One of my favourite films. Here is what I had to say about it in another thread:
I was browsing through my hard-drive just now and discovered my writing on mythology's relation with
Picnic at Hanging Rock I conducted it about three years ago as part of an assignment. I thought I'd share it as it gave me great insight inside understand the sheer brilliance of the film. It's not very well written, but I thought it was long-lost, so rediscovering it was cool, if only to remind me of Weir's great film:
Structuralism, mythology and Picnic at Hanging Rock
Mythology is a compelling depiction into understanding the economic, social, environmental and religious frameworks of a distinct time period. Myths escort us into various era and help us grasp the very buildings and nature of their social structures. The story of
Picnic at Hanging Rock, a 1975 Australian film directed by Peter Weir, is not only one of the figureheads of the Australian New Wave movement, but perhaps more importantly, one of the most nuanced and consequential depictions of humanity's perplexing and confounding relationship with the Australian landscape. Moreover, it also summons as a compelling piece about the carnal and lascivious nature of women, oppressed by the despotic and tyrannous institutions that comprised early Australian settlement. If we examine the film through the eyes of Chalude Levi-Strauss' alternative theory of Structuralism, we can highlight the heavily evident binary opposites; namely, nature/culture and how humanity's distinctive - albeit discorded - relationship with nature affects the social order of their very community. Here is an accessible retelling of the
Hanging Rock myth:
The myth of Hanging Rock is simple in its telling, but profound in its meaning. The Appleyard Students arrive at Hanging Rock and Miranda, Mariona, Irma and de Poitious climb the Hanging Rock without permission. They then climb the rock and begin having feelings of sexual urges and an eerie, almost infatuated, attraction to the rock. After taking their shoes and some of their clothing off, they vanish without a trace, only leaving de Poitious behind in distraught and agony. The community launches a search to try and find the missing girls but they fail.
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a very intricate and dense piece, but if we adopt the Structuralism theory which proposes the thematic notion that all myths have coherent reasoning and are essentially built around the ideas of oppositions between forms, we can identity the very inner intent and merit of the myth. As Structuralism suggests, in order to understand the legend, it needs to be analysed compositely, which usually stems in the substructure of a society/community. That is, political, economic, environmental, social and religious issues that exist within a society, and it is the myths that reflect these tensions, frets, and concerns. As a result, they usually form into binary opposites (this is according to Levi-Strauss' alternative theory of Structuralism). When applying this to
Picnic at Hanging Rock, the subjects of humanity's relationship with the Australian landscape become more accessible - Australia during the break of the 20th century was becoming more urbanised and inhabited (a lot of this predominately has to do with the Gold Rush). The country consisted of Anglo-Saxons - englishmen and women who elected to reside in the state during the unearthing of the country in the 18h century. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were often disapproved and largely frowned upon, a culture and group that heavily idolised its environmental bodywork and viewed its natural surroundings as equal or even superior to them. Furthermore, European Settlers had a distinct perception of Australian nature and “coming to terms” with the landscape is one of the primary thematic subjects explored in various Australian films and other art works. Tensions arose in the community as the Anglo-Saxon's were more contemporary, often neglecting the environment and beginning to make Australia more industrialised, only at the expense of its picturesque landscape. According to the Structuralism theory, this friction between the two cultural groups, which derived from the community, grew and uniformly established the conflict between nature and culture. In
Picnic at Hanging Rock, culture (i.e., the Appleyard college and the students) are confronted and amalgamated with nature (i.e., Hanging Rock). One being a product of its very own environment and the other being exploiters of a mystic and ambiguous land.
