‘What we see and what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream...’
A ghost story doesn’t have to show the ghosts to be effective. Picnic at Hanging Rock demonstrates how one incident can haunt a small town forever. It also marks the moment that announced Australian director Peter Weir to the world at large – a man who would go on to gift us with Witness, Master and Commander, and Dead Poet’s Society. An important cinematic landmark…
During a school trip, three students and one of their teachers disappear at the local landmark Hanging Rock. Those left behind have to deal with the fallout and the consequences. Some like the matronly Mrs Appleyard (Rachel Roberts) attempt to carry on as normal. Others, like local boy Tom (Tony Llewellyn-Jones), become obsessed with the disappearance and can’t move past it. All are changed forever.
Not actually based on true events as often assumed but instead totally fictional, Picnic at Hanging Rock is beautifully shot and wonderfully performed. The ensemble cast convinces as an authentic micro-community, a school in this case, and this is vital in generating the powerful emotions that such a tragic tale calls for. The rock itself is always shot from below, granting it an eerie regal quality befitting of the site of a mysterious, unexplained event, and the fact that the mystery is never properly solved is as frustrating for the audience as it is for the characters.
Picnic at Hanging Rock is all about atmosphere. And in that respect, it must be deemed a success.