Film as Art?

Recently I watched the beautiful film Picnic at Hanging Rock. A group of schoolgirls go on a school trip, where three of them and one of their teachers vanish in mysterious circumstances. The rest of the film deals with the repercussions of their disappearance on everyone around them and the viewer is left to come to their own conclusions about what happened.

This in itself has spawned plenty of discussions and theories about the true solution, many people still believing that the story is based on true events. After the author's death, the final missing chapter was published in which a 'solution' was given, however this solution does not satisfy most readers/viewers because it was obviously left unfinished and unedited.

There are plenty of interesting themes within the movie; Miranda as a swan, the concepts of time and fate, Victorian repression which all make it a movie worth watching. However what made me love it so much was the sheer beauty of the cinematography, which just captured me and often meant I was not listening to what the characters were saying.

Perfectly evoking the mood within the college in one shot

Hanging Rock: does it look like a face to you too?

One moment you see Miranda; look away and she's transformed to a swan. Magical!

Possibly my favourite; Irma's return dressed in red

One of the most haunting shots in the film

The relatively recent revelation that most of the main voices were dubbed by professional actors who were given no credit upset some (a very interesting article about the 'Unseen Voices') , but I don't think the dialogue or the acting are at all what make this film what it is.