Picnic at Hanging Rock
Cinema
Peter Weir, 1975 1h 48m (12a)
Brooding and ethereal, the film that established Peter Weir as a major filmmaker is back on screen to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Currently not showing
With support of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK
Brooding and ethereal, the film that established Peter Weir (The Truman Show, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) as a major filmmaker is a classic of Australian cinema. Back on screen to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Picnic at Hanging Rock has lost none of its mystique or mesmerising power.
On Valentine’s Day, 1900, in Victoria, Australia, students from a private girls’ school take a trip to Hanging Rock, a volcanic formation in the Outback. Despite the rules against it, several girls wander off, and it’s not until the end of the day that the group realise some of their party have mysteriously disappeared.
Weir’s wonderfully enigmatic film is possessed of a ghostly, foreboding atmosphere. A significant influence on the work of Sofia Coppola, Picnic at Hanging Rock has become a landmark film for its dreamlike exploration of the intensely romantic and unsettling experience of girlhood and burgeoning sexuality. It’s a wonderful, haunting Valentine’s treat.
“An eerie and profound masterpiece” ★★★★★ The Times