Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) by Cindy I — 11 Oct 2010

A few minutes into this movie, I was like "Is this what the big deal about this film is? A lot of soft-focus, slow-motion photography (which I have to admit is gorgeously done) of tender young schoolgirls in various stages of undress? PLEASE tell me it's not that lame!" And I had the fear that Peter Weir was making a mountain out of a molehill, that the story of the missing girls was going to be easily explained away. But something changed once the remaining girls made it back to their school. The tension and just general weirdness really ramped up, and by the end (which I'm not giving away here...those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about) Rachel Roberts as the headmistress had completely creeped me out.

I've been thinking about this film all day. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but I kinda think that was Peter Weir's intention. I thought about watching the film again, but I think I've seen everything that's there. It's up to me to work out the film for myself, not just of the girls' disappearance but also the relationship between the headmistress and Sarah. This is a film that is going to stick with me.