Popcorn Reviews With Cybèle: Picnic at Hanging Rock 

By Cybèle Elaine Werts  
CybeleW@aol.com

Popcorn Kernel Rating (four possible): 3.5 kernels for a haunting film suffused with underlying sexuality.

Even though I watched Picnic at Hanging Rock four days ago, its eerie music and cinematography haunt me still. The scene that sticks in my mind is the moment when three of the schoolgirls stepped up into a crevice between the rocks and were never seen again. Not exactly a stunning moment on paper, but after an hour of Peter Weir’s slow and mysterious story, it was a moment that made me quickly pull my feet under the blankets. Not scary in the "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" way, but scary in a deeper, more subtle sense. A stiletto blade that slips in between your ribs, just a cool gentle touch until it twists.

The story surrounding the supposedly true incident is as confusing as can be. The story may be more of an urban myth where the essence lies not in whether or not it really happened, but rather in it’s underlying meaning. In 1900, the story goes, a group of girls attending a Victorian finishing school went out on a picnic. Three of them and a teacher eventually disappeared with no trace. One was found days later but was unable to remember anything about the trauma. The movie takes the long romantic view, with the repressed sensuality and sexuality of adolescent girls interwoven throughout. Lush scenes of long white dresses whispering in the humidity. The slow motion poetry of restrained passion and tenderness. This is not an action story, but a gentle and strange visit into a mysterious world, not one with a clear answer at the end, but rather an opportunity to wander the woods along with the girls, knowing, knowing that you might never come back.

Suggested Gustatory Accompaniment: Cucumber finger sandwiches

Copyright 2000