Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975) - Peter Weir

Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock is a haunting and enigmatic mystery set in Australia during 1900.  The film centers around a female boarding school as they attend a Valentine's Day picnic in the countryside.  Led by the beautiful Miranda, several of the girls decide to explore the rock formations, known as Hanging Rock, only to mysteriously disappear without a trace, sending the boarding school and town into a frenzy.  Picnic at Hanging Rock is the type of film that gives no clear-cut meaning behind its various actions, forcing the viewer to read between the lines in order to grasp the film's thematic intentions.  While the centerpiece of the narrative revolves around the disappearance of these three girls, Weir intentionally never makes it clear what exactly happened, much more interested in the events surrounding this enigmatic disappearance than the solution. This is a film that juggles a host of themes (oppresive culture of Christianity, British imperialism, etc.) but for me its main theme revolves around sexual oppression, and the inability of institutionalized society and/or religion to suppress such carnal desires.  One of Picnic At Hanging Rock's best attributes is its atmosphere, with Peter Weir making the landscapes and environment of Picnic At Hanging Rock a characters itself, giving these rock formations a creepy aura while shooting them in a way that symbolizes male and female reproductive organs.  The young ladies and young boy at the center of this story are individuals just discovering their sexual desires, and the way this mysterious Picnic Rock affects them only further illustrates this .  Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock is a haunting, evocative mystery that uses its central narrative conflict as a outlet to express its various ideas, being a fascinating and profound first feature. 

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