classicsoncall
I didn't realize this was based on a true story until the end credits when the narrative followed up on the arrest of the two girls. Quite honestly, the story does proceed along as if it were a fictional one, as the obsessive relationship between Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliet (Kate Winslet) races headlong toward a disaster that doesn't feel quite real. Director Peter Jackson appears to step out of his comfort zone with this film, though a number of scenes portend the grand spectacle that was to become 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. I was particularly stunned by the the sight of the empty field that miraculously turned into a royal garden, at which point the picture took on an "Alice in Wonderland" like quality. The use of the clay-like characters further inspires one to reflect on the mythical world Pauline and Juliet placed themselves in at the expense of the real one around them. Their imaginary 'Fourth World', filled with music, art and beauty became a mask for the reality the girls refused to face when their relationship was about to come to an end. On the face of it, Jackson directs with an eye toward sensitivity and sympathy between Pauline and Juliet, though their horrible deed to culminate the story reveals just how tragic their obsession became despite the efforts of those around them who could not penetrate their mythical Fourth World.
Hannah Ewen (sourpatchbab)
Heavenly Creatures has everything you could ask for in a film: intense female friendship turned romantic, estrangement from others leading to unhealthy & fantastical escapes, loving parental figures, planned murder. With an added personality disorder, child-aged character, theme of societal satire, or suicide; this film would have topped my charts.First exposure was as always in form of The Simpsons; one of the few good modern episodes: Lisa The Drama Queen, where Lisa befriends a girl and together they create a fantasy world in order to escape everyday life. Another film to add to the ~dangerously intense relationships~ list.
leplatypus
This is really a particular movie as it's as much classic as iconoclast : the British education, the rebellious teen, the golden friendship, we have seen or read about these but friends turning into depressive « lovers » and next to criminals are really dramatic new tragedies. What's interesting with Jackson's approach is that he supports those girls, not giving them all the responsibility but rather describing a hard environment : fragile health, need for someone's compassion and out-of- this world dream ! For sure, Kate is really burning the screen as like nowadays she really opens her feelings like nobody else ! At last, we can only support Jackson's « patriotism » to shoot in his native country as New Zealand is indeed a beautiful land much unknown.
sharky_55
Kate Winslet is Juliet Hulme, a bright eyed schoolgirl with golden locks, a radiant smile, and a British accent that makes her stunningly exotic, or at least to the strictly Catholic New Zealand school. Melanie Lynskey is Pauline Parker, whose hair is almost as dark as her glare, and whom no doubt wishes she could exchange her thick New Zealand accent for something a bit striking and otherworldly. These are two girls who would not normally be drawn to each other, but because of medical conditions, find themselves a close friendship. Jackson indicates the blossoming of this by letting the debut actresses act, and be teenage girls; after the first conversation, Paul hurries home, dodging her mother's question to put on a new record - Mario Lanza, the world's greatest tenor, and her blissful reaction is all we need to know. They are both terrific performances and scream children instead of actresses reading lines in each little symptom of girls lost in their own worlds; the mocking tones in which Juliet mimics a 'friend' of her mother's, the way Paul drops her head into her hands whenever she is embarrassed by her father singing into a fish or her mother welcoming a boarder, how they skip together hand in hand and giggle and laugh endlessly in their own imagination. The visual effects, which are noticeably dated, seem to fit quite well with the context. When they first visualise the Fourth World, the mundane New Zealand is physically wiped away in swathes for the idyllic gardens and unicorns and giant butterflies, and a golden glow bathes their playtime. It does not look fluid or smooth, but transforms itself in the same way in which a child's mind unlocks little segments of their daydreams. The soundtrack tinkles along, Mario Lanza serenades, and the camera weaves and swoops its way through the air like the outstretched arms that they have exchanged for aeroplane wings, and swivels around in excitement. A show-tune could easily be dropped in here, and the whole scene could insert itself into Mary Poppins without a touch of difference. When they build a sandcastle, they lovingly craft intricate details and a storyline to match, and the camera makes itself tiny and matches each gallop of the sound design as it tours the majestic building, matching their vivid imagination. Only later, as the Fourth World leaks into the real, does the sound become more menacing; as irritations are beheaded and gutted for upsetting the creator. Aside from those bursts of imaginative violence (which all of us have had once in a while, even as adults - but this films takes it further), Jackson subtly imbues the real world with a haunting, suffocating quality, as if the girl's dreamland has begun to affect how they see reality, and how little they want to return to it. When a pastor offers up a pamphlet emblazoned with Jesus, there is a loud whoosh, dramatising how horrifying this confrontation must be, before a clay figure drags him away for execution. An extreme closeup likewise does the same to evil word the doctor theorises, a taboo back in the 50s. But I think it is much more than just physical love that they share; it is something much stronger. When Paul goes in search of the latter, the camera hovers over a backyard full of junk, and she is presented, climbed the railing, as some sort of prince to a Rapunzel, or a Romeo to a Juliet, in search of that romance in vain. That search leads her back to Juliet, who descends the staircase while the score crescendos in a gown and manner gracefully reminiscent of Cinderella, and Paul's face is awash with a sensual red glow. Harsh green light seems to constantly leak in through the windows, creating a sickly aura that seems to chase the girls and wind down the time they have together. When they are in separate beds, Selkirk hovers over the back of a nurse and smoothly connects the pair through their letters, and then the red and blue glows merge into each other so gorgeously, and they spend the night. All the while, Paul's diary voice-over narrates, and gives us insight into this relationship. It covers every thing from the childhood trivialities to the passionate moments, and is spoken with such a haughty distaste for the real and a wondrous longing for the imaginary. It almost seems normal and consequential when those shocking words are finally dropped: remove mother. This is the film's crowning achievement: to immerse us into Paul and Juliet's world, to make it so seductive, to make themselves so unconditionally necessary to each other, and then to slip in something so trivial, like murder. And it almost manages to convince us it is justified.
