Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

If you are not fond of mysteries that are never truly solved, or films that leave questions unanswered when the credits roll, then do not even attempt a viewing of Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock". This Australian film concerns the disappearance of a group of young girls who were enjoying a St. Valentine's Day outing at a geological oddity known as Hanging Rock in 1900. Although the film was made and released in its home country in 1975, it did not premiere in American theaters until 1979, and was, in fact one of the first films from 'Down Under' to make a significant impact in the states, at least among the art house crowd.

Weir, who has since been Oscar nominated for his direction of "Witness" (well-deserved), and "Dead Poets Society" (not so much deserved), has a strong visual style in this film, aided by cinematographer Russell Boyd, who was honored with awards from the British Film Academy and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror for his camerawork here.  The film has often been described as lyrical, or dreamlike, and this is true; several shots are composed almost like paintings. The production design and costumes are lovely to look at, and help to establish both the time and place of the story quite well. In addition, the score features panflute music, which, when added to the young girls in their white dresses, and the visuals of the rock, create a sense of not just another time and place, but another world as well.  This is evidenced when watches stop once the party reaches the area, perhaps due to some magnetic force, suggests one of the teacher chaperones.   

The search for the missing girls, and investigation of the disappearance makes up the bulk of the film, and though that portion of the film is fairly generic, it is memorable thanks to the impressive visual quality of the film.  There is an official police investigation, as well as amateur sleuthing by a pair of young men who had seen the girls climbing the rock.  Locals speculate about what has happened, and the mystery becomes more intense when one of the girls is discovered shortly after the disappearance.  But despite attempts by the investigators, the truth about the occurence at Hanging Rock remains a mystery.   

Rachel Roberts is the most-well known performer in the film; she had been a Best Actress nominee in 1964 for her role in "This Sporting Life", but more recently had been reduced to smaller (yet still interesting) work such as among the ensemble of "Murder on the Orient Express". As the stiff-backed headmistress of the missing girls' school, she brings a feeling of menace to the film, as her concern is more for the scandal the disappearances may bring to her school rather than the well-being of the missing.  Her villainy is concealed beneath a placid manner, much like Nurse Ratched in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" or Sister Bridget in "The Magdalene Sisters" which makes it much more chilling.

The story in itself is interesting enough, but to me the mystery becomes secondary to the visual qualities the film has to offer.  "Picnic at Hanging Rock"'s main draws are the award-winning cinematography, the period design of the sets and costumes,  and the earlier mentioned "dreamlike" quality that surrounds the film like a spookily calm mist.