Picnic at Hanging Rock

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" is one of my favourite mystery films. I admire the way the film director thinks and unfolds the story, and also uses quite a dangerous trick of direct reference to an artwork, since it has to be genuinely interwoven with the plot, layers of meaning, create metaphors and exist in a dialogue with the canvas of the story.

What does Peter Wier want to tell showing Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" (1486) in one of the scenes?

In the film there is a line about the main character: "I know that Miranda is a Botticelli angel", then the reference to the painting and Miranda herself, who looks alike, young and beautiful. As well as one can easily get what the painting depicts (Venus emerges from the sea in a shell, blown towards the shore by the god of the winds and the breeze, while a Hora of Spring stands on dry land poised to wrap a cloak around Venus to cover her nudity).

Let's dive deeper…

Venus comes from one world into another and when she comes ashore she will become more earthly. The nudity of Venus also echoes that of Eve in the Garden of Eden who also was inbetween the worlds. There is Venus before and after: according to Plato, Venus was an earthly goddess who inspired humans to physical love, and a celestial goddess who inspired them to intellectual love.

Knowing a bit more, will give you a deeper feeling of the film and you will see how Peter Weir brilliantly plays with you and then rewards!

Hanging Rock is in Victoria, Australia; "The Birth of Venus" is in Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy; "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is there where you are - uniting function of cinema!