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In the Service of Horror—The Lyrical Cinematography of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

Picnic at Hanging Rock • 13m

Observations on Film Art No. 35

Though its premise is not far removed from that of a straightforward horror movie, Peter Weir’s Australian New Wave classic PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK forgoes conventional shocks in favor of an eerie, otherworldly languor that’s closer to the moody atmospherics of an art film. In this edition of Observations on Film Art, Professor Kristin Thompson illustrates how Weir uses soft-focus cinematography, slow motion, and superimpositions to cast an ethereal, enigmatic spell that has tantalized viewers for decades.

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