Rating: 
Summary: Chilling and mysterious
Review: While I prefer Australian director Peter Weir's nightmarish World War I epic "Gallipoli," "Picnic at Hanging Rock" certainly ranks as one of his best efforts. Released in the 1970s amid what critics dubbed the "Australian New Wave" or an influx of talent from Australia which included actors as well as directors, Weir put Down Under on the cinematic radar screen with this lush, eerie, claustrophobic film about a group of girls who disappeared on February 14, 1900 in an area known as Hanging Rock. Weir went on to helm several noteworthy films, including "The Year of Living Dangerously," "The Mosquito Coast," "The Truman Show," and "The Dead Poets Society." I have seen most of Weir's films over the years, but a recent viewing of "Picnic" convinced me that most of them pale in comparison. What's amusing about this is that the movie is unfathomable in a traditional sense. We never really learn why these girls vanished or where they might have went. Instead, Weir uses his film as a vehicle for making a statement about the oppressive social position of young women in turn of the century Australia. The young ladies at Appleyard College are going on a picnic excursion to nearby Hanging Rock on Valentine's Day. Most of the girls are ecstatic about the trip as it will allow them to escape, if even for a few hours, the insufferable grasp of the stern headmistress of the school. Known to her charges only as Mrs. Appleyard, this woman possesses an intimate understanding about what sorts of behavior society expects from its female members and she expects her students to internalize them. Subservience, chastity, and probity in all areas of life are virtues best learned and then never questioned. Obviously, several of the girls chafe under such daunting responsibilities. As a punishment for one miscreant, Appleyard bans her from joining the picnic. The rest go happily, warned in advance by the headmistress to stay away from the rocks at all costs because of an unspecified danger. The trip is at first uneventful, even after four of the girls violate Appleyard's warning and decide to journey into the rocks. One of the girls disobeying orders is the lovely Miranda, a woman referred to as a Botticelli angel incarnate by the school's French teacher, who is quite popular with her fellow classmates. Something weird happens then, an event that will have a lasting impact on everyone associated with this picnic. Three of the girls ultimately disappear, along with one of their teachers. One girl who went with them but complained the entire way does emerge from the rocks, shrieking and moaning about something but making little sense. Two young men in the vicinity with another group also noticed the girls heading off to Hanging Rock, but what they know about the disappearance never receives an adequate explanation. Several days later, as the hysteria over the mystery continues to deepen, one of these young men discovers one of the missing girls. This young lady is severely dehydrated and remembers nothing about what happened to her two companions. As time goes by, no one even remotely connected to this event seems to get over it. Mrs. Appleyard is probably the biggest loser as her school, which relies exclusively on tuition and fees paid by affluent parents, begins to go under because no one wants to send their children there anymore. We are told at the end of the film that the headmistress disappears while searching Hanging Rock for Miranda and her companion in a final, desperate attempt to salvage her reputation and her school. "What does this all mean?" is probably what most viewers will ask themselves when the final credits roll. I know I wanted a satisfying explanation to this heap of weirdness. Instead of giving an easy answer, Weir repeatedly frustrates his audience's attempt to discover what really happened to the hapless girls. The director gives us numerous red herrings about the disappearance, none of which pans out in the end. Watches worn by several people at the rock mysteriously stop, a sudden weariness descends on the picnickers about the time the girls disappear, and the cryptic comments voiced by Miranda tantalizingly hint at but ultimately provide little in the way of explanation for the mystery. Viewers, like myself, who have seen a whole lot of strange films want to make that logical leap to a supernatural cause for the event, but Weir refuses to allow us to do so. The only certainty we find within the confines of "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is uncertainty. Perhaps the disappearance of the free spirited, "angelic" Miranda represents a sort of necessary escape from the social repression enforced against all females in Victorian era society. Why not? This is as good an explanation as any other put forth to explain this enigmatic film. What really impressed me in "Picnic" is the soul searing creepiness of the whole thing. Hanging Rock sits in the middle of a vast tract of wide-open space, like some profane eruption from deep within the earth. Zamfir's pan flute mixed with a downright scary soundtrack provides chills to the nth degree. Moreover, the music often swells to nearly unbearable levels whenever the camera pans across the ominously silent crags of Hanging Rock. Everything works in "Picnic" except figuring it all out. It becomes maddening trying to second guess the film when all I really should have been doing is sitting back and enjoying the ride. Criterion makes this a worthwhile experience with a nice widescreen picture transfer but regrettably with few extras. Still, Weir's odd film should provide those who like to think a bit with an excellent, if head scratching, trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Dead Poets Society meets Blair Witch Project
