Rating: 
Summary: The real hero is actually the viewer...
Review: If you manage to heroically yawn your way through the first, mmm, one hour of this film, and if you manage to dissillusion yourself into caring about any of the characters you see, you might actually not consider watching this a complete waste of time. But you'd still be painfully close to it.. Peter Jackson does some gracious wasting of celluloid by showing us ethereal dancing scenes that contribute zilch to the plot. Whenever he runs out of choreography he throws in some hallucinatory visuals hoping this will distract ya from asking "hey, dude, where's my movie?", but, nonetheless "Heavenly creatures" remains a draggy affair with only one huge positive: it only lasts a merciful one and a half hour..
Now, this is not to say that the story actually implied in this film is not good. I'm sure that in real life (this is based on a true story) these two female characters were indeed tremendously interesting and brave for defying the "morals" of the tragically puritan society they lived in. And I'm positive in thinking that their homosexual affair did stir the murky waters of their ultra-conservative environs. I'm also quite sure that their story, their real life story, was definately worth narrating and even filming.
However, we'll have to wait patiently on, until someone else, with less tendencies for the pointlessly absurd and abstract, refilms this. Because what Lord of the Yawns-director has done here was not worth the sleep i fought not falling into..
Unless you're a total beginner in the sport of film-viewing, i advise ya to try something else. If however, you tend to be easily impressed, then this might do it for ya.
Rating: 
Summary: Peter Jackson was Brilliant prior to LOTR! Wow!!
Review: What a shock it was when I learned Peter Jackson of LOTR directed this movie!
This is a very rare film indeed...it has never left my mind even after so many years. That is quite a feat when you consider the amount of "stories" we see.
Others have explained the story. I can only agree it is a movie that will "stick to your ribs" as mother used to say! I more than highly recommend it. Trust me on this one and I am not easily impressed by "hollywood" nit-wits.
I thought Jackson was wonderful with LOTR but I have an even higher respect now that I know he helmed Heavenly Creatures (one of my very favorites!). Not to forget the huge talents of his partner in crime FRAN WALSH.
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Summary: Peter Jackson's captivating murder story with no villains
Review: For those who wondered how the director of "Bad Taste" and "Brain Dead" got to direct "The Lord of the Rings," this 1994 film from director Peter Jackson supplies the answer. In 1954 two teenage girls brutally murdered one of the their mothers in what must be the most sensational murder in New Zealand history. "Heavenly Creatures" tells the strange story of these two girls and their unique relationship. If you think this is just a reality based splatter flick, then you are going to be much more than surprised and impressed by what Jackson has accomplished.
Pauline Rieper (Melanie Lynskey) is a simple and rather dull young girl who is totally dazzled when Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) enters her life. Juliet is impressed as well, because Pauline has a scar on her leg from an operation. Juliet declares that: "All the best people have had chest and bone disease! It's all frightfully romantic!" Eventually both the romance and the frightfullness of it all reaches a tragic conclusion. In their all consuming friendship Juliet and Pauline create a "Fourth World," better than heaven (because it has no Christians), inhabited by the clay figures they have fashioned to represents their friends and where the music of Mario Lanza, the greatest tenor on earth, is always in the air.
Jackson brings this fantasy world alive, which allows him to explore the pivotal theme of juxtaposition throughout the film. This comes into play most notably at the beginning and ending of "Heavenly Clouds." Jackson begins with a 1950s newsreel about Christchurch, New Zealand, which is interrupted by the appearance of the two screaming and bloodied girls, thereby symbolizing the way this sensational case shocked the nation. Even more effective is the film's conclusion, where the murder is inter-cut with what the girls think will happen if they do not find this way of saving themselves.
With any film based on historical events there are omissions, alterations, substitutions, and the like, and "Heavenly Creatures" is no different. On the plus side of the ledger Jackson attempted an almost morbid verisimilitude. Almost all of the locations used for filming were the real locations where events occurred, including the tea shop where Honora Parker ate her last meal, which was torn down a few days after the shooting ended. However, the cast and crew found the actual murder scene uncomfortable and moved further down the path. All of the journal voice-overs come directly from Pauline's diary, as are the characters in the girls' make-believe world. However, since the two filled up fifteen notebooks and hundreds of letters devoted to their fantasies, the movie actually underplays these elements.
