Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Ross V — 15 Mar 2016
A film that has left a mark on my mind like few in recent memory, Picknick At Hanging Rock is one of the most ethereal, haunting films I can think of, the story of a group of girls who vanish during a school outing to the titular Hanging Rock and are never seen again, the first thing to know is that the mystery of their disappearance is never solved, this is precisely what gives the film it's oppressive, eerie power.
It's more about the after affect on the lives of those left behind, it's about the unbearable fragility and fleetingness of youth and life itself, how the looming oppressiveness of the earth will sooner or later swallow us whole, as it seems to do to the school girls, was it supernatural or is there something much more ugly afoot.
Beneath the placid, dreamlike surface of it all there is a universe of darkness inexplicitly hinted at, possible sexual violence, real horror or something more unknowable, intangible. A dread hangs over the film, a bleak melancholy that lingers for days.
An enigmatic, mysterious, atmospheric and beautiful film that iam obsessed with.
This review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) was written by Ross V on 15 Mar 2016.
Picnic at Hanging Rock has generally received very positive reviews.
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