More reviews

Three Australian schoolgirls and a teacher on an outing disappear without a trace. This is the setup for Peter Weir's enigmatic mystery which has just been rereleased in video. Set at the turn of the century, it is highly atmospheric and gorgeously filmed with an appropriately haunting soundtrack by Zamfir, the pan pipe virtuoso. Be warned that there are no conclusions here; those with a pronounced need for closure will come away dissatisfied. (shelter belt cinema channel)

This new director's cut of Peter Weir's (The Truman Show, Fearless) 1975 fever dream, Picnic At Hanging Rock takes the unusual tack of actually deleting seven minutes of footage from the original. Immersed in the morbid sexuality of the Victorian Age, Picnic concerns the disappearance in 1900 Australia of three virgin schoolgirls and their teacher during a picnic in the outback. The film continues Weir's fascination with hidden worlds and psychological transitions, but the director's lackluster visual style and his sinister approach to female sexuality makes this one of his less rewarding works. Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. at Rich Auditorium. -- FF (creative loafing online)