On St. Valentine’s Day in 1900 a party of schoolgirls set out to picnic at Hanging Rock … Some were never to return.|Sep. 02, 1975|Australia|117 Min.|PG
Genre: Drama;Mystery
Description: On Valentine’s Day in 1900, the students of Appleyard College, a private girls’ school near Woodend, Victoria, Australia, are preparing for the day. Sara, an orphaned student, shares a close bond with her roommate Miranda. The school’s strict headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard, organizes a picnic to Hanging Rock, a local geological site. Accompanying the group are the unconventional math teacher Miss Greta McCraw and the young French teacher Mademoiselle de Poitiers. However, Mrs. Appleyard decides to keep Sara and the nervous Miss Lumley behind at the school.
The group arrives at Hanging Rock by mid-afternoon, thanks to their driver, Ben Hussey, and they settle at the base for their picnic. Both Mr. Hussey and Miss McCraw notice their pocket watches have mysteriously stopped at noon. With Mlle. de Poitiers’ permission, Miranda and her classmates Marion, Irma, and Edith decide to explore the rock. As they wander, they are observed by Michael Fitzhubert, a young Englishman, and his coachman, Albert, who are nearby.
While climbing the rock, Miranda, Marion, and Irma take off their shoes and stockings. Near the summit, the four girls seem to fall under the spell of an unseen force, collapsing into sleep beside a monolith. Simultaneously, everyone at the picnic site also appears to fall asleep, except for Miss McCraw, who is seen reading a geometry textbook and gazing at the rock. The girls awaken in unison and, as if in a trance, all except Edith move further up into a crevice. Terrified by what she witnesses, Edith screams and rushes down the rock.
When the group returns to the college hours later in a state of hysteria, Mrs. Appleyard realizes Miss McCraw is missing. Mr. Hussey explains that they all woke to Edith’s screams and discovered that Miss McCraw and the three students had vanished. Sara is particularly heartbroken by Miranda’s disappearance due to their deep connection. The mystery of what happened at Hanging Rock remains unresolved, leaving the school and community in shock.
Cast director: Peter Weir
Cast actor: Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Jacki Weaver, Anne-Louise Lambert, Karen Robson, Jane Vallis, Christine Schuler
Original name: Picnic at Hanging Rock