However, having familiarized myself somewhat with the actual "facts" of the case, and the recollections of the woman one of the girls grew up to be, the key point of dispute is the motive. But if Jackson is guilty of becoming fixated on the idea that these two young girl committed a murder because they could not bear to be separated and have their fantasy world unravel, then he can be hardly faulted for finding that a fascinating interpretation of the evidence (the girls never testified or were examined in court, but Pauline's diary was seen as providing all the answers). More importantly, Jackson does not seem guilty of taking liberties, merely with offering a valid interpretation of the evidence. For example, the murder sequence greatly reduces the number of blows, but the effect is still horrific, so it seems trivial to complain about any inaccuracy.
From an artistic standpoint his interpretation is more than justified, especially at the end. In addition to the information we receive between the final scene and the closing credits that tells what happened to Pauline and Juliet, Marzio Lanza sings "You'll Never Walk Alone," which is as perfect a choice of a song to play at the end of a film as you will ever hear, forcefully underscoring the film's thesis. Jackson says this is "a murder story about love, a murder story with no villains," and it is hard to argue with this idea after watching his film.
"Heavenly Creatures" received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Jackson and Frances Walsh. The film won every award for which it was nominated in the New Zealand Film and TV Awards, including Best Actress for Lynskey and Best Foreign Performer for Winslet (both of whom were perfectly suited for those roles), and earned film festival awards in Venice and Toronto. This is a striking and unforgettable film, both creative and thoughtful. Those who are drawn to it because it was directed by Peter Jackson might be shocked by the subject matter, but they will not be disappointed with the results.
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Summary: Words can't describe...
Review: This is probably the most brilliant, original, disturbing film I've seen in a long long time. I can't get it out of my head. This film and story are so beautiful, the characters so richly developed, their fantasy world of Borovnia so exquisite. It's the most violent, chilling chick flick I've ever seen. (And I thought Thelma and Louise were kick ass, oh brother!!!)
Only the minds of two disturbed semi-genius teenaged girls could create something as wonderful and dreadful as the story told in HEAVENLY CREATURES. Their world begins quite innocently, as a novel about a kingdom called Borovnia, with noble characters such as Charles and Deborah, and their renegade child Diello. Soon, you realize that their dissatisfaction with "real" life is dissolving into an escape into Borovnia, where Mario Lanza sings his beautiful songs, and where the two girls twirl about in beautiful ball gowns, while Diello slaughters anybody who dares to infringe upon their happiness.
The narration of the diary entries made by Pauline are in the exact words the real Pauline wrote. Very chilling. "We realized we had the key to the fourth world on the day of the death of Christ." Whoa!
You will never meet two characters quite like Pauline and Juliet in any other movie. You can't believe they do what they do, but you also route for them because you have come to love them.
I am kind of glad they are both doing well to this day. Yes what they did was outrageous, but I can't help but "get" why they did it and I'm convinced they were indeed insane at that time, because their escape into the fantasy world was so deep.
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing movie, made with a delicate touch
Review: Heavenly Creatures is a dark tale of two very disturbed young women, a showcase of their intense bond and their slow tip over the edge. Together they create a fantasy world which soon outpaces their dull and often oppressive reality (New Zealand in the '50s). Peter Jackson shows respect for their fantasies and handles their relationship with a surprising delicacy, all the while leading us down the dark path to evil: a brutal murder in cold blood. Kate Winslet provides a believable if somewhat smug interpretation; Melanie Lynskey's characterization is a bit one-sided; but they work well together. Their relationship drives the movie, which regardless of your opinion of it will stick in your head for some time.
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Summary: Mind-boggling!!
Review: After reading so much about this film, I knew I had to see it. And two weeks later, I'm still trying to make sense of it all. Which though difficult to do, shouldn't stop anybody from experiencing this great piece of cinema.
For starters, the story is enough to disturb anybody. Two prim and naive school-girls in 1950's New Zealand commit the unthinkable: the murder of one their mothers. And what drives them to such a horror? A pathology which Peter Jackson's film does its best to uncover. Two rebellious and confused teenagers suffer neglect at home and at school and in reaction create a special fantasy land of charming opera-star princes and giant butterflies, where pain and rejection are unheard of. But behind all the escapism, lies a mighty thorn in the sides of both girls: the need for love and acceptance which is not forthcoming from either family. One girls' mother ignores her motherly instincts for the sake of her own pleasures, while the other seems to only nag and complain. While not enough to explain such a senseless murder, Jackson gives us something to think about.
