Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
89%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 BAFTA Award
4 wins & 12 nominations total
Visually mesmerizing, Picnic at Hanging Rock is moody, unsettling, and enigmatic — a masterpiece of Australian cinema and a major early triumph for director Peter Weir
Picnic at Hanging Rock” is like a mystery wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a gorgeously shot package. The film’s slow pacing may not be for everyone, but if you’re patient enough, you’ll be rewarded with a dreamlike and evocative experience that will leave you wondering long after the credits roll. Plus, the Aussie flora and fauna are so beautiful, you’ll want to pack a picnic and head to Hanging Rock yourself (just maybe don’t go missing like the characters in the film).
Production Company(ies)
micro_scope T S Productions, Phi Group
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Mount Diogenes, Hanging Rock Reserve, Woodend, Victoria, Australia
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1979
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.66 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2014
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Anne Lambert, Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Helen Morse, Jacki Weaver, Vivean Gray, Kirsty Child, directed by Peter Weir, written by Joan Lindsay, produced by Jim McElroy, drama, Australian cinema, mystery, enigmatic, visually mesmerizing, unsettling, box office gross $224.1K, PG rating, reviewed by Alyx Vesey, Keith Phipps, Dave Kehr, Ian Nathan, Richard Schickel, People Staff, Rick Chatenever, Mark A Perigard, Jesús Fernández Santos, Austin Trunick, James Kendrick, best horror movies, top horror movies, RT podcasts, most anticipated movies, most anticipated TV & streaming, all MCU movies ranked by Tomatometer, renewed & cancelled TV shows 2022, best 2022 horror movies ranked by Tomatometer, TV premiere dates 2022, worst horror movies of all time, best Netflix series & shows
Worldwide gross: $82,361
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $358,164
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,817
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 39,058
US/Canada gross: $49,582
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $215,618
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,535
US/Canada opening weekend: $27,492
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $119,555
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,868
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): A$440,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Dominic Guard – Michael Fitzhubert
Helen Morse – Mlle. de Poitiers
Jacki Weaver – Minnie
Vivean Gray – Miss McCraw
Kirsty Child – Miss Lumley
Director(s)
Peter Weir
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Jim McElroy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 BAFTA Award
4 wins & 12 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (4)
[Picnic at Hanging Rock’s] use of music is especially effective.
January 7, 2021
Alyx Vesey
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
Picnic At Hanging Rock is determined to keep its secrets to itself. Yet it’s as beguiling as films come.
June 23, 2014 | Rating: 5/5
Keith Phipps
The Dissolve
TOP CRITIC
Spottily effective.
August 30, 2010
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
By turns fascinating and mysterious.
August 30, 2010 | Rating: 5/5
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
This horrific tale is told with marvelous shadowy indirection and delicate lyricism.
August 30, 2010
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Visually it probably is one of the most beautiful pix ever seen, with Aussie flora and fauna and wonderful blue skies.
July 6, 2010
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Weir makes beautiful and daring movies, but this one is longer on style than substance.
June 14, 2020
People Staff
People Magazine
The film’s slow pacing… detracts from and defuses what is in other respects, one of the more interesting screen imaginations at work today.
June 14, 2020
Rick Chatenever
Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Picnic at Hanging Rock” is lush, gorgeous, Gothic and at times plotted tighter than a corset.
May 30, 2018
Mark A. Perigard
Boston Herald
… in its apparent simplicity, the film is realized and complete. [Full review in Spanish]
February 7, 2018
Jesús Fernández Santos
El Pais (Spain)
Gorgeously shot and carefully paced, Weir’s Hanging Rock has a dreamlike quality that sets it apart even among his fellow Australian New Wavers.
September 5, 2014 | Rating: 9/10
Austin Trunick
Under the Radar
an evocative, impressionistic masterwork
July 21, 2014 | Rating: 4/4
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk…
Plot
Three students and a school teacher disappear on an excursion to Hanging Rock, in Victoria, on Valentine’s Day, 1900. The movie follows those that disappeared, and those that stayed behind, but it delights in the asking of questions, not the answering of them. Even though both the movie and the book it was based on claim to be inspired by real events, the story is completely fictional.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Picnic at Hanging Rock on Fresh Kernels.
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