Another review

Have a picnic - and mystery - down under

The Victorian era boarding school girls of Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock" do some really freaky stuff in the woods.

By Ronald Clark , The South End

When the not-so-informed filmgoer thinks "Australia" and "movies" at the same time, culturally backward images of Paul ("Crocodile Dundee") Hogan, the Bee Gees discoing with John Travolta (via "Saturday Night Fever") and the "Grease"-y Olivia Newton-John often come to mind.

For the more slightly "aware" foreign cinema devotee, it's Jane Campion's critically acclaimed classic "The Piano." And let's not forget "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" or Mel Gibson's "Mad Max," the punky, leatherboy road epic predecessor to "The Road Warrior."

But before that "G'day, mate!" big-screen stuff hit our Yankee shores, visionary Aussie director Peter Weir - yes, the same one who directed this year's Oscar-worthy "The Truman Show" - had created the understated (and under-appreciated) "Picnic at Hanging Rock" way back in 1975.

The drama/mystery takes place during the turn of the century, when a simple Valentine's Day excursion into the forest by a group of young, Victorian-esque boarding school woodnymphs soon transmogrifies into the field trip from hell.

In "Picnic," one of the more adventurous young lasses breaks away from the group to investigate the awesome, natural (and meta-physical) Hanging Rock, a centuries-old, long-dormant volcanic formation. After some of the other girls spy this adventurous lass going up into the hills and threw the underbrush, they follow her. The only problem is, one girl emerges from the forest, while the others have mysteriously disappeared into thin air.

And, to make matters worse, one of the mistresses ("teachers"), taking it upon herself to wander off separately, disappears as well.

The majority of Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock" soon concentrates on the search and rescue of the lost virgins and how the boarding school comes to terms with the immoderate consequences of such a tragedy. Yep, that's the film. Nothing particularly exciting - until you read between the lines.

Yeah, I know, Weir's film may appear monotonous, but the serene, even-handed tone of the flick suggests much more. The cinematographical aspects of the film are surreal, hallucinatory and atmospheric. The almost supernatural feel of the countryside and disarming images, like the fire ants overtaking the celebratory teacake the girls baked, is, in its own quiet way, violent. Freudian. And animalistic. Even the initial horse-and-carriage ride through the woods is an eerily disjointed allusion to "Little Red Riding Hood" trouncing through the forest to get to Grandma's house. In this case, the Big, Bad Wolf isn't easily singled out. And once you get past the sexual Catholic school girl archetypes, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" does exhibit a romantic, fanciful, timeless quality. For the most part, it's an art house film - but it's a damn good one. Even the scary film score by Gheorghe Zamfir (the pan flute guy spoofed on the Sprite commercials) is good at setting the moody underbelly of the flick.

Weir would go on direct five other excellent understated films: "The Last Wave" (his off-kilter look at the Aboriginal supernatural); 1983's "The Year of Living Dangerously" with Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt and Sigourney Weaver; 1985's "Witness" with Harrison Ford, Lukas Haas and Kelly McGillis; 1989's "Dead Poets Society" with Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke; and his 1993 big-budget vehicle "Fearless," with superb performance by Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini and Rosie Perez.

But it was "Picnic at Hanging Rock" that exclusively stands as Weir's best work to date prior to "Truman" and this film official launched the 'Aussie New Wave,' roughly from 1975 to 1983.

Because of "Picnic at Hanging Rock," Australia had now become a serious player in the international film scene and the doors opened for many 'Down Under' actors to Hollywood, from the ultra-talented Russell Crowe ("L.A. Confidential," "Proof") to even hacks (like the one and only "Xena" herself, New Zealander Lucy Lawless). And we all know about Mel Gibson and Olivia-Newton John.

As an added bonus, Weir has added never-seen-before footage in this re-issued director's cut. Although the controversy still lingers as to what was cut out - was it sexual or gory? - almost 30 years ago, movie buffs will be able to discover what the hoopla was all about.

However, the only real drawback to the film are the characters themselves. In fact, they seem to get in the way of the scenery, acting only as accentuated chess pieces on an over-glorified chessboard. It's like watching those stuffy, upper-crusty, stereotypically prim-and-proper English dandies from an E.M. Forster novel on PBS' "Mobil Masterpiece Theatre." But, I digress.

For the record, "Picnic at Hanging Rock"'s international cast include Rachel Roberts as the headmistress Mrs. Appleyard; Vivean Gray as the willowy Miss MacCraw; Helen Morse as Dianne de Poitiers; Kirsty Child as Miss Lumley and Tony Llewellyn-Jones as Tom.

Others in this cavalcade are Anne-Louise Lambert as the sultry Miranda and Christine Schuler as the nerdy Edith.

The last time I saw this exceptional film was at Ascension UK, the all-new, late-night, dark Goth/vampyre dance club in downtown Detroit - a perfect venue for such a flick. But for the more faint at heart, I suggest you check it out at the Detroit Institute of the Arts' Detroit Film Theatre, where it will be showing this weekend.

So indulge yourself. For some grand cinema from "Down Under,' have yourself a picnic, courtesy of Peter 'Truman' Weir.