MovieChat Forums > Picnic at Hanging Rock (1979) Discussion > Other eerie, haunting, patient, atmosphe...

Other eerie, haunting, patient, atmospheric films like this one?

posted 18 years ago by StrawDogBreeder
183 replies | jump to latest

The music, landscapes, and pacing of this film all contribute to its itching mystery at least as much as the plot itself. There's also something about the film (stock) itself that acts as a better medium for this kind of meditative piece. It's a work of art made on a higher quality canvas. Knowhattamean? In descibing its qualities and effects, though, I have to fight a tendency of drifting into abstract, snobbish descriptions. What are some other films that have some of these haunting, patient(?) qualities?

A few I have seen:

1. Solaris (Tarkovsky, not Soderbergh)
2. Stalker (also Tarkovsky)
3. (At least the first half of) The Black Stallion
4. Ring of Bright Water
5. Dead Man (sort of)

[–] jguyton85 17 years ago

Here are some titles that I think you should enjoy very much. In fact, I started this same sort of thread on another films page.

1. Interiors (Woody Allen's masterpiece IMO)
2. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Seeing it for the first time in Australia made it all the more haunting)
3. Lantana
4. Gates of Heaven
5. We Don't Live Here Anymore
6. The Virgin Suicides
7. Once Were Warriors
8. Candyman (despite the gore, the music and atmosphere of it make for a very surreal, enjoyable horror film)
9. The Crucible (tragic, frightening, historic, with excellent performances)
10. Crumb (funny and disturbing)

[–] Devo-McDuff 17 years ago

You say meditative, I say sleep provoking.

[–] jwalsh67 17 years ago

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Richard Mulligan's "The Other" (1972).

[–] tieman64 17 years ago

"The Virgin Suicides" and Antonioni's "The Adventure" come to mind. Both "Picnic" and "Adventure" have characters who seem to have been swallowed up and absorbed by the environment.

"Rape is no laughing matter. Unless you're raping a clown."

[–] covenant12 15 years ago

Great movie that definitely fits the bill. That movie messed up my childhood. Though it's Robert Mulligan.

You saw Dingleberries?

[–] greenjem18 16 years ago

palindromes!! its creepy, i love Ellen Barkin in it!

[–] danatania 16 years ago

Miss Morrison's Ghosts
reminds me a LOT of this movie.

Some others that are similar but not as much so:

Zelly & Me
Woman in Black
The Vanishing
Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge
Paperhouse
Watcher in the Woods
In a Dark Place (remake of the Innocents)
Wicker Man (the original)

But watch Miss Morrison's Ghosts first! You'll like it.

[–] markuskoellmann 15 years ago

@danatania

Woman In Black
Spoorloos [hope you meant that one with "The Vanishing" and not the remake]
Wicker Man

- highly recommended!

[–] Brysonashultz 16 years ago

Mulholland Dr.
Repulsion
The Dreamers
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining

and most of all...Eraserhead!

Dil is a man.
Mr. Orange is a cop.
Rick Deckard is a replicant.

[–] franzkabuki 16 years ago

Days Of Heaven´s probably the closest.

[–] sljones44 16 years ago

Days of Heaven's immersion in the natural environment and the solemn quality of the characters are similar.

I'll go with, Photographing Fairies (1997) dir by Nick Willing

It was a film, that presented the challenge of encroaching science upon the other-worldly or supernatural elements. There was the haunting, romantic aspect that was elusive and timeless.

I'd like to add that Picnic, is a film that is a dream. The way it was shot, very organic, not too glossy - its difficult to find a good print, but it would almost take away from the rugged quality of rural Australia. It is a perfect movie to watch on a lazy afternoon. Like waking from an unsettling dream. Almost disturbing, especially its ending.

others
Oliver, Olivier (1992)
Dont Look Now (1973)

[–] detrime 16 years ago

Anybody mention "Silent Running" from 72? Great one.

[–] detrime 16 years ago

And one more - Lost and Delirious.

[–] polysicsarebest 16 years ago

the isle
EVERY takeshi kitano film
last life the universe
bright future

[–] vaffelmix 16 years ago

The Spirit of the Beehive