PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975)
Label: Second Sight Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: 12 Cert
Rating: 12 Cert
Duration: 120 Minutes 30 Seconds (Theatrical), 107 Minutes 57 Seconds (Director's Cut)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono, 2.0 Dual-Mono (Theatrical), English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles (Director's Cut)
Video: HDR10 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Rachael Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Dominic Guard, Anne-Louise Lambert, Jacki Weaver, Karen Robson, Christine Schuler, John Jarratt
In Peter Weir's mesmeric and enigmatic mystery Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975), based on the 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay, nineteen schoolgirls from Appleyard College private school for girls embark on a fieldtrip to Hanging Rock, a brooding volcanic rock formation near Mt. Macedon in Victoria, Australian, on Valentine's Day in the year 1900. The towering rock outcropping is a monolithic thing of ancient natural beauty, and during the idyllic sun-drenched endeavor four young girls split off from the main group with the permission of French teacher Mademoiselle de Poitiers (Helen Morse, Stone) and math teacher Miss McCraw (Vivean Gray, The Last Wave) to further explore the craggy location.
The four girls are the ethereal Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert, The Draughtsman's Contract), Marion (Jacki Weaver, Cosi), Irma (Karen Robson), and the constant complainer Edith (Christine Schuler), together embark on their adventure, along the way they're spotted crossing a small creek by other visitors to the rock by way of wealthy Englishman Michael Fitzhubert (Dominic Guard, Absolution), along with his family's coachman Albert (John Jarratt, Dark Age), before wandering further up the rock's craggy trails. Hour's later Edith returns to the main group, terrified and screaming, reporting that the three other girls have gone missing, but she has no reliable memory of what transpired other than faint recollection that as they climbed the girls fell asleep and woke up in a trance, then wandered barefoot further into the labyrinth of rock, never to be seen again. She later recalls seeing a knickers-only clad Mrs. McCraw heading up the rock as she descended, and taking notice of a mysterious red cloud that caught her attention. With that set-up the hook is properly set, and we are drawn into the enigmatic mystery of The Picnic At Hanging Rock.
Unable to late Mrs. McCraw and the three missing young women the students and staff return to the school and report to the stern headmistress Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts, Murder on the Orient Express) of the disappearances. Authorities and volunteers organize a search party who comb the area of the the craggy Hanging Rock in search of the missing women, but to no avail, with no clues as to their whereabouts. Englishman Michael
Fitzhubert becomes obsessed by their disappearance and spends the night on the rock alone in search of them, the next day his coachman Albert returns and finds him collapsed and exhausted in a weird state. When Albert notices that he is clutching a piece of lace in his hand he ventures further up the rock following a trail of papers stabbed onto shrubbery by the Englishman, which eventually leads him to an unconscious but still alive Irma. The mystery of her reappearance is made more intriguing by the fact that she's been missing for a full a week and found barefoot, yet her feet bare no abrasions that would reflect her having wandered the craggy mountain for any length of time. When she recovers she offers very little in the way of any sort of recollection that might shed light on the where she's been, or what happened to her and the other missing women.
Weir's film seems quite content to not appease your curiosity with direct or even indirect answers, but he most definitely provides hypnotic mystery at every turn that I found rather enthralling as viewer. What happened to these young women and their teacher? It could be most anything; were they raped and murdered, are they runaways, had they fallen down a crevice in the craggy volcanic rock or perhaps slipped into a parallel dimension, been abducted by aliens, or fallen victim to some ancient entity inhabiting the peculiar rock formation? Well, the shroud of mystery is never lifted, but the spectacularly mysterious film is mesmerizing in it's quest to not give up it's secrets. The lack of finality to the ending might prove upsetting to those looking to neatly stick a pin in it and square the riddle, but I have always found it satisfying to just wash over me in it's vague and anonymous way.
While the disappearances are never explained there's plenty of enigmatic happening to chew on, like when the field trip initially arrives at Hanging Rock it is noted by several people that their watches have all stopped at noon hour, and in an earlier scene back at the school Miranda cryptically and prophetically implies to her rebellious friend Sarah (Margaret Nelson), who has been punished and does not attend the excursion, that she might not ever see her again. There are also surreal dream sequences, eerie visions, mystical elements, and tragic and mysterious epilogues for Mrs. Appleyard and Sarah that adds another layer of ominous misfortune to the tale, as does a moment when Mrs. McCraw while reading of a geometry book at the base of the rock peers up at the rock's peaks with a weird determination serves to further the mystery and her involvement prior to her own disappearance.
