When I was at High School we studied Henry Handel Richardson's novel 'The Getting of Wisdom' and also watched this film adaptation. There was just something quite remarkable about this story to me then....and re-watching it today - 30 years later!! - I still found it to be engaging.
Totally agree with another reviewer here, who suggests the parallels with Peter Wier's film 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' (Mirandaaaaaaaaaa....yep, that's the one....). Watching it today I was struck by just how much of a 'get real mate' reply Beresford is providing to the former. Quite apart from that:
What a relief to see an Australian film which does not pretend that the country is 'classless' - it wasn't then and it isn't now.
I loved the bitchy, chubby, spotty and insecure cast of teenagers, plus the perfectly hideous representatives of 'order' (the Headmistress, the just grotesque young vicar who the girls fantasize about, Barry Humphries' vicar....). It is rather like a 'Yeah right mate' to the soft focus girls lounging around at 'the Rock' isn't it?!
Also a relief to see an Australian film openly acknowledging what remains a stiflingly conservative culture, where the onus is very much about 'fitting in' with everyone else.
Watching it now, I was also struck by just how brave the representation of a possible lesbian relationship was for it's time. (1977) The beautiful Evelyn and the outcast Laura look like mirror images of each other - particularly in certain scenes. Considering Laura's considerable imagination (her 'story telling' or 'crams' are central to the narrative), I did wonder if she was in fact falling in love with an older, more confident version of herself? After all, Evelyn has the wealthy upper class background which has led to her complete self confidence. She really doesn't need to care what anyone else thinks of her, her standing is established (pardon the pun, part of the 'Establishment' )
If you see this on the television and you don't mind a bit of period drama, give it a go! The underlying edge here prevents this from being a 'good old days' nostalgia flick. This is not how the young 'gaaaals' behave in Picnic at Hanging Rock's 'Appleyard's Academy for Girls' , but you suspect that this bunch are much closer to the reality.
Witty, well acted and surprisingly subversive. So, good then? Yep.
Totally agree with another reviewer here, who suggests the parallels with Peter Wier's film 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' (Mirandaaaaaaaaaa....yep, that's the one....). Watching it today I was struck by just how much of a 'get real mate' reply Beresford is providing to the former. Quite apart from that:
What a relief to see an Australian film which does not pretend that the country is 'classless' - it wasn't then and it isn't now.
I loved the bitchy, chubby, spotty and insecure cast of teenagers, plus the perfectly hideous representatives of 'order' (the Headmistress, the just grotesque young vicar who the girls fantasize about, Barry Humphries' vicar....). It is rather like a 'Yeah right mate' to the soft focus girls lounging around at 'the Rock' isn't it?!
Also a relief to see an Australian film openly acknowledging what remains a stiflingly conservative culture, where the onus is very much about 'fitting in' with everyone else.
Watching it now, I was also struck by just how brave the representation of a possible lesbian relationship was for it's time. (1977) The beautiful Evelyn and the outcast Laura look like mirror images of each other - particularly in certain scenes. Considering Laura's considerable imagination (her 'story telling' or 'crams' are central to the narrative), I did wonder if she was in fact falling in love with an older, more confident version of herself? After all, Evelyn has the wealthy upper class background which has led to her complete self confidence. She really doesn't need to care what anyone else thinks of her, her standing is established (pardon the pun, part of the 'Establishment' )
If you see this on the television and you don't mind a bit of period drama, give it a go! The underlying edge here prevents this from being a 'good old days' nostalgia flick. This is not how the young 'gaaaals' behave in Picnic at Hanging Rock's 'Appleyard's Academy for Girls' , but you suspect that this bunch are much closer to the reality.
Witty, well acted and surprisingly subversive. So, good then? Yep.