Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

"Director's Cut" a disaster.
Am I crazy, or has the original 1975 version been butchered?

The original 1975 film I remember as a masterpiece, whoever edited it. This "director's cut" seems duller, more replete with pointless dramaturgy and jarring plot mutations. My memory of the original may have been distorted over the years, but I don't think this is the same film I remember and love.

Am I wrong, or has the original version been kidnapped?

A Haunting Period Mystery
"People don't just disappear; not without a good reason," muses one of the characters in Peter Weir's excellent film. Yet, it appears that one day while on an outing to Hanging Rock, three students and one teacher from Mrs. Appleyard's boarding school do exactly this. Of course, to the film's characters the disappearance seems truely bizarre and irrational; yet to the modern viewer it seems perfectly reasonable to want to escape from the rigid, repressive Victorian world the ladies inhabit - a world where dancing, sewing, and memorizing poetry are the only activities available to young ladies on the verge of womanhood. Indeed, the dream-like scenes of the ladies in their orderly school uniforms as they move through the chaotic and untamed beauty of Hanging Rock further serve as a contrast to the absurd and artificial culture they inhabit. Not a thriller or a suspense film in the traditional sense, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is more of a mystery about how people cope with events they don't understand. Over the course of the film, we move from worrying and wondering about those who vanished, to sympathizing with those left behind. Peter Weir's direction is haunting and effective, and the acting performances are quite good all around. The film does have a few flaws however: the music is pretty dated by now and the pacing of some scenes does drag a little bit. Over all, this is a unique mystery/period film definitely worth viewing.

A Flawed Gem
I am rather cross at Criterion Collection for not providing the scenes that have been deleted, subtitles, a director's commentary (especially in consideration of their prices), and also for leading some viewers down the garden path by suggesting that "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is a horror film. Therefore, I have given four stars to what used to be a five-star film.

When I first saw this film years ago I was spellbound, and although I still find it compelling, some of its magic has dissipated, perhaps due to the ravages of time and poor conservation (in a film which has been beautifully restored in respect to quality of color). It is difficult to believe that this is the "director's cut," since many significant scenes--as noted by others--have disappeared (The one that I recall is of the math teacher rising as if in a trance and slowly following the path of the girls up the mountain, and into oblivion.).

Despite these flaws, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" still exerts a mesmerising fascination in its imagery: the young girls in white seem to have stepped out of a painting by John Singer Sargent into an Australian summer; the stunning landscape--not only the brooding rock of the title, but also the eucalypts, the serpent, the koalas, and kookaberras--suggests an atavistic menace in which anything might be possible. The plaintive piping of the pan flute and the melancholy slow movement of the Beethoven piano concerto also contribute a haunting atmosphere that is unforgettable.

Viewing "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is rather like looking into an Australian opal. Its almost kaleidoscopic shifts of sequence generate as many interpretations as there are viewers: to some it is a psychological coming of age film that portrays sexual repression and transgression; others see it in terms of myth, impressionism, allegory, and even magical realism. For those who want instant answers, "Picnic at Hanging Rock," which raises more questions than it answers, is none of these.

Such persons are immune to magic!