Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Rupert R — 14 Sep 2008

Good movies tell good stories. Great movies create an unforgettable sensual atmosphere while telling good stories. There is no more sensual art than filmmaking. Films can create distinctive moods. Moods that stay with you for days, weeks, months, years. In a recent review, I discussed the eerie atmosphere of CT Dreyer's visual masterpiece Vampyr. That spurred me to revisit another masterpiece of mood.

Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of the most memorable films I have ever seen. First, it tells a frustratingly intriguing story. On Valentines Day 1900, a group of Australian private schoolgirls go on an outing to Victoria's hanging rock. While exploring the rocks, three girls vanish into thin air after walking hypnotically onto a pathway. Another girl, terrified, runs away. On her way down she claims she saw one of their teachers, without her skirt, going up the rocks. She, too, disappears. It is not really a spoiler to divulge that the teacher and 2 of the 3 girls are never seen again. Not even a trace. The third girl is found a week later, alive but with no memory of the incident.

The second reason why this film is so memorable, and the reason that elevates its subject matter, is the mood that Weir creates. He and his cinematographer capture the story in lush, dream like photography. They often used the simple trick of placing a bridal veil in front of the camera to shoot though, making the picture hazy and dreamish. The actors, particularly the school girls at the rock, move with a slow, meandering gait, as if hypnotized or drawn to something not even they understand.

One of the keys to striking the mood and atmosphere of the film is the music. It is constantly ominous, but not simply by itself. The camera movements, the picture, the choreography of actors and the music all work together. It's this combination that creates the film's awesomely eerie atmosphere.

And of course, Hanging Rock itself. If ever a natural landscape existed for the sole purpose of filming a movie, it is hanging rock. It is terrorizing in its odd beauty. It, along with the rest of the physical elements in the film, feel threatening at all times. When two young men, who saw the girls the day they disappeared, search the rock for any signs, one is nearly claimed by the rocks. (An interesting note, a few people have recently pointed out to me that the cuts and marks on this boy, and the cuts and marks found on the found girl are nearly identical - perhaps a hint to the films mystery?).

And that is what has never left me.

Obviously, the story in Picnic at Hanging Rock, based on the novel, stuck and continues to strike a sour note with audiences. Especially today. Understandable. People naturally want answers. However, I've always been a firm believer that what is imagined is always more terrifying, more interesting than what is presented. Just as the aliens in Signs were far scarier when they were left off screen or in blurred or shadowy images, just as the monster in Cloverfield was more interesting and intimidating before we got a clear look at it, Picnic at Hanging Rock retains it's elusive fascination through its ambiguity.

The story also deals with a number of subtle and not so subtle themes. Sexuality is one example. The main character (although she has only about 1/2 hour of screen time) is the object of quite possibly a lesbian crush - Sarah, an orphan. She becomes the major focus of attention after the disappearance, along with Mrs Appleyard, the brutish schoolmarm, growing ever more distressed in the aftermath of the disappearances.

Picnic at Hanging Rock is not an unforgettable film simply the reasons I have discussed here, but because of the way they all work together to create such a creepy and threatening atmosphere. It is the perfect example of the old adage 'the sum is more than the parts.'.