Gone Girls

     KISS KISS BANG BANG

     Pauline Kael explained the title of a collection of her film reviews thus:

"perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies. This appeal is what attracts us, and ultimately what makes us despair when we begin to understand how seldom movies are more than this."

     In particular, she was referring to the ever popular James Bond movies. All about action and adventure with some KISS KISS once the bad guy has been 'given the boot' (see, for example, The Living Daylights). Now, I've got nothing against spending a few hours with 007, especially if popcorn and cold beer are involved. But what if we want something a little deeper? What if we want something that challenges our sense of relationship with the natural world? Then it might be time to watch the 1975 Australian film Picnic at Hanging Rock. 

      Paradoxically, Peter Weir's haunting story of a Valentines Day outing gone awry seems perfect around Halloween. In the beginning, we hear a young woman reciting lines from an Edgar Allan Poe poem: "All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream." These words set the mood for all that follows. It's 1900 and the girls of Mrs. Appleyard School are preparing for a day trip to the volcanic landmark known as Hanging Rock. But first they exchange Valentine cards and looks of longing. The young women are seen thru a gauze of sensuality and repressed desire. Our eyes are drawn to Miranda, later described as a 'Botticelli Angel'. In some scenes the stern visage of Queen Victoria looks down from a picture on the wall.

     Later, the students and their chaperones picnic at the base of the cliff. But Weir's camera turns Hanging Rock into something more than geologic scenery. We believe nature is there for our use, our enjoyment. But what if the natural world has a will of its own? Miranda and several other girls are drawn to explore the 'dangerous' rock and what happens to them up there is the mysterious heart of the story.

     Like all good films, this one unfolds in memorable images. The stolid rigidity of the Appleyard School balanced by the ragged wildness of Hanging Rock. Turkeys in a flock and a solitary swan. Corsets as symbols of repression and escaping them as freedom. The girls pure white dresses vs. the somber colors the adults wear. Miss McCraw's stoic mask of a face telling of 'eruptions from below'.

     The inexplicable makes us uneasy. We turn to religion or Fox News for 'truth' and assured answers. But isn't there something deep within us drawn to the unknowable? Halloween brings the kitsch of ghosts and goblins, witches and werewolves. Haunted Houses can be fun this time of year but I think I'd rather watch Picnic at Hanging Rock again. Then do a little wild wandering. Maybe beneath craggy Sleeping Beauty Mountain or at the bottom of the Shelving Rock cliffs. Maybe spend a moonlight evening on Starks Knob. Just let the landscape work its own scary magic. 

REALLY...

     Note that Hanging Rock is a real place a little north of Melbourne, Australia. And, yes, it's said to have some weird vibes. If I had tons of money and a butt that could take a very long plane ride I'ld be spending Halloween there. Fortunately, I can ride my bike to Starks Knob for free so that will have to do.