Editors Note: I was working on this for another website and I just didn’t ever really finish it. Here is the unfinished text.
What we see and what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream. ~ Anne-Louise Lambert as Miranda
Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of Australia’s national treasures in film. Directed by Peter Weir, the film won a 1977 BAFTA award for best cinematography. The mystery of exactly what happened to these young, beautiful women is the driving force that brings viewers back to the film time and time again. Of course, the iconic panflute music and idyllic cinematography bring equal measures wonderment as well. Few films look the way Picnic at Hanging Rock appears.
Appearances seem normal at the girls’ private school, Appleyard College. The girls are apparently dressing for a trip to the Hanging Rock. This being the morning of St. Valentine’s Day, Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert) and the other girls are exchanging Valentine’s Day cards and reciting poetry. Accompanied by Miss McCraw (Vivean Gray) and Mlle. de Poitiers (Helen Morse), they head off on their merry way. The only girl left behind is Sara (Margaret Nelson) who has been told that she cannot attend the field trip.
Upon arrival at Hanging Rock, strange things begin happening to the party. Miss McCraw notes that her watch has stopped at exactly twelve noon and there is a general fatigue that has hampered the festivities. Miranda, Marion (Jane Vallis), Irma (Karen Robson), and Edith (Christine Schuler) ask if they can get closer to the rock and take measurements. They do not yet understand the weird grasp that the rock holds over them. What exactly happened at the top of Hanging Rock would be the mystery that eludes everyone.
Cinematography
About the Author/Novel
Actresses/Performance
Interpretations
Opinion
Closing
