Picnic at Hanging Rock with Jane Schoenbrun
3/15/20262 hr 33 min
On St. Valentine's Day in 1900, a group of podcasters set out to record an episode about Peter Weir's Picnic At Hanging Rock. Some were never to return...because they got addicted to the calming sounds of pan flute! Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun joins us to chat about this 1975 classic of Australian cinema, and we're getting into the eerie qualities that make this film such an enduring mystery. From Rachel Roberts' wig drama to frame rate manipulation...from the Aboriginal concept of "dream time" to the casting of actual private school girls...there's much to unpack. But don't worry, we also spend a lot of time discussing The Grabber from The Black Phone 2. Check out Jane's Dream Film Syllabus Watch the Virgin Suicides Zoom Reunion Read Australian Gothic: Peter Weir’s ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ at 50 by Tim Pelan Check out Jane's Sully Tumblr Pre-Order Jane's Book Public Access Afterworld Pan flute accompaniment composed and performed by Alex Mitchell Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[singing] Blackjack with Griffin and David. Blackjack with Griffin and David. Don't know what to say or to expect. All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blackjack On St.
Griffin Newman· Host0:21
Valentine's Day in 1900, a party of schoolgirls set out to podcast at Hanging Rock. Some were never to return.
David Sims· Host0:30
That's the tagline.
Griffin Newman· Host0:31
That's the tagline. I- Apart from podcast. This original poster I think is quite- It's so sick ... beautiful.
David Sims· Host0:36
It's so good.
Griffin Newman· Host0:37
But it is funny how much that tagline- How do you not wanna see that movie? ... frames it as so much more of a horror film.
David Sims· Host0:43
[laughs] Well, of course.
Griffin Newman· Host0:44
Yes.
David Sims· Host0:45
But, uh, the pi- I love the pink border.
Griffin Newman· Host0:47
It's really g- I just think it's so good. It actually sells the aesthetics of the movie pretty well.
David Sims· Host0:53
Yeah. I- It visually represents- I did Google, or I think I clicked through on Wikipedia- Mm-hmm ...
Jane Schoenbrun· Guest0:59
St. Valentine's Day. I was like, "What is St. Valentine's Day?"
Griffin Newman· Host1:02
Is it different?
Jane Schoenbrun· Guest1:03
No, it's just Valentine's Day.
David Sims· Host1:04
It's kind of the same.
Griffin Newman· Host1:05
Okay. They're just being a little fancy.
David Sims· Host1:06
Valentine's Day is honestly about- Yeah ... honors the Roman saint, St. Valentine, guys.
Jane Schoenbrun· Guest1:09
Yeah.
David Sims· Host1:09
You guys, you know, we gotta, we gotta give it up for him. Uh- Shout out.
Griffin Newman· Host1:12
I, I- Do you know what else? Excuse me. I celebrate an agnostic Valentine's Day.
David Sims· Host1:16
Do y- The only god I respect on Valentine's Day is the Lord of Hallmark. Mm-hmm, okay. Well, do you know who, um, s- what St. Valentine is the patron saint of?
Griffin Newman· Host1:25
Fucking.
David Sims· Host1:26
No.
Griffin Newman· Host1:26
What?
David Sims· Host1:27
Logistics.
Griffin Newman· Host1:28
Wha- I, excuse me?
David Sims· Host1:29
Epilepsy