The Victorian era garb of school girls bundled up in their coresets and restrictive garb trapsing through the rough terrain of the Australian Outback is picturesque, offering imagery of young women relaxing on the lower slopes of the rock with parasols in the shade. Director Weir and director of cinematography Russell Boyd (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) achieve an impressionistic painting quality, it's gorgeously lensed with a dreamy look that has an underlying dread about it, the same can be said of the score which offers haunting traditional songs, classical pieces and original score compositions by Bruce Smeaton, further bolstering the mystery. The vibe of the inexplicable that permeates this film is thick and constant, offering aesthetic later trafficked by the likes of David Lynch and more recent films like Sophia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko - films that ponder the unknowable but and are quite pleased to never quite answer the enigmatic questions it leans into, and I love that about it.
Audio/Video: Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) arrives in region-free 4K Ultra HD from Second Sight Films, presenting both the shorter Director’s Cut and original Theatrical Cut (on separate discs) with a new 4K scan and restorations from the original camera negative, which was supervised and approved by Peter Weir and director of photography Russell Boyd. The image looks splendid, Boyd's lensing of the Australian outback and of the ominous Hanging Rock in particular is bathed amber colored sunlight, the lower areas in the tree line is dabbled with shadows, and the 4K resolution and HDR color-grading look terrific with well-saturated colors throughout. The film has a bit of a soft-focus gaze which doesn't always translate to razor sharp imagery but is a much tighter and more consistent viewing experience in comparison to past editions I've watched with more depth and clarity of detail throughout.
Audio for the Theatrical cut comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 1.0 mono or 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. I preferred the dual-mono presentation myself, dialogue sounds natural and always discernible, discreet background noises and the sounds of wind and nature are also authentic, and the haunting score from Bruce Smeaton with refrains of piano, pan pipes and strings is well-balanced and placed quite nicely in the mix. The Director's Cut gets only English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with optional English subtitles. The surround mix sounds quite nice, it's well-balanced and the surround stage allows for the music to envelope the lister, offering an immersive and ethereal sound experience.
Second Sight offers a wonderful array of extras for their release, starting off with a new Audio Commentary by film academics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson that digs deep into the production, reception and continuing legacy of the enigmatic film. Atop of the commentary we get some new extras by way of the 11-min A Lovely Day for a Picnic - a new interview with actor Karen Robson, the 11-min Finding the Light -a new interview with director of photography Russell Boyd, the 7-min Crashing Through Boundaries - a new interview with camera operator John Seale; in addition to archival extras by way of the 23-min Something Beyond Explanation: Thomas Caldwell on Picnic at Hanging Rock, the 118-min Umbrella Entertainment produced A Dream Within a Dream feature length documentary from 2004, the 25-min An interview with Joan Lindsay, and the 27-min Recollection: Hanging Rock 1900. The disc is buttoned-up with 13-min of Outtakes that seem to go into the ultimate fate of Mrs. Applegate, plus the 5-min Original Long Trailer.
Special Features:
- A new Second Sight Films 4K scan and restoration from the original camera negative supervised and approved by director Peter Weir and director of photography Russell Boyd
- Includes restorations of the Director’s Cut and original Theatrical Cut
- Audio commentary by film academics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
- A Lovely Day for a Picnic: a new interview with actor Karen Robson (11 min)
- Finding the Light: a new interview with director of photography Russell Boyd (11 min)
- Crashing Through Boundaries: a new interview with camera operator John Seale (7 min)
- Something Beyond Explanation: Thomas Caldwell on Picnic at Hanging Rock (23 min)
- A Dream Within a Dream feature length documentary (118 min)
- An interview with Joan Lindsay (15 min)
- Recollection: Hanging Rock 1900 (27 min)
- Outtakes (13 min)
- Original Long Trailer (5 min)
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Thinh Dinh
- Soft cover book with new essays by Daniel Bird, Kat Ellinger and Justine Smith, archive essay by Rebecca Harkins-Cross, Costume Gallery, feature on the original marketing of the film and the new restoration
- The original novel with exclusive cover by Thinh Dinh
- Six collectors' art cards
Picnic at hanging Rock (1975) is what I would consider one of the most atmospheric and beautifully enigmatic films ever made, it maintains it's chilly air of the unknowable upon repeat viewing, and never fails to get under my skin giving me goosebumps in it's unexplainable and impenetrable
mystery. It's a hallucinatory experience that evades easy dissection, which is probably why it's remained one of the most intriguing mystery films of the era.
