| Picnic at Hanging Rock | |
|---|---|
Original 1975 Australian theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Produced by | Executive producer: A. John Graves Patricia Lovell Producer: Hal McElroy Jim McElroy |
| Written by | Novel: Joan Lindsay Screenplay: Cliff Green |
| Starring | Anne-Louise Lambert Rachel Roberts Vivean Gray Helen Morse Kirsty Child Dominic Guard |
| Music by | Non-original music: Johann Sebastian Bach Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ludwig van Beethoven |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Editing by | Max Lemon |
| Distributed by | Greater Union (AUS) G.T.O. Films (UK) Atlantic Releasing (US) |
| Release date(s) | Australia: 8 August 1975 United Kingdom: 31 October 1976 United States: November 1976 (Chicago International Film Festival) 2 February 1979 (wide) |
| Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $440,000 |
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian feature film directed by Peter Weir and starring Anne-Louise Lambert, Helen Morse, Rachel Roberts and Vivean Gray. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name, by author Joan Lindsay.
The film relates the story of the disappearance of several schoolgirls and their teacher during a picnic to Hanging Rock on St. Valentine's Day in 1900, and the subsequent effect on the local community.
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The students at private girls school Appleyard College are dressing on the morning of St. Valentine's Day, 1900. Several of the girls, including Miranda (Anne-Louise Lambert), Irma (Karen Robson), Marion (Jane Vallis), Rosamund (Ingrid Mason), waifish Sara (Margaret Nelson) and outsider Edith (Christine Schuler) read poetry and Valentine's Day cards.
The group prepare for a picnic to Hanging Rock, accompanied by the remote mathematics mistress Miss Greta McCraw (Vivean Gray) and the young and beautiful Mademoiselle de Poitiers (Helen Morse). Sara is advised by jittery teacher Miss Lumley (Kirsty Child) that she is not allowed to attend, on the authority of the stern Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts), the headmistress.
Driven by buggy operator Ben Hussey (Martin Vaughan), the party pass through the town of Woodend, and arrive at the Rock mid-afternoon. After a meal, Mr. Hussey notes his watch has stopped at the stroke of twelve, as has the watch of Miss McGraw. With permission from Mlle. de Poitiers, Miranda, Marion and Irma decide to explore Hanging Rock and take measurements, with Edith allowed to follow. The group are observed several minutes later by a young Englishman, Michael Fitzhubert (Dominic Guard) who is lunching at the Rock with his uncle Colonel Fitzhubert (Peter Collingwood), aunt Mrs. Fitzhubert (Olga Dickie) and valet Albert (John Jarratt). At the top of the Rock the group lie on the ground, apparently dazed by the sun. Miss McCraw, still at the base of the Rock, stares up. Miranda, Marion and Irma awake and move as if in a dream into a recess in the rock face. Edith screams and flees down the Rock.
A hysterical and distraught party eventually return to the College, where Mlle. de Poitiers explains to Mrs. Appleyard that Miss McGraw has been left behind. Sara notes the absence of Miranda, and Mr. Hussy explains to Mrs. Appleyard that Miranda, Irma, Marion and Miss McGraw are missing on the Rock. A search party led by Sgt. Bumpher (Wyn Roberts) and Constable Jones (Garry McDonald) of the local police finds nothing, although Edith reveals that she witnessed Miss McGraw climbing the Rock without her skirt. Michael is questioned and reveals he watched the schoolgirls and followed them out of concern for their safety, but can provide no clues in the investigation.
Michael becomes obsessed with finding Miranda, and with Albert he conducts another search of the Rock. Despite Albert's protests, Michael decides to remain on the Rock overnight, and begins climbing again the next day, leaving a trail of paper. Albert returns, and follows the markers to a nearly delirious Michael, who is taken away by buggy with local doctor. Before doing so Michael passes an object to Albert which is revealed to be a fragment of lace from a dress. Albert returns to the Rock and discovers Irma, unconscious but alive. The residents of Woodend become restless as news of the discovery spreads. At the Fitzhubert home, Irma is treated for dehydration and exposure, and tells the police and Mlle. de Poitiers she has no memory of what happened. A servant notes that Irma's corset is missing but is advised by Mrs. Fitzhubert that it is not important.
