Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975) - Peter Weir's eternal unsolved mystery

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Criterion review:-

http://www.criterion.com/current/pos...d-what-we-seem

Excerpt:

The first thing we think about when we think about Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock is likely its resolution, or lack thereof. In the first half hour, a mystery is set up—three schoolgirls and a teacher disappear on a sightseeing trip. We are given clues, or we feel as though we are, but ultimately none lead anywhere. We never learn their fate. At an industry screening of the film, Weir recalled in an interview, one distributor “threw his coffee cup at the screen at the end . . . because he’d wasted two hours of his life—a mystery without a solution!” Many viewers and critics shared in the frustration. “That’s Weir, as in weird,” People magazine noted snarkily, deeming the film “unsatisfying.”

Picnic is faithfully adapted from Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel of the same name, telling the story of a fateful St. Valentine’s Day in central Victoria in 1900. Four students from Appleyard College, Educational Establishment for Young Ladies—the ethereal Miranda, the beautiful Irma, whip-smart Marion, and pesky, whining Edith—depart from their classmates and teachers to penetrate more deeply the lush mysteries of Hanging Rock, a foreboding volcanic mass that, their headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard, warns them, is both a “geological marvel and . . . extremely dangerous.” Only Edith returns, gripped in a fit of screaming hysteria and unable to recall what has transpired. In the confusion, Miss McCraw, the middle-aged math teacher, vanishes as well. Several days later, Irma is found alive but remembers nothing of her experience. Miranda, Marion, and Miss McCraw are never seen again, and a series of torments and major and minor tragedies await nearly all involved.

Nearly forty years later, it is almost impossible to encounter Picnic without always already knowing about its supposed nonending, which, for many, may remove the possibility of frustration. That frustration, however—the unsettling, provocative sense of hidden truths withheld from us—is integral to the film itself, and one of its greatest powers.

Criterion releases Picnic At Hanging Rock on July 8th, 2014.

[FryeDwight]

Watched it this morning. Worth seeing, but very much an art film with wonderful sets, costumes And photography. The story, while creepy, is pretty vague and it's up to you to decipher what's going on. I liked it well enough, but if you like fast pacing/carnage, it may not be your cup of tea. ***

[Fearonsarms]

I really love this film. It's wonderfully melancholic and downbeat. The mystery is well presented and delivered. I've only watched it once and feel I don't need to see it a second time. But it was a very enjoyable watch and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a good unsolved mysetery.

[Ferox13]

Not seen it in a very long time but I liked it when I did.

[shadyJ]

Good movie. I am glad for Criterion for giving this movie the treatment it deserves. I haven't seen Sophia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, but it looks like an imbecilic, dumbed-down version of Picnic at Hanging Rock.