The music and feel and theme(dealing with adolescence) of the picture was similar somehow, but especially the music. Is it possible that Peter Weir was inspired by this film to make "Picnic at Hanging Rock."
sharePerhaps, the scenery/environment also play a big part in both films, the implied mysticism of the eternal summer, so to speak (both films are set in high summer). But it might be because they are both films made in the 1970s set in the year 1900 starring Dominic Guard?
"When a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car, or a new wife." - Prince Phillip
But it might be because they are both films made in the 1970s set in the year 1900 starring Dominic Guard?
This has got to be a big part of it. I just watched it and was struck again by how distinctive the 1970s version of the early 20th century really is. I couldn't quite grasp what it is that tends to make something like this enjoyable while 21st century costume dramas so often leave me cold.
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I suppose on a clear day you can see the class struggle from here.
There are a number of reasons why Picnic at Hanging Rock resembles the Go-Between, and it isn't as simple as "costume drama, same year, Dominic Guard".
The other film that is similar in many ways to these two is "Death in Venice".
What are the similarities?
1. All three movies begin gently and gradually gain tension until something has to snap.
2. In all three movies the atmosphere of intense heat is a contributing factor to the story.
3. The heat is a visual factor in the cinematography, giving a shimmering haze to the scenes which lift them out of the realm of the ordinary.
4. In all three of the movies, reality (as perceived by the main character/s) is somehow suspended.
5. All three movies are visually among the most beautiful ever filmed.
6. In all three movies, an exquisite and unattainable person prompts the desires and actions of the central male character.
7. All three movies leave us with no real resolution.
8. All three movies are so complex in structure or concept that they leave us with many unanswered questions and compel us to watch them over and over.
"great minds think differently"
Seems I overlooked this years ago. Great post.
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I suppose on a clear day you can see the class struggle from here.
*raises hand*
It took place in the same year and everything.
I also got a bit of "Heavenly Creatures" out of it, especially the class consciousness parts.
I think you have a point that parts of this film are reminiscent of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'. I think it's more the nostalgic feel and the countryside that helps to create this feeling. Music wise I'm not entirely sure but I was haunted by both films days after seeing them.
shareI agree with kBillysuperSounds. I've watched Picnic many times, and just watched The Go Between for the second time. Unlike the first time, it struck me the similarities, in mood and music. And of course is almost imposible not to remember one or the other if you have Dominic Guard in both of them.
The Go-Between must have been an inspiration for Peter Weir. Somebody must have made the question to him already.
yes...
and did you also think of another Julie christie film which I can't think of at the moment, help me here?
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It also reminds me, in its tone and in its visuals, of Far From the Madding Crowd, also with Julie Christie and Alan Baltes.
"Jerry, let's not ask for the moon. We have the stars!"
To me, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is much more mystical and sinister feeling.
shareI kind of disagree. I am left with an impression of Julie Christie and Alan Bates in an act of love stumbled upon by the boy and the mother which ruins any passion and feeling from their intimacy. This is sinister, more so than any scene I feel from 'Picnic'
share"Sinister"?
Yes, with the added element of that wretched belladonna plant and the curse. Whether it is really the curse that wrecks all those lives is immaterial. Leo is left with a feeling that it was.
"great minds think differently"
For me the go-between is more eerie . It starts off as a innocent period romp and subtly descends into plain evil.
The acting, direction, score, photography and relationships between the characters are fabulous.
I was surprised at home brilliant this film is and I'm so pleased I found it.
I agree completely. To me, "The Go-Between" is just a passing romp (though it is tragic for some) between the upper and lower classes at the turn of the century.
That it is seen through a child does not seem to matter since all the adults who know or find out about it flip out over it!
The Picnic at Hanging Rock is, I think, as much tied to its surroundings (weird, unique, unknown, etc.) as they would later be in Peter Weir's "Witness".
Here, we are simply dealing with small-minded gentry and those who are willing to play along "Safely" (Christie) or not (Bates).
It's a Lovecraftian sort of difference between human and inhuman forces!
She deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.
I always think of these two films in tandem, so much so that today when searching for a The Go-Between clip on YouTube, I accidentally typed "Picnic at Hanging Rock" into the Search box.
FWIW, I think there's much more nostalgia in The Go-Between than in Picnic at Hanging Rock.
"The night was sultry."
I've just re-watched today after years, and yes, very similar atmosphere.
Absolutely. First thing that came to my mind. It resembles Weir's film both formally and thematically. It has a basic aesthetic and style that were popular at the time, and which Picnic shares (Roeg's "Don't Look Now" is another example, despite a completely different milieu). And, of course, in terms of theme and content, the two films share a depiction of a suffocating Victorian repression leading to existential crisis. Weir's film's element of an almost nihilistic unresolved mystery gives it an edge on Losey's film for me, but "The Go-Between" was great. These Losey/Pinter collaborations have been wonderful. I thought this one was probably a very slight improvement on the impressive "Accident", although neither film (and very few films, ever) will touch "The Servant" by my personal standards.
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