Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian mystery film directed by Peter Weir, adapted from the novel of the same name. It premiered at the Hindley Cinema Complex in Adelaide, South Australia on August 8, 1975. It became one of the first Australian films to reach an international audience, receiving international acclaim and commercial popularity, and thus has an important place in both cinematic and Australian history. The film stars Helen Morse, Rachel Roberts and Vivean Gray. The film centers on a party of schoolgirls who mysteriously vanish after being drawn toward a mysterious rock formation in Australia in 1900.
It is known for its dreamlike aura, eerie soundtrack and mysterious, unresolved story; for the debate over its meaning, see the article on the original novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Plot
The screenplay, adapted by Green from Lindsay's novel, tells the story of the mysterious disappearance of three schoolgirls and their teacher during a picnic at a geological formation known as Hanging Rock on Valentine's Day in 1900. The reason for their disappearance, whether by human, natural or supernatural agency, is never discovered, but their disappearance has a profound effect upon everybody in their community.
The film begins in an English girls' school in the Australian bush. The school is headed by Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts), an indomitable and unbending figurehead of authority. Her staff include the remote mathematics mistress Miss Greta McCraw (Vivean Gray), said to have a 'masculine' intellect, who vanishes on the Rock with three pupils; the young and beautiful Mademoiselle de Portiers (Helen Morse) who teaches French and deportment, and the jittery Miss Lumley (Kirsty Child), who is anxious to please Mrs. Appleyard.
Although she commands only a little more than a half-hour of screen time, the film's central character is Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert), a young student whose beauty is compared by Mademoiselle de Portiers to one of Botticelli's angels. Her circle of friends includes Irma (Karen Robson), Marion (Jane Vallis), Rosamund (Ingrid Mason) and the waifish Sara (Margaret Nelson) whose affection for Miranda stems from a deep crush. Another pupil, Edith (Christine Schuler) hovers on the edge of Miranda's circle, desperate for acceptance. Sara, an orphan who is a kind of charity pupil, is disliked by Mrs. Appleyard, and is not allowed to join the outing, ostensibly because she hasn't memorized an assigned poem. Miranda tells Sara she "won't be here much longer," suggesting a premonition of her disappearance.
The girls ride to Hanging Rock, a 500-foot tall volcanic rock formation about 11 km northeast of the College. Mlle. de Portiers and Miss McCraw are the supervisors. Mr. Hussey drives the girls in his wagon on the trip to the formation. For some odd reason, everyone's timepiece and wristwatch stops at noon when they arrived. Miranda cuts a cake in honor of St. Valentine.
In mid-afternoon, four of the girls — Miranda, Irma, Marion and Edith — decide to explore the rock in direct defiance of Mrs Appleyard's specific instruction. After a brief nap or swoon on a plateau, they get up, and seemingly under a spell, three of them advance as one toward an inner recess, witnessed by Edith, who cries out to them not to go. She screams and runs downward. One of the teachers, Miss McCraw, leaves the picnic unnoticed and begins to climb the rock.
Although due back about 8:00 o'clock, it is 10:30 when Mr. Hussey's wagon arrives back at the school, where they tell Mrs. Appleyard about the mysterious disappearance. Edith remains hysterical and unable to explain what has transpired — only that she saw Miss McCraw heading up toward the plateau without her skirt. The police investigation led by Sgt. Bumpher (Wyn Roberts) and Constable Jones (Garry McDonald) leads them to a young Englishman, Michael Fitzhubert (Dominic Guard) who was lunching at the rock with his family, his uncle Colonel Fitzhubert (Peter Collingwood) and Mrs. Fitzhubert (Olga Dickie). Michael, with Albert (John Jarratt), the Fitzhubert party's young local Australian valet, spent part of the lunch watching the picnic, but offer no clues in the investigation.
The nearby town of Woodend quickly becomes restless as news of the disappearance spreads. The townsfolk are angry, demanding answers. Michael, who becomes obsessed with finding Miranda, gets Albert to accompany him to the Rock for another search after another search turned up nothing. The next morning, Albert travels up to the rock and finds a nearly delirious Michael whom he helps back down to the ground. Albert follows Michael's trail and discovers Irma, unconscious but unharmed. At the Fitzhubert home where Irma is treated for dehydration and exposure, she tells the police investigator that she has no memory of what happened on the rock, or of the fate of her companions. The servants note to themselves that her corset has gone missing, a clue that is not resolved in the film, but is discussed in The Secret of Hanging Rock.