Review: It sounds odd, but that's about how this movie plays. More delicate than many of Weir's later films (including Dead Poets), Hanging Rock portrays the way a nameless terror can tear apart a group trying to cope with it -- an effect without an identifiable cause. Hanging Rock is not a scary movie, much less a horror film. Instead, Weir concentrates on the atmospherics of the rock, and later, the dynamic between the characters. Watch the movie not to be scared, but to enjoy Weir's subtle direction, the superb photography, and the mannered script. The newly remastered video release is about as pristine and clear as VHS can get. Although it's widescreen, the aspect ratio looks to be only about 1.66:1, so if you can't find the widescreen, the 1.33 (full screen) version won't look *too* different. DVD owners might be interested in the Criterion edition.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Enigma
Review: 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' is a pretty much unique experience. It's non-narrative, it's poetic, and at the beginning it looks like it is going to be (Excuse me for saying so.) a pretty sappy period melodrama, but it soon becomes clear there are much darker, stranger things going on here. A party from Mrs Appleyard's school go for a picnic at the near-by Hanging Rock. Several of the girls, and one tutor do not return. They seem to have simply vanished off the face of the earth. Where did they go? I don't think it's spoiling anything by telling you that the film never actually tells us what happened to the girls. It hints, it insinuates, it offers several partial explanations that don't quite add up, and then it leaves it to our imaginations. 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' IS disturbing. What makes the film unusual is that it doesn't spoon-feed us any answers, it doesn't talk down to us, and it goes out of its way NOT to wrap things up in a neat little bundle at the end. It is certainly an enigma. It's beautifully filmed, beautifully acted, and superbly pitched by director Peter Weir (Who went on to make 'Gallipoli','Dead Poet's Society','The Truman Show' and the recent 'Master and Commander'), who finds an almost unbearably eerie mood and uses the alien landscape of Australia to full effect. Just by pointing a camera at the Rock and playing us some haunting pan pipe music, he manages to suggest faces in the crevices. Of course, it isn't a horror movie, but Weir understands what most horror directors don't - not knowing something is far more sinister than coming face to face with it. I like films that give the audience only the information they need to know, I don't want everything spelled out in mile high letters. 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' deliberately, brilliantly gives us even less information than we need to know and leaves us pondering its meaning long after it has finished. Consequently it gets under the skin far more effectively than most horror films. It is a film that commands your attention. Particularly in the first half an hour before the girls go missing, where there are innumerable clues - which may or may not be red-herrings. Do not, for heaven's sake, watch it while you're doing something else around the house. Truly, every shot, every expression and every word has significance, particularly in this new, tighter version from which Weir has (Unusually for a director's cut) excised seven minutes of material. It is, quite simply, stunning. And one wonders, rather forlornly, if anybody would make this film today. I suspect focus groups and test audiences would demand an explanation at the end. Instead, 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' just cranks up the mystery with its final scenes. Brilliant. Just writing about it makes me want to go and watch it again in the rather futile hope of sussing it out this time!
Rating:
Summary: EERIE BUT INTRIGUING.
Review: First, this enigmatic film is NOT based on a true story. A group of school girls go on a school excursion to "Hanging Rock" in Victoria, Australia. The period is around early 1900s. Four girls decide to climb the rock along with a teacher. At the end of the day, only one hysterical girl can be found, and can shed no light on what happened to the others. Sound intriguing enough? This film asks more questions that it answers, inviting the viewer to dream up their own explanation for what happened to the girls. According to the Joan Lindsay novel's "missing chapter", the girls were sucked down a wormhole (or something), but I think both Lindsay and Weir were wise to leave this out. Which perhaps adds to the mystique. In all its nebulous beauty, the film actually does a remarkable job of capturing a resplendent mood. The Australian vistas are even more evocative than that of "The Piano" -- ethereal and brooding. This curious rock that hangs over the film with its menacing presence is given almost mythical status, and even to the viewer on the other side of the screen seems oddly alluring. Personally I'd have liked the ending to be a bit different, but hey, the movie is hauntingly memorable, and if it's any consolation, it's not until after the movie you may wish for a more clear-cut resolution.
