Picnic

at Hanging Rock (1975)

Figure 1. Film Poster
Picnic at Hanging Rock was made in 1975 and directed by Peter
Weir. The story was written by Joan Lindsay. The film is set in
the 1900s in an all girls boarding school. The school is situated
amongst the beautiful nature of Australia.

Figure 2. Film Still

Many of the camera shots with in the film are soft and light,
showcasing a delicate and feminine side to the girls. The girls
are all dressed in white. Their clothing covering their body
almost entirely, a symbol of their youth and innocence.

However some of these camera shots could be interpreted in a
more sexual way:
In its first half hour, Picnic actively encourages a host of
fantasies in its viewers, particularly the more forbidden. Many
scholars have suggested that Weir is playing with a gauzy soft-
core aesthetic, and that certainly seems the intent in opening
shots such as the one of the garland of schoolgirls in their
bloomers, each one bent over the next, tightening her corset.
The tone of the first twenty minutes is at once giddy and
languorous, edging toward a sexual frenzy of expectation.
(Crewe, 2015)

Figure 3. Film Still

One girl called Miranda is completely idolized by all the
characters in the film. The camera shots are often close-ups of
Mirandas face portraying her natural beauty. Even one of her
teacher calls her a Botticelli angel. Picnic at Hanging Rock
(1975) This is just before she leaves the group to look at the
Rocks with her friends.

The effect of slow motion is also used in the film. This is used to
its best effect when the girls are laughing and running through
the grass. However, the camera lens is often placed on
Miranda, making her the focal point and center of attention.

There are many theories and interpretations on the film. The
viewer is left asking many questions. Rather than being given
the answers the audience have to think for them selves.
This aura of ambiguity is integral to the films appeal. As Ed
Roginski noted in his 1979 review: Questions are the essence
of this film. (Crewe, 2015)


The film doesnt contain your typical 3 act structure. Where
Act 1 is The Set Up, Act 2 is the Confrontation and Act 3 is
the Resolution. Instead the film leaves us at a cliff hanger,
and provides no reason as to what happened to the missing
girls at Hanging Rock.
The ending doesnt deliver. Possibilities are closed off. There is
no answer. (Abbott, 2014)

Some academics believe that the Rocks are actually based
around a more sexual theme. Dave Crewe a writer for SBS,
explains this:
All that tossing around of terms like vaginal and phallic
makes a whole lot of sense in this case; while in and around
Hanging Rock the camera regularly peers up at masculine, yes,
phallic, monoliths or gazes through stony, yes, vaginal,
crevices. (Crewe, 2015)

Fortunately one of the girls that went missing at Hanging Rock
is later found by Michael Fitzhubert. After recovering she
returns back to school to say goodbye to her fellow students.
She enters the gymnasium wearing red, this colour can have
sexual or dangerous connotations behind it.

Irma, whose visit to her classmates after her rescue
degenerates into hysteric mob violence, and obscures the
binding of Sara at the back of the hall. (O Donoghue, 2014)

Perhaps the red signifies her new journey into adult life.


Figure 4. Film Still

Illustration List

Figure 1. Film Poster
http://www.impawards.com/1975/posters/picnic_at_hanging_
rock_ver1.jpg (Accessed 26.4.17)

Figure 2. Film Still
https://ttylusa.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/picnic_scene3.jpg
(Accessed on 26.4.17)

Figure 3. Film Still
http://www.cinestylography.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/08/Picnic-at-Hanging-Rock-movie-11.jpg
(Accessed 26.4.17)

Figure 4. Film Still
http://horrorcultfilms.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2013/12/photo-Pique-nique-a-Hanging-Rock-
Picnic-at-Hanging-Rock-1975-4.jpg (Accessed 26.4.17)

Bibliography
Abbott, M. (2014) Picnic At Hanging Rock: What We See and
What We Seem http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3202-
picnic-at-hanging-rock-what-we-see-and-what-we-seem
(Accessed 26.4.17)

Crewe, D. (2015) Picnic At Hanging Rock: Australias own
Valentines Day Mystery
http://www.sbs.com.au/movies/article/2015/06/03/picnic-
hanging-rock-cheat-sheet (Accessed 26.4.17)

O Donoghue, D. (2014) Picnic At Hanging Rock (Peter Weir,
1975) http://sensesofcinema.com/2014/key-moments-in-
australian-cinema-issue-70-march-2014/picnic-at-hanging-rock-
peter-weir-1975/ (Accessed 26.4.17)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)