As their make-believe world spins out of control, the girls form an excessive emotional bond that eventually leads to obsession with each other. True love or blind dependency? The girls really never have the chance to find out, as their parents suspect....horrors!..'unnatural tendencies' at work in their heavenly creatures. The parents plan to break up the girls' relationship by splitting them up. In retaliation, the girls make a desparate attempt to protect their world and their 'love'.....but with less-than heavenly consequences.
What makes this film a must-see five starer is the quality of the acting in it. Especially that of Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey. Their performances as infatuated school-girls is so believable that one almost forgets that it's....just a film. Gives you that necessary 'suspense of disbelief' that is the stuff of 'drama.' Winslet and Lynskey breathe and sweat their parts. While Winslet is definitely the star with her character's hysterical pyrotechnics, Lynskey's performance, albeit understated, is equally fine stuff. She seethes with a ferocious energy, just waiting to burst.
Not only is the acting stellar, but Jackson's direction is also first rate. How he manages to mix the 'real world' with that of the girls' fantasy land is nothing but pure craftsmanship. I loved how in the beginning he lures you into a false sense of comfort by opening with reels of 1950-ish documentary material and then abruptly shatters everything with the screaming, bloody-faced girls rampaging up the mountain. Shocks you out of your socks. As does the ending. I found it almost too difficult to watch. Winslet was masterful as she struggles to stay focused on their grim task. Her face says everything.....should we or shouldn't we....as she appears to have doubts.....or then again, maybe not....
Strong stuff. Not for those who like cinema-lite. But for those who liked to be shocked and or confused so as to better understand their fellow heavenly creatures.....then take a peek at this one.
Rating:
Summary: Heavenly Movie
Review: I watched this film because I enjoyed FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and TWO TOWERS and think that Peter Jackson is a talented director. I wanted to see more of his work in another genre.
HEAVENLY CREATURES is a wonderful and complex film. Jackson (and cowriter Fran Walsh) takes what could be a salacious story (homosexuality, sex, and murder) and makes an amazingly surreal and touching film. After the shootings in Columbine and other dastardly acts - including the two real-life New Zealand girls who are the subject of this story - Jackson gets into the state of mind of the youth. The two New Zealand girls (played by Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey) are too consumed by their fantasy world to know right from wrong. They are young and confused and their best recourse is their imaginations (incredible sequences with life-size clay people!).
Jackson has created a very theatrical world in HEAVENLY CREATURES. There are some hilarious filmatic references (including some funny bits about Orson Wells). The characters are complex, though. Jackson and Walsh made me understand WHY the girls chose to do what they did -- which doesn't make it right. But the film makes no moral judgment (which I appreciate!), it only tells the girls' story.
The DVD looks very good, with an excellent transfer of the film (although I noticed some scratches running down the right side of the frame in the early scenes!).
I'm glad I finally saw HEAVENLY CREATURES. I'm convinced Peter Jackson is one of our best directors around.
Rating:
Summary: "Come with me..."
Review: "How can these heavenly creatures be real?" asks Pauline in one scene of "Heavenly Creatures," the exquisite and horrifying docudrama of a real-life murder in New Zealand. Peter Jackson uses spectacular special effect, great actors, and outstanding direction to show us how these heavenly creatures became monsters.
In 1952, Pauline Parker (Melanie Lynskey) is a loner at her proper New Zealand school, until the day Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) arrives -- an intelligent, witty, daring girl who appeals to Pauline. They share a love of the arts, writing, sculpting, drawing, fantasy, and tenor Mario Lanza. Soon the two of them are nearly inseparable, spinning their fantastical tales of castles, knights, unicorns and beautiful ladies. (The foremost ladies, Deborah and Gina, are modelled on themselves) Even Juliet's four month stint in the hospital doesn't separate the girls through their letters and shared fantasies. But soon Juliet's father (Clive Merrison) becomes concerned that their close friendship is "unhealthy." It is, but not just in the way he thinks.
