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Picnic at Hanging Rock
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Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) More at IMDbPro »

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Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) -- A story about the disappearance of several Appleyard College students, and a teacher, from Hanging Rock.

Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   9,159 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Peter Weir
Writers:
Joan Lindsay (novel)
Cliff Green (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Picnic at Hanging Rock on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
2 February 1979 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Mystery more
Tagline:
Australia's First International Hit! [Video Australia] more
Plot:
A story about the disappearance of several Appleyard College students, and a teacher, from Hanging Rock. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 4 nominations more
User Comments:
Excellent director, immaculate film. more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Rachel Roberts ... Mrs. Appleyard
Vivean Gray ... Miss McCraw
Helen Morse ... Mlle. de Poitiers
Kirsty Child ... Miss Lumley
Tony Llewellyn-Jones ... Tom (as Anthony Llewellyn-Jones)
Jacki Weaver ... Minnie
Frank Gunnell ... Mr. Whitehead
Anne-Louise Lambert ... Miranda (as Anne Lambert)
Karen Robson ... Irma
Jane Vallis ... Marion
Christine Schuler ... Edith
Margaret Nelson ... Sara
Ingrid Mason ... Rosamund
Jenny Lovell ... Blanche
Janet Murray ... Juliana
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Additional Details

Runtime:
115 min | Australia:107 min (1998 director's cut)
Country:
Australia
Language:
English | French
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In casting the pupils of Appleyard College, director Peter Weir ended up searching for unknown girls from outside the cities, looking for the right "innocent faces" to fit the film. However, that meant that apart from Anne-Louise Lambert, none of the other girls had any acting experience, and their amateur performances meant Weir had to cut out much of the dialog. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Miranda cuts the Valentine's Day cake with a clean kitchen knife. However, the next shot shows the cake cut down the middle, and the same knife lying beside it clean and bare, as if it had never been used. more
Quotes:
Marion: A surprising number of human beings are without purpose, though it is probable that they are performing some function unknown to themselves. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Critic: Miserable (#1.4)" (1994) more
Soundtrack:
5th piano concerto more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
47 out of 50 people found the following comment useful:-
Excellent director, immaculate film., 19 April 2003
10/10
Author: eshaun from Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Peter Weir is a master of taking the mysteries of human nature, combining them with the essence of humanity, then distilling those aspects through the inexplicable itself. This has been an earmark of his films "Dead Poets Society," "Fearless" and even "The Truman Show" but nowhere is this more apparent than with "Picnic At Hanging Rock."

Beautifully filmed in rural Australia, the plot of "Picnic At Hanging Rock" is deceptively simple: students at an upper crust Victorian-era girls' school go on a field trip to Hanging Rock --an unusual geographic site miles away from civilization. On the trip, three of the girls and one of the teachers go missing. A simple plot, right? Well, on the surface it is indeed simple, but the way Peter Weir deals with the subject matter will keep the viewer absolutely enthralled and at a loss as to the cause of the girls' inexplicable disappearance. What has frustrated many viewers is that the responsibility of the hypothesis lies solely on them: there are no conclusive answers, but rather a number of theories as seen through the eyes of second and third parties.

Additionally, Weir spices up the overall feeling of uncertainty with repeated images seemingly unrelated to the flow of the movie. Swans, ants, flowers, flies and poetry all appear repeatedly throughout the film, indicating that there is some deeper significance to the nature of the disappearance. Something that is just out of the viewer's grasp. In truth, Weir's direction in this film is akin to a more accessible and humanistic David Lynch. Much of the same thematic ground is covered, and the pronounced sense of uncertainty is a trademark of many Lynch films, especially his recent masterwork, "Mulholland Drive."

Finally, what makes "Picnic At Hanging Rock" a true marvel of filmmaking is the complete integration of all elements in the support of the ephemeral theme. The pan-flute of Zamfir adds an otherworldly element to the score; the cinematography makes Hanging Rock look alternately commonplace, and enigmatic, depending on the scene. This collusion of all elements makes "Picnic At Hanging Rock" essential viewing for anyone interested in immaculate emotive filmmaking. -E. Shaun Russell

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