MovieChat Forums > Picnic at Hanging Rock (1979) Discussion > Why does AMBIGUITY bother people so much...

Why does AMBIGUITY bother people so much?

posted 10 years ago by lazarillo
15 replies | jump to latest

I guess I wouldn't want EVERY movie to be like this, but I actually like movies to be ambiguous, or open to more than one interpretation. It seems to infuriate some people though that everything isn't spelled out for them. OR they become convinced that there is exactly ONE interpretation when it's obvious that's not the case, and try to explain it to everybody. I'm not necessarily saying they're wrong, but maybe there is a reason the filmmaker intentionally left everything so open.

Ambiguity is actually the REAL way of the world. The most powerful things in life--like death--are a completely unresolvable mystery. People can't deal with that though so they either tell themselves childish, self-serving religious fairy tales (that seem to involve them personally getting on Jesus' guest list), or they resort to totally rational reductionist atheism. I wish more people could accept MYSTERY and trust that things are just far greater than we are capable of understanding. There is actually solace in that.

This is just a very beautiful movie. It reminds me of the famous line from John Keats that "Truth is beauty and beauty truth. That is all you know on earth and all you need to know".

[–] Shannon82 (58) a year ago

What ambiguity? Ambiguity requires clues that conflict, allowing for somewhat supported theories. There is no maybe Michael did it, or they got trapped in a cave, or fell off the rock. Nothing supports any of those. It's an artsy dreamy, oh maybe they were entranced by the call of nymphs and transformed into swans bit of nonsense. Nothing explains or even alludes to why Irma remembers nothing or why Miranda knew she wasn't coming back. Beautifully directed, vague nonsensical fluff. It reminds me of those horrible modern art paintings of cubes or splattered paint, that are worth millions, because "they are so deep". They aren't full of meaning and ambiguity; they are cubes and paint splatters.

[–] Wuchak (8850) a month ago

The events of the story involve females during the the Victorian era and the societal constraints thereof. The message is potent: The only way to escape the constraints/limitations/corruptions of a flawed society on Earth -- with the understanding that every society is flawed -- is to literally leave the Earth.

[–] liscarkat (19395) a month ago

Ambiguity is fine, if it's done right. But sometimes it just seems like they ran out of film, or got bored and decided to quit and go home before the movie was finished.