Customer Reviews

Picnic at Hanging Rock (The Criterion Collection)

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Do films get much stranger or more beautiful than this? To call Peter Weir's masterpiece "moody" and "atmospheric", as Leonard Maltin does in his brief review, is to grossly underemphasize the sui generis, quite visceral impact, the lush, almost swoon-inducing power, of this flagrantly bizarre work of art. It's actually difficult to describe "Picnic at Hanging Rock" in words because there's nothing else remotely like it. I'd say that another Australian film, "Heavenly Creatures" comes closest, but that movie's cumbersome claymation fantasy scenes and decisive conclusion are so far removed from the ethereal, open-ended nature of this film that the comparison falls apart instantly. There's something so unmentionably chilling, even nauseating, in the soft-focus camera-work and the intentionally stilted performances, that I'm not even able to evaluate the technical aspects of this film. It has its own vernacular, its own code, that owes nothing to what has come before. If forced, I'd say this is a story about repression, about humanity-vs.-nature, about our own inability to really grasp the vastness of the universe in which we live. It is certainly much more than the story of three girls and a school teacher who dissapear on a rock formation, as intruiging as that story certainly is. There are ideas at work here, conveyed through camera shots, angles, brief snatches of dialogue and silent pauses that we might not even be able to discuss, because we don't have the words or the courage to discuss them. Those expecting a genteel horror story of some sort or a traditional murder mystery will be confounded by "Picnic at Hanging Rock", for it offers only questions, not answers. It taps into our deepest fears, but without ever resorting to tricks or gore. It creeps up on you and, when it is over, changes your perception of the world for days to come. I find it a terrifying movie, far more unsettling than any slasher pic or ghost tale. Its ambiguity is the key to its success. That ambiguity unnerves us because we like to have everything labelled and identified, plotted out in a rational manner. There is nothing rational about "Picnic at Hanging Rock". It opens a small crack in the abyss and then forces our imaginations to look through that crack.

Sadly, like George Lucas before him, Peter Weir has replaced one beloved cut of the film that made his name, re-edited it and (so it seems) determined to keep the original version under lock and key. Bad move.

Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of those films that should have been left alone, but unfortunately Peter Weir's considerably shorter director's cut does the film no real favors. The additions are minor - a redundant scene of a reporter photographing the school and a very brief but much better introduction to the scene where Albert (Wolf Creek's John Jarrett) tells Michael (Dominic Guard) his dream about his sister - but the deletions in the last third are fairly substantial and surprisingly damaging - most notably the entire section of Irma thanking Albert for finding her on the Rock, Michael's growing relationship with Irma, the church service, Albert and Michael talking at night, and Mrs Appleyard removing Sarah's belongings. Sadly, while it may make the film even more elliptical as is Weir's wont, it diminishes the film's resonance and your involvement with the already rather sketchy characters, so it's a pity that only the director's cut now exists in a restored version (even the Australian 2-disc DVD only includes the cut scenes as extras).

Unfortunately, a la George Lucas, the original version is almost impossible to find aside from an incredibly poor standards conversion videotape made from a poor print back in the mid-90s before the Australian film industry took film preservation seriously.

The restoration may look and sound better than the film ever has before, but it's a sad trade-off for the much better film Weir originally made.

Austrailian director Peter Weir's beautiful, almost poetic, suspense film is truly one of the most unsettling experiences one can have in front of the television set. There are no false scares, no over-the-top madmen, no gory bloodbaths... just a hint of something unworldly... mysterious... dangerous. The film tales the tale of three young students and a teacher who disappear during a school picnic at an old volcanic outcropping known as Hanging Rock. There is no comprehendible explaination for the events. We hear rumors and get a few shaky witness recounts, but nothing solid. The film does not provide us with easy answers (only a few red herrings) and some may feel cheated by the film's conclusion. But those few will have missed the point of the film. It is a mystery, burning with eroticism, sparked with moody atmosphere. Weir gives us information, although we don't know what to trust and what not to believe. It's as if the solution is right on the tips of our tongues, but we can't quite spit it out. The entire setting of 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' is breathtaking but it is the rock structure itself that captures one's attention. Lined with crevaces and caves, it seems to breathe and stare. When the three young girls make their way towards their fate, it seems as if they are being called towards it, answering silently to it's wishes. The mere sight of it in the distance of the frame is bone-chilling. For however open-ended the film might be, it is ultimately satisfying. The sheer dread envoked over the 107 minutes of running time is sharp and clear. We feel as if we've just been told the most terrifying story of our lives. One that we don't know whether to believe or disbelieve. But either way, we can't deny it's power. Hats off to Criterion for bringing this wonderful and haunting film to DVD.