Rating:
Summary: an excellent film! Good plot, great music, good acting.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A true piece of moviemagic.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: NO TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC
Review: Australian director Peter Weir's haunting masterpiece is an interwoven texture of poetic imagery and mythical allegory in what can be best described as Homer's Odyssey on screen. 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' is as deep as they come and no different to the unique insight of Weir's other notable successes 'Witness' and 'Fearless.' The story set in Victorian era, centres around a group of schoolgirls and their teacher who enjoy a school outing to a local beauty spot, where three girls and the teacher inexplicably vanish. Forget Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell, this is no conventional mystery; but rather a chilling foray into the unknown where leads and clues are as vague as the picturesque yet brooding rock where the girls disappear. Weir eschews conventional plotting for a visual and audio extravaganza; concentrating instead on the stunning outback he has at his disposal and a hallucinatory score to suck you in to the lair of this hypnotic fantasy.
Just like in 'Fearless' Weir uses this underlying theme of a stranger grappling to come to terms with a psychosis that cannot be explained on a logical level. But whereas in Fearless, it was a man struggling to comprehend his mortal status after surviving a plane crash, here it is a community trying to make sense of a landscape that almost seems personified in that it has managed to steal away its youth. Such is the feeling you get from 'Picnic' that as we see the girls climb higher and higher juxtaposed with the music reaching a climactic hysteria, that the director knows just as much as we do. That we are forced to accept in a possibly supernatural interpretation that the rock itself is responsible. This phenomenon becomes a stronger realisation as the few clues there are vanish into simplicity.
Perhaps Weir is trying to say that nature and fate are conspiratorial twins, that need not rely on logic and a technical grounding to make sense. The point of 'Picnic' is to help the viewer cleanse himself of his inbuilt cynicism. And by the time the film has run its enigmatic time, the mesmerising maze you have explored without any hint of finalisation might have just taught you that lesson.
Rating:
Summary: MAGICAL & ENCHANTING
Review: This atmospheric film has been in my top 5 movies of all time for many years and will remain there forever. This film is about mood, and it is both beautifully entrancing and ominously mesmerizing. Tension is created between the beautiful cinematography and the underlying sense of dread, at first subtly and then more intensely as the plot unfolds. I suppose it is a type of psychothriller if classifiable at all. The austere old headmistress is very impressive, as are the teachers and the young girls in their Victorian innocence. Tension mounts on the way to the rock and something happens there, of which small hints are given, but the mystery will never be revealed. Most reviewers here neglect to mention how seminally the soundtrack by the Romanian pan-pipe master George Zamfir creates and enhances the different moods of the movie. Having one's seen Hanging Rock, one can never forget it.
Rating:
Summary: UTTERLY BEAUTIFUL
Review: so stunning, i first saw this film 6 years ago, and i have not seen a film that has come close!
Rating:
Summary: EERIE BUT INTRIGUING.
Review: First, this enigmatic film is NOT based on a true story. A group of school girls go on a school excursion to "Hanging Rock" in Victoria, Australia. The period is around early 1900s. Four girls decide to climb the rock along with a teacher. At the end of the day, only one hysterical girl can be found, and can shed no light on what happened to the others. Sound intriguing enough? This film asks more questions that it answers, inviting the viewer to dream up their own explanation for what happened to the girls. According to the Joan Lindsay novel's "missing chapter", the girls were sucked down a wormhole (or something), but I think both Lindsay and Weir were wise to leave this out. Which perhaps adds to the mystique. In all its nebulous beauty, the film actually does a remarkable job of capturing a resplendent mood. The Australian vistas are even more evocative than that of "The Piano" -- ethereal and brooding. This curious rock that hangs over the film with its menacing presence is given almost mythical status, and even to the viewer on the other side of the screen seems oddly alluring. Personally I'd have liked the ending to be a bit different, but hey, the movie is hauntingly memorable, and if it's any consolation, it's not until after the movie you may wish for a more clear-cut resolution.
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