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Directed by Peter Weir. Starring Rachel Roberts and Anne-Louise Lambert. Period Mystery. Australia, 102 minutes.

DVD & Blu-Ray UK release date: 26th July 2010

Picnic at Hanging Rock is based on the Joan Lindsay novel of the same name. It begins on Valentines day 1900 as a group of schoolgirls from Appleyard’s College go on an outing to Hanging Rock in the Australian outback. The film is a slow building mystery based around the disappearance of 3 schoolgirls and their teacher.

As the girls prepare to leave on their trip we see the matriarchal head of the college Mrs Appleyard(Rachel Roberts) assemble them on the steps. Ominously she warns them that the rock is extremely dangerous and that they must not explore on their own. As the horse drawn coach approaches their destination Miss McCraw explains the origins of the million year old rock.

Once we arrive at the titular location the girls begin their picnic as they sit in the shadow of the mesmerising rock. The girls raise a toast to St Valentine and enjoy the day away from the rule of the strict headmistress Mrs Appleyard. As the day draws on the coach driver notices his watch has stopped and asks the time only to find that the other watches have also stopped. This is put down to the mystery of the rock and that it is probably magnetised.

The ethereal Miranda(Anne-Louise Lambert) asks the teachers if she and 2 friends can go and take some measurements of the area for an essay that Miss Appleyard has asked them to write. As the girls are about to head off Edith(Christine Schuler) asks if she can join them and they allow her but only on the condition she doesn’t complain. As the 4 girls skip off without a care in the world they are spotted by Michael, a young man also enjoying a picnic at Hanging Rock and Albert his servant.

The girls continue to head up and deeper into the rock structure pausing only briefly to reflect on the area. Edith begins lagging behind and complaining more and more the nearer the girls get to the peak. Edith attempts to talk to the other girls as they walk away from her but they walk on as if possessed by the rock itself. They walk further and further into the rock before finally disappearing from sight. At this Edith lets out a blood curdling scream and runs back to the base of the rock and the safety of the teachers.

As the rest of the class return to the college we hear that despite looking the 3 girls have not been found and that one of the teachers has also gone missing while she was searching. The rest of the film is spent trying to figure out what happened that fateful Valentines day at Hanging Rock.

Despite being made in 1975 and set in 1900 this film feels like it could have been made now. The BAFTA Award winning cinematography by Russell Boyd is fantastically sumptuous and captures the eerie nature of the rock perfectly. This is ably assisted by a fantastically haunting score and a great screenplay by Cliff Green adapted from the Joan Lindsay novel. Peter Weir brings everything together gaining some amazing performances from a young cast, especially Anne-Louise Lambert as the central character Miranda. Another special mention has to go to Rachel Roberts for her staunch portrayal of Mrs Appleyard, I’ll long remember her final shot in the movie.
Watching this film I was fairly apprehensive having noticed that this films has been frequently described as a masterpiece and that it is a timeless classic. These are fairly bold statements for the film to live up to but it does so almost effortlessly.

Probably the most enjoyable thing about the whole film is that you are not handed answers to the numerous questions that are posed. There are clues throughout the film but you take from the film what you put in. I got out a fantastically crafted story that I have thoroughly enjoyed researching. I’ve loved reading through the many theories on what happened in the film. I have also enjoyed seeing how easy it was for both Joan Lindsay and Peter Weir to make it seem like this could possibly be a true story. I think the whole thing is best summed up by the quote from the film ‘There’s some questions got answers and some haven’t’.

The main feature is backed up by a great new 2 hour documentary about the making of the film and what everyone involved is doing now. An interview with Joan Lindsay, another adaptation of the novel, a look at all the locations used then and now and the usual deleted scenes. If you want to delve further into the mystery you can look through the packed to the brim disc.

Colin Bennett.

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