This film will haunt you. It's slow-paced, so for those of you who like action or animated discourse...this one isn't for you. A group of Victorian college girls picnic at an Australian landmark, Hanging Rock, one Valentine's Day and several of the party go missing. The dominoes keeping the college functioning start to topple from the weight of the mystery of the disappearances. All the elements of the film serve the same purpose -- the music (this low thrumming that causes your hackles to rise immediately), the repeated-image cinematography (okay, we've seen that rocky outcropping half a dozen times now and it gets creepier each time!), and the story itself (the mystery's never been solved). One scene (actually multiple scenes) in particular was designed to frighten. Many times the film takes us towards a passage in the rocks where whatever happened happened, and each time we get a little closer to seeing what's beyond those rocks, but never quite get there. And that's the beauty of the film -- Peter Weir took an unsolved mystery and filmed it so we feel that mystery the entire time we're watching its story.
year: 1975
length: 115 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073540/combined
Sunday, March 02, 2003
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