Valentine's Day, 1900: schoolgirls from Appleyard College attend a picnic at Hanging Rock, a volcanic rock formation near Mt. Macedon in the Australian state of Victoria. While there, some of the girls and one of their teachers (played by Vivean Gray, Mrs. Mangel from Neighbours) inexplicably disappear. Search parties are mounted, to no avail. Eventually, one of the girls is found, but she cannot remember what happened. Meanwhile, Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts), the school headmistress, is concerned about the negative effect the disappearances are having on her income.
This is the kind of arthouse film that cinema snobs fall over themselves to praise as a cinematic masterpiece, mentioning the atmosphere of repressed sexuality, the brooding sense of dread, the ethereal beauty of the cinematography, the symbolism and the haunting soundtrack. What these people fail to mention is how incredibly boring and uneventful the whole film is: the plot is incredibly slight and the pacing so slow that at almost two hours long the film is like an endurance test with no reward at the end.
Some praise director Peter Weir for his reluctance to provide answers to the mystery, but to me that just feels like rubbing salt in the wound: not only is his film boring, it also fails wrap things up in a satisfactory manner.
This is the kind of arthouse film that cinema snobs fall over themselves to praise as a cinematic masterpiece, mentioning the atmosphere of repressed sexuality, the brooding sense of dread, the ethereal beauty of the cinematography, the symbolism and the haunting soundtrack. What these people fail to mention is how incredibly boring and uneventful the whole film is: the plot is incredibly slight and the pacing so slow that at almost two hours long the film is like an endurance test with no reward at the end.
Some praise director Peter Weir for his reluctance to provide answers to the mystery, but to me that just feels like rubbing salt in the wound: not only is his film boring, it also fails wrap things up in a satisfactory manner.