Heavenly Creatures

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Cast:
Pauline Parker (Melanie Lynskey)
Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet)
Sarah Peirse (Honora Parker)
Diana Kent (Hilda Hulme)
Clive Merrison (Dr. Henry Hulme)
Simon O'Connor (Herbert Rieper)
Jed Brophy (John "Nicholas")
Peter Elliot (Bill Perry)
Gilbert Goldie (Dr. Bennett)

(1994) Heavenly Creatures was the movie that put Peter Jackson on the United States map. This movie was also his big step up from the kinds of movies he previously did, which were what he called "splatter comedies". This movie is about the true story behind the friendship between Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, before they were convicted of the brutal murder of Honora Parker (Pauline's mother). This story goes from the time that they meet, to the time when they are forever seperated due to their crimes. When the met, they instantly became friends because of their common love for the arts. They eventually create a religion, or cult, that worships movie icons as saints, simply called "The Fourth World". Their relationship eventually gets too intense, so intense that the parents eventually see the unhealthiness of their relationship. They try to intervene and stop things before they start, but they still see each other. Now, they really go off the deep end when Juliet, due to her bad case of tuberculosis, she may have had to go to South Africa for her health. Both Pauline and Juliet are beside themselves when they hear this news. So they decide that they want to go to America, leave their parents, and become stars. Honora shoots down this idea in the end. Pauline eventually realizes that her mom was the only thing in her way from happiness. So, Pauline and Juliet plan to kill her. They go with her to a party and go on a walk with her while at the party. They go down a path down into the forest, where no one will see. When the are far into the forest they decide to turn back. Juliet distracts Honora by dropping a pick stone. She bends over and, from behind, Pauline has a syocking filled with a brick at the ready. Then she bashes her over the head and keeps beating her, while tears trickle down her face. They both have a turn beating the hell out of her. Then a montage begins that jumps in sequence with the beating scene. The montage is of Juliet leaving on a ship to South Africa while Pauline watches here leave, unable to do anything. This entire sequence was meant to say that after they did what they set out to do, they get the very opposite of what they want. It, in many ways, is an ironic ending.

This movie i thought was very good in terms of the story and how much we see Jackson's style in it. The story i believe would have other people who have lived through the story in New Zealand would probably not like it because they may have personally known the murderers. However, when I saw this film, i saw that the movie may have been about the murder, but, in reality, as Jackson said, it focused a lot on a friendship that was destined to end violently. One thing about Jackson's filming style in this movie, and mostly every movie he does was his use of close-ups and/or zooming into close-ups to show the different emotions of the characters. Most of the time we see these types of shots with Pauline because she seems to be the more disturbed out of the two. Another scene I absolutely got chills over was the lat scene of Juliet leaving Pauline behind, and while that is playing, they show shots of them killing Honora. The entire scene showed true finesse with the use of cross cuts and cutaways. That sequence i think is one of the greatest sequences in recent film. Another thing about this movie that was typical Jackson was the cameo he always appears in his movies. In this one, he was the homeless man that they kissed as they were leaving the movie theater. Another thing i noticed was the music played in this film. Most of it was opera music by the tenor they talked about so much, Mario Lanza, and coincidentally, most of them were love songs. Most of the time when that music plays was when the girls seemed to have enjoyed life the most, and when they were "In the Fourth World". Also, one thing that i thought was cool was then some suspenseful and eerie music played when Orson Welles was shown in the picture, because that was what he was most known for.

My overall aspect on this film is that this film is one of the strangest and suspenseful films I have ever seen. Compared to some of the other films Peter Jackson has done like Lord of the Rings 1-3 is that he always likes to inform the audience of a little background information before the movie starts. The documentary in the beginning of Heavenly Creatures was meant to tell us that the town that this film is taking place in is a peaceful, unnoticeable town, until the Parker/Hulme murder takes place that completely shocks the nation and gives New Zealand a new look in the world.I also look at a specific theme when i see this movie: crime doesn't pay. If you commit the crime, you have to pay the consequences.