crying.
• Mrs Appleyard removing some of Sarah's belongings at night after her disappearance. There are two very minor additions:
• A brief sequence of a photographer getting a picture of the school before being shooed off.
• A smoother introduction to the scene where Albert tells Michael of his dream of Sarah, beginning with Michael telling him how he often dreams of the Rock.

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Connections

Referenced in Peter Weir Industry Seminar 1989 (1989)

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Soundtracks

Picnic At Hanging Rock (The Ascent Music)
by Bruce Smeaton

User Reviews

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.