Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Cal ( — 14 Nov 2007

Eerie, mysterious but excellent Australia film from director Peter Weir is a superb piece of art; 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' is essential viewing. Based on true events that elucidated on Valentines Day, 1900 when a group of school girls had a picnic at Hanging Rock.

During the course of the picnic on that hot afternoon, several girls and their governess all went missing without a trace. Succeeding the picnic, investigators are assigned to find out what happened to the missing girls.

The first third of the movie is concerned with the picnic; full of powerful, eerie imagery and fantastic music. The second third, concerned with the investigation, is still impressive but not as mysterious as the preceding third.

The last third, however, is a mess. The missing girls become a mere sub-plot and the filmmakers seem to be more concerned with everything but the girls that went missing at Hanging Rock. Overall, Weir's classic Australian film is still fundamental filmmaking.

It's original, it doesn't contain any bogus special effects and save for the last third it's an eerie and powerful work of art. The musical score is fantastic!