A little-known gem! (Heavenly Creatures (DVD))

Member Name: l-m-n-o-p

Product:	Heavenly Creatures (DVD)
Date:	19/06/07 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great acting and intriguing storyline

Disadvantages: Some of the special effects look dated

Based on a true story, Heavenly Creatures marks a remarkable switch in tone for director Peter Jackson, after his previous films, Braindead and Bad Taste. It kind of bridges the gap between these ultra-low budget, gory films, and his classy LOTR trilogy.

It tells the story of two teenage girls in 1950s New Zealand – Pauline (played by Melanie Lynskey, from “Two and a Half Men”, amongst other things), who is sulky and unhappy at school, and Juliet (the then-newcomer Kate Winslet), a lively English girl who arrives on the scene and causes a stir by doing what she wants rather than what she’s told to do.

Naturally, the pair get on perfectly together, and begin to spend more and more time with each other at the expense of their families. They escape their problems by entering an imaginary world, in which Juliet is the Queen, and giant clay figurines go around killing people.

As their bond becomes closer and their friendship develops into something more, their parents begin to notice a change in their behaviour, and decide that action must be taken – to split them apart. However, little do they know the dark thoughts that are going on in the teens’ heads…

It’s hard to describe Heavenly Creatures, because it’s a very strange film. The switch in tone is enormous, but very well handled by Peter Jackson. He lets us know from the opening scene that the film will have a dark side, since we see the girls running through trees, covered in blood. However, from here, we are sent into a seemingly light-hearted tale, full of energy and life, and with plenty of humorous parts. But the increasing focus on the girls’ imaginary world smoothly leads us into strange, almost disturbing territory, before progressing to an ending which is violent and difficult to watch.

It’s a credit to Jackson, and all the actors involved, that they are able to pull this off convincingly. Melanie Lynskey is great as Pauline, the narrative voice of the film (the film is based on the character’s real life diary entries). Like I said, she’s very sulky to begin with, and you always get the sense that there’s something a little odd about her, but she wins your support.

More impressive though is Kate Winslet. She’s a joy to watch in the first half of the film; full of charm and energy, and with that posh English accent of hers, she’s also very funny. Just like in Braindead, there’s something about 1950s New Zealand that really brings out the comedy side of characters, and although you wouldn’t guess it from LOTR and King Kong, Jackson definitely has a playful, quirky and very funny side to him.

But just like Pauline, Juliet also becomes more and more disturbed and manipulative, and you gradually lose sympathy. Not in a bad way… I‘m sure that was the film's intention.

Visually it’s quite interesting too, with its evocative period style, and some excellent prosthetic costumes for the scenes with the giant clay figures. There’s also a bit of imaginative CGI, although by today’s standards it looks a bit ropey.

Jackson can’t resist a bit of violence, but unlike Braindead, in this film it’s not at all done in a light-hearted way. There’s a scene of violence in this that is really powerfully executed, because it comes at the end of a very tense period, and then it’s shockingly brutal.

Overall, I’m extremely surprised that Heavenly Creatures isn’t more widely known. It was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, but I’d never heard of it until I happened to read about it whilst looking at Peter Jackson’s résumé. It has fantastic performances and an intriguing storyline, and it’s very well directed.

I realise that I probably haven’t described the film particularly well, but it’s one that you have to watch for yourselves. I wouldn’t be doing it justice to say much more about it, and I think the less you know, the more this film will surprise you.

By parts hilarious, intelligent, bizarre and disturbing, I was seriously impressed.
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Heavenly Creatures is really difficult to find actually; your best and cheapest bet is ebay. Or they might show it on Film4 again sometime (that's how I watched it).

I’m reviewing the film only, not the DVD.

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Starring:

Melanie Lynskey … Pauline Rieper
Kate Winslet … Juliet Hulme
Sarah Peirse … Honorah Rieper
Diana Kent … Hilda Hulme
Elizabeth Moody … Miss Waller

Classification: 18 (violence and sexual content)

Running time: 110 minutes

My rating: 5 stars

Summary: Why did I not know about this before?!