This section contains 408 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
Weir caps [the] opening movement of [Picnic at Hanging Rock] with an absolutely superb shot. As four girls set off to explore the Rock itself …, he cuts to a high-angle shot down on the rest of the party frozen in exquisitely elegant yet shamelessly carnal attitudes of post-prandial satiation. Like a painting by Auguste Renoir of the bon bourgeois at play, it evokes that magical moment when nature somehow contrives to unloose the bonds of convention. The theme, unfortunately, is not always allowed to speak for itself in this way. Perhaps because Joan Lindsay's novel never provides any explanation for the disappearance of the three girls—so maintaining the illusion of being a speculation on a real-life incident that a myth seems to have grown up that the novel was based on a genuine fait-divers—Weir seems to feel obliged to compensate not merely by elaborating hints, but...
This section contains 408 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |