Taglines: Not all angels are innocent.
Heavenly Creatures movie storyline. New Zealand, 1952. Fourteen-year-old Pauline Rieper (Melanie Lynskey) is a student at a strict all-girls high school in Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand. She resides with her working-class parents, Herbert and Honora (Simon O’Connor and Sarah Peirse), whose home doubles as a boarding house. Introverted Pauline sleeps in a small furnished hut in the yard.
Pauline’s life changes dramatically when she befriends wealthy British transfer student Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet), the daughter of a respected physicist. Pauline’s quiet nature is countered by Juliet’s charisma and outspokenness, and the girls quickly become inseparable. Juliet is unafraid of authority, impressing Pauline by fearlessly correcting their French teacher during class and by ignoring their art teacher’s instructions altogether.
They are also the only two girls in their class forbidden from taking part in gym activities, due to childhood battles with bone disease, on Pauline’s part, and lung disease on Juliet’s. They spend this class period bonding over their passions for music, art, film, and literature. They share a particular fondness for the music of popular tenor Mario Lanza, and for the actor James Mason.
Pauline is invited to visit Juliet at the Hulme home, a stately mansion on a sprawling property of woods and creeks. Juliet and her younger brother Jonathan (Ben Skjellerup) often dress up and play fantasy games in the fairy tale-like setting. Pauline is awed by the lifestyle of the Hulmes, but becomes a regular visitor as her friendship with Juliet grows. Juliet occasionally visits Pauline at her parents’ house, but Honora is nervous and uncomfortable with Juliet’s large personality, while Pauline is embarrassed by her father’s questions and silly comments.
Juliet and Pauline create a fantasy kingdom called Borovina, about which they write stories, create models of the characters, and eventually interact with each other as the invented king and queen, Charles (Pauline) and Deborah (Juliet). They also elaborate on Juliet’s theory of the afterlife, “the Fourth World,” where they believe their favorite film stars and musicians will be saints. The girls hope to one day become famous actresses in America, and to have their stories about Borovina published.
Pauline spends extensive time at the Hulme house with Juliet and her parents, Henry and Hilda (Clive Merrison and Diana Kent), and Juliet’s younger brother Jonathan (Ben Skjellerup), even joining them on vacations. During this time, Pauline sees the dysfunction that exists within the Hulme family. Juliet has a deep abandonment issues, stemming from her childhood when her parents left her in the Bahamas for five years to recover from a bout of illness. When Dr. and Mrs. Hulme mention they are planning a trip to London together, Juliet becomes very upset and channels her resentment into her relationship with Pauline, continuing to construct an alternate reality of bliss and hopefulness that becomes more and more real to both girls.
Shortly before her parents’ departure, Juliet contracts tuberculosis and is sent to a clinic for four months. At the beginning of her stay, her parents (somewhat reluctantly) tell her that it’s not too late to cancel their trip to London, if that’s what she wants, but they quickly change the subject and bid Juliet a brief goodbye. Juliet is miserable at being abandoned by her parents again, especially during another bout of illness, and remains angry until she is visited by Pauline and Honora. While Honora is anxious about Pauline becoming ill as well, the girls are overjoyed to see each other again. They continue to communicate via frequent letters detailing both their own thoughts and those of Charles and Deborah.
Heavenly Creatures is a 1994 New Zealand psychological drama directed by Peter Jackson, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his partner, Fran Walsh, about the notorious 1954 Parker–Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand. The film features Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet in their screen debuts with supporting roles by Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison, and Simon O’Connor. The main premise deals with the relationship between two teenage girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme who murder Parker’s mother. The events of the film cover the period from their meeting in 1952 to the murder in 1954.
The film opened in 1994 at the 51st Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion, and became one of the best-received films of the year. Reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular attention given to the performances by the previously unknown Winslet and Lynskey, as well as for Jackson’s directing. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Heavenly Creatures movie trailer.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison, Simon O’Connor, Jed Brophy, Geoffrey Heath, Elizabeth Moody, Liz Mullane
Screenplay by: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Production Design by: Grant Major
Cinematography by: Alun Bollinger
Film Editing by: Jamie Selkirk
Costume Design by: Ngila Dickson
Art Direction by: Jill Cormack
Music by: Peter Dasent
MPAA Rating: R for a chilling murder and some sexuality.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: November 15, 1004
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