The two girls' emotional attachment has turned incredibly intense, so that they barely think of anyone but each other, and the fantasy stories begin to seep into reality for them . Pauline drops out of school and stops talking to her parents; Juliet learns that her mother is sleeping with one of her clients, and that her parents are divorcing. Now she's being sent to South Africa, and there is no telling when she will see Pauline again. Unless they do something about their parents so that they can stay together... such as murder.
Peter Jackson kicks off "Heavenly Creatures" by emphasizing what a beautiful, in most ways peaceful country (via a cheesy 1950s documentary). But he rapidly shows that beauty is not everything -- the complex and beautiful fantasy land of Borovnia has a sort of amorality in its stories, that reflects the girls' own minds. Their mothers are problematic -- one is selfish, the other is controlling -- but the girls begin to see them as mere obstacles to be dealt with. Jackson doesn't just show what the two did, but showed why they did it. But even then, he doesn't sugarcoat anything.
Melanie Lynskey is excellent as Pauline; she has something of the look of both a child and a woman, switching between smiles and sullenness, depending on who she's speaking to. And the luminous Kate Winslet plays the somewhat devil-may-care Juliet, whose vivacity and charm overrule any of Pauline's reservations. "It's everyone else who's bonkers!" she says gleefully when Pauline casts doubt on her own sanity. The supporting actors are also good, especially Clive Merrison and Honora Peirse as Juliet's dad and Pauline's mom, who are both concerned about their children.
The dialogue is outstanding, both chilling and simple ("Our main idea for the day was to murder Mother"; "we decided to use a rock in a stocking, rather than a sandbag..."). And Richard Taylor's handling of the CGI and prosthetics is oustanding. One particularly vivid scene has a hillside transforming into an exquisite garden. And nobody except Peter Jackson could have pulled off the idea of including living clay figurines or four-foot-wide butterflies, but somehow it not only works, but adds to the surreality of the story. Jackson's unique camerawork is here as well; if you enjoy his swooping shots and close-ups, then this will be a treat to watch.
There is some sexual content, including Pauline in bed with a young man, and the two girls in bed with each other (where they envision the other as the guy they desire -- a very creepy scene). The DVD is pretty bare-bones, unfortunately, without a "making of" or director's commentary. There are some trailers for other movies, and the trailer for this one as well. (Which is not so amazing because it wobbles a little as it played)
While Juliet went on to become bestselling murder mystery writer Anne Perry, no one is entirely certain what happened to Pauline. This movie is frighteningly vivid, beautifully made, and exquisitely directed, destined to be a modern classic.
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Summary: Mario Lanza Featured Prominently In This Film!
Review: I would like to discuss a movie we enjoyed last night that has a strong tie-in with Mario Lanza, namely the 1994 film set in New Zealand,"Heavenly Creatures". This is based on the true story of two adolescent girls who become best friends and eventually develop an obsession with each other while living in the fantasy world they create. They worship Mario Lanza, the man and his music, and throughout the film the viewer is treated to many fine songs and Lanza visuals. First you hear "Be My Love" as Pauliine plays it on her parent's Hi-Fi (this was 1952..no stereo yet!). (Inaccuracy: she pulls the black labelled LP out of the famous red Student Prince cover!) Later, they find "Cavalcade of Show Tunes" at Juliet's house and another black label record falls onto the turntable playing the first cut of "Donkey Serenade". (Inaccuracy..wrong song!) Still later, there is a delightful sequence involving dancing and romping the countryside to "Funiculi, Funicula". (Innacuracy: he hadn't recorded this cut from the Mario! album yet) Then a young man dressed like Lanza in Great Caruso lip syncs to "Loveliest Night of the Year". We see photos of Mario hanging in the girls' bedrooms, see large poster of "Great Caruso", and even see a life sized animated singing clay Mario. Also, there are many references to Lanza throughout..."the greatest tenor in the world", etc.! Great funny line from a father, who says: "Mari O'Lanza...an Irishman, not an Italian". Mario sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the end credits.
The British film is wonderfully photographed and has brilliant directorial touches from Peter Jackson. It's an enjoyable movie, but deals with serious issues as murder, lesbianism, etc., and consequently feels rather odd.
The quality of the sound is excellent on the DVD with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. The picture quality is also excellent and is especially appealing in widescreen. Hope anyone interested gets to enjoy it as well!
