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 & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rachel Roberts	...	Mrs. Appleyard
Vivean Gray	...	Miss Greta 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 St Clare (as Anne Lambert)
Karen Robson	...	Irma
Jane Vallis	...	Marion Quade
Christine Schuler	...	Edith
Margaret Nelson	...	Sara Waybourne
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:

year 1900 | vanishing | unexplained | supernatural overtones | horror overtones | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cast and crew traveled to Adelaide, coincidentally arriving on February 14th, St. Valentine's Day. That day, in 1900, is when both the novel and film begin.

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Goofs

Modern foundation garments are seen quite clearly through the girls white shirts in many places when the camera trails behind them as the move about the rock.

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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 Entrenched: The Making of 'Gallipoli' (2005)

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Soundtracks

Doina: Sus Pe Culmea Dealului
Written by Gheorghe Zamfir
Performed by Gheorghe Zamfir

User Reviews

great film

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a masterpiece of psychological fiction in which we see an awful thing happen from a great distance and are only given enough clues to guess at what happened to the missing girls. Excellent cinematography and a musical score perfectly chosen both of which become Weir trademarks first appear in this film. They are clearly missing in the Cars that Ate Paris his first full length film. Though many people have offered suggestions both realistic and absurd as to what happened to the ladies, everything but Dingo attacks have been suggested, we are kept in the dark on purpose. The novel that the film was based on suggested, almost as an afterthought, that the story might be true. This claim was as much a fiction as the rest of the novel.

The site, Hanging Rock, is identified with a mythic highway man and all the things we observe happening have elements of the supernatural. The people as in many Weir films communicate the most critical ideas with out talking. A significant plot development in this film, we hear thoughts..see people moving on ward as if drawn towards their doom, but Weir never bothers us with needless Dialog..how much weaker would the plot be if we heard Miranda calling to her companions "follow me, we must reach the top." It is also critical to the developing sense of spirituality and intuitive communication we see in Gallipoli and Witness.

Finally, if we knew what happened to the girls, any speculation about the fate of those at the school would be moot. The mystery explains the accusations by the girls, parents and staff and the eventual downfall of most who worked there.

Those who do not like the film fail to see it as an Aussie Gothic film as innovative in its day as Wuthering Heights was in its.

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:

AUD440,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,492, 28 June 1998

Gross USA:

$49,582

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$82,361

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1