Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Matt G — 29 Jun 2010
The ambiguity wasn't my problem with it. L'avventurra handled similar, despite obviously different, subject matter, and had no problem with tackling the ambiguity of the nature of life, and then some. There are a few glaring things that made this movie really difficult for me to enjoy.
Firstly, what I've read a lot of praise about is the atmosphere. Only occasionally did I sense any attempt at establishing the atmosphere, but it faded away back into the staleness of the boarding school setting (which I probably have bias against, since I've seen so many movies dealing with such a setting, hardly any of which end up being memorable). There are only two characters I found remotely interesting, and that's because of about 4 scenes. Almost all of the dialogue is stilted and dry. This movie is 100 minutes long.
Secondly, this movie is 100 minutes long. And it felt like 200. I'm fine with slowly paced movies if I find scene after scene dramatically, thematically, or any sort of engaging. None of this rang true for me. I've seen a number of Bela Tarr's films, the entire filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky, and several other infamously slow films, none of which I find boring. This, on the other hand...
Thirdly, and probably the only thing in the movie I actually hate (as opposed to just feeling indifferent), all of the meaning one would find from the film would have to be deduced from the usage of incredibly flat symbols. I hate movies that rely on symbols. Symbols are dead. Symbols feel forced into the story by the creator, despite meaning to feel natural. The use of swans was one of the most annoying instances of symbolism I've ever witnessed in film. How many metaphors about innocence can we cram in one movie? It feels like cheating. Instead of finding a more naturalistic, methodical story in here, it relies to heavily on inane subjects like symbols.
Anyway, I gave it a try and it just wasn't my thing. Not terribly offensive in any way, just unaffecting. At least for me.
This review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) was written by Matt G on 29 Jun 2010.
Picnic at Hanging Rock has generally received very positive reviews.
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