This is a great movie based on an even greater book. If you are able to,I suggest first reading the book then seeing the movie. In doing so,you may find yourself not quite so confused as to what happens in the end. The clues are there in the book and to a certain extent they are in the film. Having said this,let's continue...

This is a film about the dissaperance of three virginal girls and their stuffy,repressed teacher, who dissapear while picnicing at Hanging Rock. One girl is finally found and the others are gone forever. But gone to where? and more importantly,what happened to make them dissapear in the first place? That is the very mystery you as a viewer must solve.

Read the book,watch the film,then read the book again. Pay careful attention to what you are reading and what you are watching and the answer will come. If not,that just adds to the mystique of this wonderful film. You will find yourself haunted by this film and unable to forget it. Months,even years after seeing it you will still be wondering...What happend? If you still are unable to come to a satisfying conclusion on your own or you want to see if what you think happens is really what happened,then I have some mystery solving news for you. Get the book Secret of Hanging Rock,it is written by the same woman who wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock and was to be published after her death. The book is out there,but you may have trouble finding it. You may find you were right all along or you may find you were way off base. Either way this is a film not to be missed.

Love it, or hate it, PAHR is one of Peter Weir's absolute classics. The story of a private school for ladies in the early 1900's in Victoria, Australia. On an excursion one day, several of the girls go missing, and the mystery of hanging rock sets in ... It contains a beautiful, yet haunting soundtrack which helps add the right atmosphere.

Sure, its boring in parts, but it's Australian cinema at its finest. Stellar performances from Helen Morse and Rachel Roberts, among others.

The problem I have, is that there is no DVD release which contains the entire film. All releases are the short director's cut. Let's examine them:

Region 1 (US) - The very first DVD release of the film by the distributor Criterion way back in 1998. It's the director's cut, and while in widescreen, is not 16:9 enhanced.

Region 2 (UK) - A more affordable DVD which was released in 2003 by Pathe. It's a bare bones release (not even a trailer), but it does contain a 16:9 widescreen transfer. Well done, just a pity that it is once again the Director's cut.

Region 4 (AUSTRALIA) - Released in August 2004 by UV Channel, this is a 2-Disc very special edition DVD with more extras than you can imagine. However, it's once again the Director's cut and is not 16:9 enhanced (as you have guessed, a big no-no in the DVD world of today).

So as you can see, the uncut film, which many of us are familiar with, remains unavailable on DVD anywhere in the English speaking world (that I know of). Even Australia can't get it right when it comes to releasing this DVD properly. What chance is there of ever getting the full version then?

I am rather cross at Criterion Collection for not providing the scenes that have been deleted, subtitles, a director's commentary (especially in consideration of their prices), and also for leading some viewers down the garden path by suggesting that "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is a horror film. Therefore, I have given four stars to what used to be a five-star film.

When I first saw this film years ago I was spellbound, and although I still find it compelling, some of its magic has dissipated, perhaps due to the ravages of time and poor conservation (in a film which has been beautifully restored in respect to quality of color). It is difficult to believe that this is the "director's cut," since many significant scenes--as noted by others--have disappeared (The one that I recall is of the math teacher rising as if in a trance and slowly following the path of the girls up the mountain, and into oblivion.).

Despite these flaws, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" still exerts a mesmerising fascination in its imagery: the young girls in white seem to have stepped out of a painting by John Singer Sargent into an Australian summer; the stunning landscape--not only the brooding rock of the title, but also the eucalypts, the serpent, the koalas, and kookaberras--suggests an atavistic menace in which anything might be possible. The plaintive piping of the pan flute and the melancholy slow movement of the Beethoven piano concerto also contribute a haunting atmosphere that is unforgettable.

Viewing "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is rather like looking into an Australian opal. Its almost kaleidoscopic shifts of sequence generate as many interpretations as there are viewers: to some it is a psychological coming of age film that portrays sexual repression and transgression; others see it in terms of myth, impressionism, allegory, and even magical realism. For those who want instant answers, "Picnic at Hanging Rock," which raises more questions than it answers, is none of these.

Such persons are immune to magic!

The beauty is compelling, but there are no answers. Sometimes not explaining can be better. Many people are disturbed that this movie does not provide viewers with a solution to the eerie disappearance of the teenage girls. Ah, then you have to look closely and really think! Many clues are provided to the keen observer, and don't be surprised if you find yourself watching this movie more than once. Each time you see more. It can lead to endless speculation with your friends. The movie is based on the novel, by Joan Lindsay, and is quite faithful to it. Director Peter Weir's screen portrayal of the book is first-rate. HOWEVER, not well know is the fact that there exists a chapter from the original book that was deleted. Subsequently, after the death of the author, this chapter has come to light and has been published. I found it by accident in the local library! It explains the strange events that occurred on the rock. You can email me if you have seen the movie, and I will give you (free, of course!) the title name. Then you can know the secret...

