Australian Gothic
This literary and film genre, characterized by eerie landscapes, psychological horror, and the uncanny, best describes Picnic at Hanging Rock.
What is Australian Gothic?
Picnic at Hanging Rock is based on a novel written by this Australian author.
Who is Joan Lindsay?
In Picnic at Hanging Rock, the restrictive expectations placed on young women at Appleyard College reflect this broader societal system.
What is patriarchy?
These three girls disappear during the picnic at Hanging Rock.
Who are Miranda, Marion, and Irma?
This kind of camera angle makes the subject appear more dominant.
What is a low angle shot?
The film suggests a tension between logic and irrational forces, echoing this 19th-century philosophical movement that emphasized intuition over reason.
What is Romanticism?
The film was released in this decade, marking a turning point in Australian cinema.
What is the 1970s?
The film presents time as fragmented and mysterious, reinforcing the sense of an unsolvable mystery by repeatedly showing this object stopping or malfunctioning.
What is a clock?
This teacher also goes missing at Hanging Rock.
Who is Miss McCraw?
The film’s famous score features this classical instrument, adding to its ethereal feel.
What is the pan flute?
The contrast between European settlers and the harsh, untamed Australian landscape highlights this colonial fear.
What is the fear of the Other?
The story is set in this historical period, reflecting strict Victorian values.
What is 1900?
The Hanging Rock landscape is portrayed as mysterious and untamed, contrasting with European notions of order. This reflects the tensions between colonisation and the land’s original custodians, known as this group.
Who are Aboriginal Australians?
This girl is the only one to be found alive after the disappearance.
Who is Edith?
The use of slow motion, lingering close-ups, and natural lighting contribute to this hypnotic mood.
What is dreamlike or surreal?
e disappearance of the girls and the lack of resolution create a feeling of unease associated with this literary or psychological concept.
What is the uncanny?
The film was directed by this key figure in the Australian New Wave.
Who is Peter Weir?
The disappearances at Hanging Rock fuel hysteria and speculation in the town, showing how strict moral codes and repression can lead to this destructive social behaviour.
What is moral panic?
This student, who was left behind on the picnic, is haunted by the event and eventually runs away.
Who is Sara?
The film employs an unconventional structure, lacking clear resolution, aligning it with this type of narrative.
What is open-ended or non-linear storytelling?
The vanishing of the schoolgirls in Picnic at Hanging Rock mirrors real-life disappearances in the Australian landscape, reinforcing this Gothic fear.
What is the fear of the unknown or the untamed wilderness?
The novel’s ambiguous ending was famously altered for a later edition with this posthumously published chapter.
What is Chapter 18?
The stark difference in opportunities between the wealthy students of Appleyard College and the working-class servants highlights this economic divide.
What is classism?
The headmistress of Appleyard College meets her fate in this tragic manner.
What is falling (or jumping) from a balcony/cliff?
The film’s visual style and sound design evoke an unsettling contrast between beauty and horror, reflecting this cinematic technique where unease emerges from an otherwise idyllic setting.
What is the sublime?