Picnic at Hanging Rock

Australia, turn of the 20th century. Students of an elite private girls school set off, under the supervision of their teachers, to Hanging Rock, a popular destination. However, the peaceful, leisurely excursion ends in tragedy. The mystery of Picnic at Hanging Rock intrigues as much today as it did 50 years ago, at the time of its release. What does this majestic rock hide from our view? How does it summon and capture this group of schoolgirls? Why does it cause them to sleepily wander away, never to be seen again? Zamfir and Smeaton’s suggestive music underscores the inner agitation of the heroines, dressed in graceful, snow-white dresses, as they embark on the dangerous path of…. adulthood? Sexual initiation? Existential crisis? Peter Weir’s mesmerizing masterpiece continues to attract and influence both cinephiles and filmmakers: from Peter Strickland through Albert Serra to Ari Aster and David Lynch.

Katarzyna Kebernik

Peter Weir – born August in 1944 in Sydney, Australia, studied art and law at the University of Sydney. After leaving university he joined Sydney television. During this period he made his first two experimental short films and several documentaries. Weir’s first full-length feature film was the underground cult classic, The Cars that Ate Paris (1974). This paved the way for considerable success in Australia and internationally with the atmospheric Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). After realisation of several acclaimed pictures in Australia he started a career in Hollywood. He made more accessible movies like Witness, The Mosquito Coast, Dead Poets Society, Green Card, Fearless, The Truman Show and Master and Commander.

Catalog MFF Nowe Horyzonty 7. edition