On St.Valentine's day, 1900, a party of girls from a private school set out for a picnic at Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges in Australia. While they are on the rock, something mysterious and disturbing happens and, when the party returns to the school, they have left three girls and one teacher behind. All missing on the rock.

Rather than follow the normal mystery rules of working towards an answer, the film concentrates on the effect of the disappearances on those connected either directly or by circumstance. What will happen to the school after such an event? How will the other girls react? What of the young Englishman who was the last person to see them alive. He is both under suspicion and obsessed with the fate of the missing girls.

This sense that the events just cannot be explained is bolstered by one of the most memorable and haunting soundtracks of any film ever made. The director really has an eye and an ear for setting a mood of something beautiful and precious which has been lost and will never be regained. The images of the outback are stunning. They convey the feel of a landscape that is both threatening and spiritual.

The film has aquired a reputation for being based on a true story. We are used to unresolved mysteries in real life but not in fiction. Despite the rumours of a real event which was mysteriously unreported, this is a work of fiction. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Joan Lindsay.

This film really is one that you should see and its beauty means that you will want to watch it many times over.

Hanging Rock is neither the best of movies, nor the worst as some critics contend. It is, however, one of the most unusual (Only 1947's Black Narcissus seems comparable) . Above all, it is a masterpiece of indirection, an exercise in veiled hints, muffled voices, fleeting reference, and overarching mystery. The school's grim repressive corridors contrast sharply with nature's liberated openess. Yet there is something sinister about this sunwashed landscape of soaring spires and creeping vermin, more unsettling than the Victorian witch that runs the school. Yes, the film is pretentious, but how else are we to deal with some of life's more disturbing aspects. And though there is little real 'action' during the 100-plus minutes, the hypnotic rhythms and spell-binding imagery merge ultimately into a majestic and haunting reverie of time past. What Weir has finally fashioned is a subtly effective evocation of dimensions beyond.

There is of course no real solution to the mysterious disappearance. This is a work of fiction, not of fact. Perhaps the book's author had an explanation in mind as some reviewers have suggested, or perhaps there are enough clues in the screenplay to arrive at someone's intended solution. The film's strength, however, lies elsewhere than in posing as a metaphysical detective story. Wisely, the film only suggests an occult world; it does not portray one. And that's where the power lies. There are fleeting glimpses of precognition, predestination, bodily ascension, and a Platonic realm of timeless perfection, none of which comes into full focus. It's as though we and they are peering through the proverbial glass darkly. In the hands of a lesser film maker such elements could quickly collapse into arty nonsense. To Weir's lasting credit, his style surmounts the pitfalls of questionable content by sustaining a single mood and consistent tone throughout, one that binds the many elements into a unified and evocative whole. Personally I reject the occult as fact. Still, I recognize the power of art to create alternative worlds as a lens for looking more closely at our own. And in that crucial regard, I believe Weir succeeds admirably, whatever one's views of the preternatural. Most of all, however, this is one of those rare films that makes a lasting impression on all who have seen it. So if you haven't, do.

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This film, often mistakenly belived to be based on a true story, which it is not, is set on Valentine's day in the year 1900.
This film is based on the book by Joan Lindsay.

A group of adolescent girls go on a boarding school trip to Hanging Rock, a volcanic outcropping in southern Australia. 3 of the girls and one of the teachers climb to the top and vanish. a week later one of them is found but not a trace remains of the others.

The linear notes by Vincent Canby that come with the DVD say it best. "Horror need not always be a long-fanged gentleman in evening clothes or a dismembered corpse or a doctor who keeps a brain in his gold fish bowl."

This film remains one of my favorite "horror" movies. Even with no on screen deaths or bodies, it remains one the most frightening PG rated films.

The film leaves more questions than answers.

A remark made to one of the girls before she vanished, "You look like a Botticelli angel" by a classmate, could be an indication that the girls are not of this world but would not explain why one of them returns unharmed.

The girls' spellbound trance-like state as they ascend to the summit could indicate that they are drawn to the top by a "Pied Piper" kind of entity.

The musical score of this film adds to its incredible storyline and has a great effect on the viewer. I love the music in this film but unfortunately there is no soundtrack available.

This is one of my favorite movies and is very mystifying and though-provoking.

This is also the first English language film in the Criterion collection to include English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impared.

Sadly the Criterion edition curently has no audio commentary, and the only special feature is the theatrical trailer. I certainly hope that they will release a new version with commentary as this film certainly deserves the treatment.