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92 of 100 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Haunting as They Come, August 8, 2000
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.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weir should have left well enough alone, March 5, 2006
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.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true piece of moviemagic., March 18, 2001
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.
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