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The beginning of this film is absolutely mystifying about a quartet of girls aimlessly wandering up Hanging Rock, a large rocky hill somewhere in Australia, and mysteriously disappearing. The last half, however, shows the emotional results of their vanishing and that almost comes to the point of tedium. This is one of Australian director Peter Weir's earliest efforts and it overall turned out to be quite good. Movie reviewed by Michael Lawrence

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Long before he got a reputation for being an actor's director (he is credited for turning comedians Robin Williams and Jim Carrey into actors), Peter Weir was the savior of Australian cinema.

With odd dramas like 1974's "The Cars That Ate Paris," Weir legitimized his country's growing motion picture industry. However, it was the hypnotic and creepy 1975 mystery/drama "Picnic at Hanging Rock" that proved the depth of his talent and paved the way for his later successes, including "Witness," "Dead Poets Society" and "The Truman Show."

This long out-of-print classic has been rereleased in a new director's cut that actually deletes seven minutes of footage from the original version. But it also features a remastered soundtrack, as well as a cleaned-up print that does Weir's unique vision justice.

An adaptation of Joan Lindsay's fact-based novel, the story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a handful of schoolgirls in turn-of-the-century Australia.

The four students are supposed to be part of a field trip to Hanging Rock, a mountainous outgrowth of volcanic rock. Led by Miranda (Anne Lambert), they leave the group and begin exploring the mountain. But they don't return - and neither does a chaperone who goes looking for them.

Police investigators and other townspeople try in vain to find the girls, while the remaining students, including Miranda's best friend, Sara (Margaret Nelson), begin to despair.

Even the school's stern headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard (Rachel Roberts), isn't exempt from the aftershocks. In fact, she has started crumbling under pressure - mainly from parents who want to remove their daughters from the school.

Weir wisely decided to film at the actual location of the disappearance, which is very foreboding indeed. Visually, the film is rife with similarly threatening imagery.

The movie is paced so that the tension builds very slowly, making the conclusion all the more shattering. The otherworldly pan flute solos by Gheorge Zamfir (who wasn't established as a worldwide star at the time) help set the right mood.

And a talented cast of mostly unknowns is quite effective, particularly Lambert, who makes Miranda an enigma, but appropriately so.

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" is rated PG for profanity, violent slapping, use of vulgar slang and brief female partial nudity. By Jeff Vice; Deseret News movie critic


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