During a walk in the woods with Irma, Michael tells her that he's still obsessed with finding Miranda, but she still cannot remember anything about that day. Soon, both Albert and Michael begin to have terrible nightmares about a great evil that lurks at Hanging Rock. They continue to remain miserable over the three remaining disappearances.
A kind of quiet mass hysteria consumes the school. Lessons seem to proceed with the usual tight order and control, but as days pass and the missing women are not found, parents notify Mrs. Appleyard that they will be withdrawing their daughters from the school. During gym class, Irma stops by, dressed from head to foot in elegant red; her parents are taking her to Europe. The girls at first greet her with silence, then begin screaming frantically that she must tell them what happened, and physically attack her. Mlle. de Poitiers has to pull them off, and Irma runs away. Sara is discovered tied to the wall "to correct her posture". Miss Lumley gives notice that she is quitting.
Mrs. Appleyard takes to drink and is more abusive than ever toward Sara, first telling her that her guardian has not paid her tuition and she must be sent to an institution, then lying to the remaining staff that Sara's guardian have taken her away overnight. The next morning, Sara's body is found in the greenhouse by Mr. Whitehead the school's gardener. She apparently jumped or was pushed from her second floor bedroom window. When the gardener rushes into Mrs. Appleyard's office, she greets him with a calm stare; she is already dressed in full mourning with her things packed. Elsewhere, Albert tells Michael that he has had a dream that his orphan sister came to see him in his dreams. Sara is revealed to be Albert's sister.
Epilogue. A voice-over narrator details that after Sara's dead body was discovered, Mrs. Appleyard disappeared before the police could question her about the circumstances surrounding Sara's death. A few days later, Mrs. Appleyard's body was found beneath Hanging Rock. She went there and jumped to her death. No one else was ever discovered there.
Adaptation
The film, which otherwise closely followed the original plot, altered the ending: Mrs. Appleyard found and destroyed a note in Sara's room. Whether this was a suicide note or simply stated she was leaving is unexplained. Sara's body, which had fallen into hydrangea bushes at the rear of the building, was not found for several days until the gardener noticed an odor. Mrs. Appleyard, who had hidden a basket of things supposedly taken by Sara, had the gardener drive her to the Woodend to report the incident. However, she never contacted the police, but had herself driven by cab near Hanging Rock on the pretext of visiting friends who would drive her home. She then jumped from the rock.
Also omitted were that Sara's guardian belatedly paid the dead girl's tuition and that the visiting art instructress left an undelivered note offering to help Sara. Mademoiselle de Portiers resigned to marry a French watchmaker in Bendigo while Tom and Minnie have also resigned for matrimony. Miss Lumley's resignation was shortly followed by her death in a hotel fire. The College building was itself destroyed in a bushfire the following year. Sections of the book dealing with Irma's romantic interest in Michael at the Fitzhubert home and that of another young lady were not treated in the film.
The visual depictions were very remarkably close to the descriptions given in the book. Martindale Hall, the museum house used in filming the Appleyard College scenes, mirrors the novel almost exactly except for minor details such as the lack of a window and a statue of Venus on the landing of the main stairway and a front veranda. Mademoiselle de Portiers' hair color was perhaps the greatest variance from the book.
Production
The film was produced by Patricia Lovell, Hal McElroy and Jim McElroy. Peter Weir directed the film. Screenwriter David Williamson was originally chosen to adapt the film, but was unavailable and recommended noted TV writer Cliff Green for the job. The film had a budget of A$440,000.
