PETER WEIR
Picnic at Hanging Rock: A 1975 adaptation from the mystery novel by Joan Lindsay.

 
Telling Stories in Colour

"In the Western world, the individual claims to be at the origin of a work of art. I like to think more in an Eastern way. A Japanese potter once said to me: 'We just make pots and, every now and then, the gods choose to touch our hands, and that's what's worthwhile, but it is not in your control.' I have kept on working like that potter ever since."

A shared characteristic of Australian filmmakers who came to prominence in the 1970's was the vividness of the chromatics of light and colour. The film glowed with a certain romantic hue and may I say, a searching for a European visual softness and intimacy of ambience. Peter Weir became a leading light both thematically and technically with the production of Picnic at Hanging Rock, a film still noted today for the brilliant use of light in telling a softly lined feminine story. He reputation is that of a greatly competent cineast but he is little credited for his literary ability, being that he writes all his own screenplays. In this respect he is comparable to Orson welles in his belief that words are very important in a moving picture.

The Year of Living Dangerously: A 1982 adaptation from the novel by Christopher Koch.

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