Michael befriends a recovered Irma, but alienates her when he demands to know what happened on the Rock. Mrs. Appleyard advises Miss Lumley that several parents have withdrawn their children from the school. Before leaving for Europe, Irma visits her classmates a final time; they become hysterical and demand to know what happened to their missing friends. Mlle. de Poitiers intervenes, and as Irma flees, she also notices that Sara has been strapped to a wall by Mrs. Appleyard to correct her posture. That night Miss Lumley gives notice to a drunken Mrs. Appleyard that she is resigning.
Mrs. Appleyard tells Sara that as her guardian has not paid her tuition, Sara must return to the orphanage. The next day Mrs. Appleyard lies to Mademoiselle de Portiers and claims that Sara's guardian collected her early that morning. The next day, however, Sara's body is found in the greenhouse by Mr. Whitehead, the school gardener. Believing Sara committed suicide by leaping from her bedroom window, Whitehead confronts a calm Mrs. Appleyard, who is in full mourning dress with her possessions packed. Michael tells Albert he has decided to travel north, with Albert revealing he had a dream in which his lost sister Sara visited him.
During a flashback to the picnic scene, Sgt. Bumpher states in voice over that the body of Mrs. Appleyard was found at the base of Hanging Rock, and that the search for the missing school girls and their mistress continued sporadically for several years without success.
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.[1] The finalised budget was A$440,000 and with principal photography taking six weeks.[2] Director of photography Russell Boyd stated in interview that he created the ethereal look of the picnic by placing simple bridal veil fabric over the camera lens.[1]
Weir originally cast Ingrid Mason as Miranda, but realised after several weeks of rehearsals that it was "not working" and cast Anne-Louise Lambert. Mason was persuaded to remain in the role of a minor character by producer Patricia Lovell.[1] Several of the school girls' voices were dubbed in secrecy by professional voice actors. The voice actors were not credited, although actress Barbara Llewellyn revealed that she provided the voice for the role of Edith (Christine Schuler).[3]
The main title music was derived from two traditional Romanian panpipe pieces: "Doina: Sus Pe Culmea Dealului" and "Doina Lui Petru Unc" with Romanian Gheorghe Zamfir playing the panpipe (or panflute) and Swiss born Marcel Cellier the organ. Australian composer Bruce Smeaton also provided several original compositions written for the film.[1]
Other classical additions included Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C; 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.
There is currently no official soundtrack commercially available. In 1976, CBS released a vinyl LP titled "A Theme from Picnic at Hanging Rock", a track of the same name and "Miranda's Theme". A 7" single was released in 1976 of the Picnic At Hanging Rock theme by the Nolan-Buddle Quartet.
Weir recalled that when the film was first screened in the United States, American audiences were disturbed by the fact that the mystery remained unsolved. According to Weir, "One distributor threw his coffee cup at the screen at the end of it, because he'd wasted two hours of his life - a mystery without a goddamn solution!"[1]
Despite this, the film was a critical success, with 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]
Cliff Green stated in interview that "Writing the film and later through its production, did I - or anyone else - predict that it would become Australia's most loved movie? We always knew it was going to be good - but that good? How could we!"[2]
Picnic at Hanging Rock grossed $5,120,000 in ticket sales in Australia.[5]
Picnic at Hanging Rock was first released on DVD in the Criterion Collection on 3 November 1998. This release featured a director's cut of the film with an entirely new transfer, a theatrical trailer, and liner notes regarding the film. That same year, the film was also re-released theatrically, with Weir removing seven minutes from the film that apparently detracted from the narrative.[1]
The film was later released in a special 3-disc set on 30 June 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 and deleted scenes. It was also released on Blu-ray by UK distributor Second Sights Films with the same special features on July 26, 2010.[6][7]
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