Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

"Superb UHD presentation of a Classic of World Cinema"

One of the best films ever made, Peter Weir's breakout Australian classic PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK is getting the Second Sight whistles and bells treatment, and what a treatment it is, with double disc UHD and Blu-ray releases and a special limited edition containing both UHD and Blu-ray transfers of the film and a bunch of extra goodies as well.

If you've never seen PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK then prepare yourself for one of the most elegiac, perplexing, mystifying, beautiful films ever made, one which is so open to interpretation the finite answers some demand from the questions it asks will never (one hopes) be answered. Instead just revel in a film that offers us the environment of a private girls' school in Australia in 1900, in which the event of the disappearance of three of the girls and one of their teachers during a St Valentine's Day visit to the titular landscape feature causes repercussions within the surrounding community that the film then covers in detail. 

Second Sight's presentation is second to none, and one of the best UHD disc presentations to hit the format, so much so that if you don't own a UHD player then this one release is a reason to get one - it really is that good. But whether you plump for UHD or Blu-ray what you will get is the film and its extras spread over two discs, so let's take a look at what you get:

Disc One

This has a new 4K restoration of Peter Weir's director's cut of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, which runs about two minutes shorter than the original cinema release. For those unfamiliar, the cuts are mainly a sequence about 90 minutes in when Irma (Karen Robson) comes to visit Michael Fitzhubert (Dominic Guard). I'm not going to contextualise that in case those reading this haven't seen the film. 

        Disc One also includes a commentary track from Alexander Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, as well as the ported over Umbrella Entertainment two hour making of documentary. This is excellent features interviews with many of the cast and crew, and goes into plenty of detail.

Disc Two

The main feature is a new 4K restoration of the original theatrical cut, so if you want those extra bits Peter Weir cut out then go for this one - it looks just as gorgeous as the version on disc one. 

Extras here are mainly new ones by Second Sight and the supplement Disc One's Umbrella documentary very well. There's a new 11 minute interview with director of photography Russel Boyd and another 7 minutes with camera operator John Seale. Actress Karen Robson, unavailable for the Umbrella making of, is interviewed for 11 minutes, and Thomas Caldwell gives us a 23 minute visual essay on the film. 

Archival elements on disc two include executive producer Patricia Lovell's own 25 minute making of from 1975, and a 15 minute interview with Joan Lindsay (author of the novel on which the film was based) from the same year. Finally there are 12 minutes of out-take footage. 

The limited edition also includes a soft cover book with new and archival writing on the film, as well as the original novel, six art cards, and rigid slipcase to house everything. Second Sight's edition of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK in one of the company's best releases so far. The 4K restoration is superb and the wealth of extras make it a must have. One of the releases of the year.

Peter Weir's PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK is out in two disc UHD and Blu-ray editions, and a limited edition with both formats and extras, on Monday 1st May 2023