Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

An Exercise In Nonsense

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The scenes of the Australian outback were stunning, The acting was overly theatrical and punctuated with bizarre hand gestures. The characters never develop any depth so your reaction is purely based on visuals - Headmistress; Callous, French teacher; Fake, Dance teacher; Simpering, Miranda; Queen Bee Flake with the usual followers. The older couple having a picnic sitting like wooden dummies? The boy driven to attempt to find the girls - driven by what? The glimpse of a black clad ankle? The token LUG? Kept waiting for something - anything to happen. Yawn.

What the hell was this, I didn't like it then, and don't like it now... The best part was seeing those girl shred off their stockings, but after that, the film evaporated into a most unsatisfying second half that is totally forgettable... Didn't like it then, don't like it now, and I won't like it tomorrow.

I love this film. It's beautifully shot and very creepy, especially as Aires Rock is meant to be a weird place to visit anyway. This is very old and I wouldn't have watched it if someone hadn't have mentioned it to me. I'm glad I did.The locations are great and I'm really curious about the reality of what went on? Whether it is actually based on some true events or not? That's what I like about films like this as oppose to the ridiculous modern horrors that plainly do not really have 'Darth Maul' hiding in the attic. This is a simple tale, well told and well acted. I'm a teacher and will be showing this to my students as if we don't show them old movies, they just get lost in time. This deserves a shout out.

as with Peter Weir's other masterpiece The Last Wave, it requires multiple viewings and lots of digestion time to fully grasp & appreciate... I've been wanting to watch Picnic at Hanging Rock for years... bought the blu ray recently & thought it was time... after finally watching it, I'm quite shell shocked at what I've just witnessed... the mood throughout this film is on a spiritual level, hypnotic at times, tension building below... the soundtrack & sound design compliment the film & create this mysticism surrounding the missing characters... the narrative is quite minimal, focusing on the mood of the film rather than what's being said... but quite often what is being said is cryptic & only leaves you with more questions... after doing further reading, it is stated that even the novelist Joan Lindsay never confirmed if the story was based on fact or not... but many people including the producer of the film have gone to Hanging Rock & felt this unease... like they are being watched... this aspect to me is fascinating and makes this film such an achievement from the young director at the time... also worth mentioning that gorgeous the actress who played Sara, Margaret Nelson has been missing for sometime... plus the lead bitch of the school Mrs. Appleyard played by Rachel Roberts committed suicide in 1980... the more you dig with this film / novel and Hanging Rock the location, more is left unanswered... it's most definitely one of the greatest Australian films & cant wait to see it again & give it 10/10, along with 2nd viewing of The Last Wave... until then ill be hunting down Mark Hartley's 2004 doco "A Dream Within a Dream: The making of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock" & continue my research on the film, the location, it's characters & the novelist...