Thematically,
Picnic at Hanging Rock is centred around humanity's confrontation with nature; when the ostentatious and repressive school students merge with the transcendental Hanging Rock, previously restrained and smothered emotions unleash. What was mostly depicted was feelings of exoticness and sexuality. The myth elects to use this rock as a metaphor; a paranormal and mystical force that seemingly absorbs you in magnetically with its alluring appearance, and releases the truest side of one self. The initial opposition eventually becomes united; in the opening sequence of
Picnic at Hanging Rock, Miranda and several other school students are “inside”, inhabited in a world of ostentation, where their thought-pattern, ideologies, and behaviour are dictated by the institution. They are seemingly infatuated with St. Valentine's Day, a national holiday centred around love, affection and infatuation; even though none of these characters have experienced physical sexuality, amorous and erotic thoughts are circulating throughout the room.
They become instantly mystified by Hanging Rock and untroubled when leaving their orderly institution. Once they are “outside”, Miranda and the other students tour the rock themselves and become sexually open. It is evident their relationship with the Australian landscape was, at first, initially indecisive (i.e., Miranda jumping over the small pond, precautions that her feet will get wet, is reflective of her apprehensive albeit onerous perception of the landscape), but as the students continue to climb the rock, and get higher and more alienated from society (i.e., departing from “culture” and embarking “nature”), the feelings of sexual urges and bewilderedness become more evident, and the release of these previously controlled feelings is symbolic of the Rock's natural, honest, and untainted complexion. These feelings were previously self-controlled by the educational institution (an all-girls school which further demonstrates the contained nature of their environment), a symbol of the current social order and norms at the time. They become infatuated with the mystic and ambiguous nature of the rock, and become drawn into it. What started as binary opposition ultimately meets to unity - that means, the students, so drawn in by its unparalleled force, unite with the landscape, and the disappearance symbolises not just the integration of culture and nature, but societies acceptance of the Australian landscape, and perhaps, on a further level, the consolidation between the European Settlers and the environmental infrastructure of the land they inhabit.
From a personal standpoint, the myth of Hanging Rock is reflective of humanity's relationship with the Australian landscape and the European Settlers' perception of the environment. The myth is extensively about contrast and how nature and culture intertwine with each other, and what affects they spawn. The school students are increasingly ostracised from the natural world; they abide by strict principals, and live in a Victorian Era environment, where crudeness, profanity, and the expression of sexuality are dilapidated. When given the opportunity to have a “picnic” (a European occupation which suggests the European's cultural imprint on the landscape) at Hanging Rock, they become overwhelmingly enraptured, purely because Miranda and the rest of the students saw Hanging Rock as a symbol for Valentine's Day. They instantly become infatuated with the landscape, but not because it correlates with romance and love (subjects that intrigued Miranda, as suggested in the opening scene of the film where she recites a romantic poem), but because of its timeless, sheer beauty and ambiguity. There is no pragmatic and logical explanation behind the force of Hanging Rock, but that was intentional in this myth; the Rock's awe-inspiring force which flourished the sexual disposal of the students suggests nature's inherent superiority over culture. Culture and social order is criticised here; it is the very social framework that is preventing Miranda and all her schoolmates to act purely on their human emotions (the school master at Appleyard college is almost dictatorial in nature), it is the social norms and conventions that restrict their ability to depict their true, honest behaviours (i.e., which correlates with Signum Freud's ID/EGO theory where, its because of our social, political and economic frameworks, we neglect to act on instinct and desire since we adhere by the social order; a system that seldom meets our inner-most desires and wishes). Nature in this myth is a metamorphic 'object'; it spawns an energy that overhauls the difficulties and problems society has exhibited, and Hanging Rock represents not only the mystical force of Nature, but everything that society seemingly debunks (in this case, inability to sexually express yourself and not adhere by strict confinements).
Ultimately, the myth of
Picnic at Hanging Rock is highly complex, highly indistinct, but highly informative. Myths are a guide into the political, economical, religious, and social belief system of any time period, and the myth within Picnic at Hanging Rock explores humanity's relationship with nature, and the process of the European Settlers “coming to terms” with its mystic, ambiguous and even somewhat threatening presence. Such a detailed and dense myth requires the adoption of the Structuralism theory in order to acknowledge its true merit and intent.
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