Weir originally cast Ingrid Mason as Miranda, overlooking Anne-Louise Lambert who had a remoteness that set her apart from the other girls at the audition. Later, realising that such remoteness was precisely what the character needed, he re-cast Lambert as Miranda. Mason was persuaded to stay on, in the role of Rosamund. Lambert claims in interviews that she got the part not because of her acting ability but because she was slimmer than the first choice.[1]
Filming commenced at Hanging Rock, Victoria on February 2, 1975. Martindale Hall, in South Australia was used to stand for Appleyard Hall. Director of photography Russell Boyd reportedly enhanced the film's diffuse and ethereal look with the simple technique of placing a piece of bridal veil over the camera lens.[2]
The voice parts of some of the school girls — those played by novice actresses — were later dubbed by professional voice actors. The dubbing was done in secret, and the voice actors were not credited. Actress Barbara Llewellyn has revealed that she provided the voice part for the role of Edith, which was performed by Christine Schuler.[3]
Soundtrack
The main title music, which plays a major role in creating the haunting atmosphere for which the film is remembered, comes from two traditional Romanian panpipe pieces, "Doina: Sus Pe Culmea Dealului" and "Doina Lui Petru Unc" with Romanian Gheorghe Zamfir on panpipe (or panflute) and Swiss born Marcel Cellier playing organ.
Weir first heard Zamfir's music on the album Flutes de Pan et Orgue, originally released on the French Cellier label. Although the film was instrumental in popularising Zamfir's distinctive music, Weir later revealed that Zamfir refused to contribute original music for the film, forcing Weir to obtain the licencing rights for the tracks he had originally heard on the Cellier disc.[citation needed]
The "ascent" theme, which plays first during the girls' climb, then during Michael's ascent of the Rock in pursuit of the missing girls, and later when Albert makes a similar climb, was one of several original compositions written for the film by Australian composer Bruce Smeaton.[citation needed]
Other music in the film is classical, including: Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C, a piano piece used near the beginning of the film; the Romance piece from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; the Andante Cantabile movement from Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No.1 Op.11; and the Adagio Un Poco Mosso from Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, also known as the Emperor Concerto, a dreamlike piano piece used later in the film when Michael is haunted by his memories of Miranda.
The Adagio from Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, is a favourite of producer Hal McElroy; it has been used in several of his films, including the television mini-series Return to Eden.
There is currently no official soundtrack commercially available. In 1976, CBS released a vinyl LP titled "A Theme from Picnic at Hanging Rock" through their Epic label in the UK. This album included the two Doinas listed above, subtitled "Miranda's Theme" and "A Theme from Picnic at Hanging Rock" respectively; the remaining tracks were more Romanian folk tunes, and the artwork was unrelated to the film, or to Hanging Rock. The Doinas concerned are available on CD on the relatively obscure Disques Cellier label, and are also available as recorded live versions.
Reception
The film was a major critical success in Australia, the U.S. as well as the UK and many other countries. American film critic Roger Ebert called it "a film of haunting mystery and buried sexual hysteria" and remarked that it "employs two of the hallmarks of modern Australian films: beautiful cinematography and stories about the chasm between settlers from Europe and the mysteries of their ancient new home." [4] Weir recounts that when the film was first screened in the United States, American audiences were greatly disturbed by the lack of any clear resolution to the plot. [5][citation needed]
In honour of the film's success, and its enduring popularity, Picnic at Hanging Rock is still screened annually in the picnic grounds at Hanging Rock, Victoria, on St. Valentine's Day.
It has a rating of 94/100 fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.[6]
Awards
- In 1976, the film was nominated for one award - Best Cinematography - by the British Society of Cinematographers.
- In 1977, it was nominated for three BAFTA Awards by the British Academy of Film and Television: Best Cinematography for Russell Boyd, Best Costume Design for Judith Dorsman and Best Soundtrack for Greg Bell and Don Donnelly. Boyd won.
- In 1979, the film was nominated for two Saturn Awards by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in the United States: Best Cinematography for Russell Boyd and Best Writing for Cliff Green. Boyd won.
Director's Cut
In 1998, the film was re-released theatrically as a director's cut. Unlike many directors who use the opportunity to restore material to a film, Peter Weir chose to cut seven minutes from the film in parts he felt were either too long, or distracted from the film's narrative. He also added two brief moments.
DVD releases
Picnic at Hanging Rock was first released on DVD in the Criterion Collection on November 3, 1998, and was the 29th entry into the Criterion DVD series. This release featured the director's cut of the film with an entirely new transfer, a theatrical trailer, and liner notes regarding the film.
The film was later released in a special 3-disc set on June 30, 2008 in the United Kingdom. This set included the director's cut and a longer original version, interviews with filmmakers and book author Joan Lindsay, poster and still galleries, a 120 minute documentary about the film, and exclusive director's cut deleted scenes.
See also
References
External links
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