Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Brett W — 02 Jul 2008

Well, where to start? I first saw this movie about 12 years ago with my mother. We were in for a suspense story: where did the girls go and why did they disappear? So it was rather disappointing to watch the open end.

.. my mother previously disappointed by Weir's the mosquito coast never wanted to see one of his films again. So flas forward 12 years: last night I watched the movie again with my new 'filmclub' friends, with an interesting introduction, and I enjoyed it much much more.

I guess I was too young back then to appreciate this movie. (And in the meantime I discovered David Lynch, so bring on the dreamy sequences, the disturbing noises, the close ups of nature with its strange atmosfere, the open end, the non-explanation).

There is so much you can see in this movie: nature vs culture, repression vs breaking free, good vs evil (that scream gave me chills), ... A nice detail to know is that most of the voices in the film were dubbed, because the girls weren't professional actors and just hired for their looks, lucky for the spectator the dubbing isn't obvious.

And last but not least the soundtrack is by George Zamfir, great music, although sometimes I saw scenes of Kill Bill in my head (that damn pan flute), but that's how my mind works, don't let it scare you to watch this movie.