To celebrate the limited edition release of Peter Weir's classic Australian film Picnic at Hanging Rock FILMHOUNDS chatted with lead actor turned entertainment lawyer, Karen Robson.
Starting her industry career as schoolgirl ‘Irma' in the seminal 1975 film, Robson reminiscences about her time on set, the important role the film has played in the years since, and how the industry has changed in the 48 years since her entertainment debut. Robson also discusses the various special features avaliable within this new release, what fans can most look forward to, and her favourite memories from a respected career in the entertainment industry.
Picnic at Hanging Rock was notably revolutionary for Australian cinema and really ignited the new wave of Australian cinema making it a viable place to make movies. What do you think makes Picnic at Hanging Rock so uniquely special?
Oh yes, it is so special. There's just no doubt about that. And I think one of the things that was so special about it was it managed to connect arthouse cinema throughout the world with Australian cinema. Until then, Australian cinema had been a bit like, old fashioned Masterpiece Theater/BBC drama. The thing about Hanging Rock is that it had that period quality and it had something else – some kind of spookiness.
I remember seeing it again in New York years later, I hadn't seen it for years and years, and somebody asked me to speak. And I was just shocked by how it hothouse it was. There was a sort of ripeness about the film. It was just very arty. Everyone was always so shocked by the ending like, “what happened?”
Because it sticks with you. There's so many films like that with a twist that does everything for a film. It's interesting that you talk about the mix of the period and the horror aspect, because you can definitely see comparisons between Picnic at Hanging Rock and Jane Campion's The Piano. Because you're filming on location in both films and Australia and New Zealand fulfil another character role. Do you have any particular memories from filming on location?
Everything was filmed on location. Nothing was in the studio. I was so young and it was all so new to me and so exciting. It was shot in Victoria in the Mount Macedon area, where Hanging Rock actually is. And it was just very atmospheric. Peter and the crew stayed in this guest house, which was very old fashioned, English style. It was run by Winston Churchill‘s ex-butler or something like that. And it had a croquet club. So all the girls came up and played croquet on the weekends.
One of the many ideas in the film was how the imposition of English society on this country that wasn't English at all. And so, you know, in the film, it's a lot about the clothes and the corsets…and it was so funny that the guys were staying in a place that just exemplified that. An English house stuck in the middle of an Australian bush.
The other half of the film was shot in South Australia. The school was actually a beautiful house that was built by an Englishman. It was a replica of his house in England or something to attract his wife to the Australian bush.
You talk about all the girls on set at the time. Do you remember what it was like filming together?
I would say we filmed for three to four weeks max, mostly Victoria around Hanging Rock. Where Irma recuperates after she's found was another historic house in Adelaide, with a beautiful lake and so on. The whole experience was fantastic and magical. And I made good friends with some of the girls. We all live together in a guesthouse with a den mother protecting us.
Clearly something about the experience that made you want to continue your involvement in the entertainment industry as a lawyer?
Yes, well I've married an Iranian filmmaker and my daughter is now a cinematographer, so it really is a family business now.
At first I wasn't even sure – I question “Maybe I should be an actor?”. I got an agent and I did go for some parts. The problem was I was in something so fabulous that got so much attention. I didn't immediately go into the business. I went to university and I studied Arts Law and I became a lawyer. And I was just lucky enough in fact, to find a job in a law firm, incidentally, one of the very few that have a Media Law Group so it was me being in the film, a mixture of luck, and just being in the right place at the right time.
And the first film I worked on was Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome with Kennedy Miller, another iconic Australian film. I was still very young, probably 25 or 26. We had a wonderful case where they were filming Mad Max in an old disused warehouse and they had 300 pigs. And they were cited and closed down and we had to go to the Supreme Court to convince them to allow them to continue filming. That was like a really fun case – we had barristers in for weeks and weeks, arguing about the pigs.
Now that is a very interesting start to a career. Picnic At Hanging Rock has this new limited edition release coming out. What do you hope new audiences might discover about the film, or your character Irma specifically?
Well one of the fun things they did was an interview with me that my daughter shot in COVID.
Obviously the heart of the story is Miranda, and Anne-Louise Lambert, who will always be, you know, in her beauty and youth in this film. And she's so mysterious. But I think Irma was very interesting because she was like an outsider, and she didn't really fit in. People admire her because she was attractive and she was rich, but she's also a bit tragic in a way. A lot of survivor's guilt I think.
Picnic At Hanging Rock has become something of a cult classic. It's got a substantial fan base, I remember hearing about it constantly growing up in Australia. It's one of those films that sticks with people. Is there anything for the long-standing fans to get excited about with this new release?
One thing is they did this beautiful new artwork. The cover is exquisite like a painting. It's a collector's piece.
One of the things with the internet is people from all over the world get in touch with me – it's really remarkable. I was only really in one film, and it turned out to be a cult classic. The amount of interest and love that you get for one film. What it must be like to be a famous actor! I get emails from people in fishing villages in Ireland, in Scandinavia, people in Japan.
Obviously Picnic At Hanging Rock was just the beginning for Director Peter Weir. Do you have a favourite Peter Weir film? Other than Hanging Rock.
I was introducing my kids, particularly my daughter, to his films and one of her close friends is an actress and the daughter of actor, Ed Harris. And Ed of course did The Truman Show. It's not a typical Peter Weir film but I do really love that film.
Have you noticed anything about Australian cinema or the entertainment industry in general, that's changed since you joined it in Hanging Rock all those years ago?
I would say the role of women particularly. I'm very invested. I represent mostly companies and finances and distributors of films, but I have represented the so-called talent – all women, writers, directors or producers. I have enjoyed watching women rising, who were very underrepresented, well they still are. I've enjoyed watching my daughter become a Director of Photography, which is increasingly more common. We loved seeing Mandy Walker win the American Society of Cinematographers award for Elvis – the first time ever that a woman has won that award. Seeing more women directors and more women behind the scenes has been great. The movement in general and what that has and has not meant, well we could have a whole argument about that.
I remember the only other role I really wanted after attaining Hanging Rock was My Brilliant Career fantastically directed by Gillian Armstrong. Jane Campion is, of course, the one that everyone knows, but there was also Gillian Armstrong before her. She was the first woman to really come out and direct films at that time. And I think she's not given enough credit.
Picnic at Hanging Rock is available now on Limited Edition and Standard Editions 4K and Blu-ray from Second Sight Films. Read our review of the new 4K release HERE
