Line #72 Film/HeavenlyCreatures


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heavenly_creatures.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:310:''"'Tis indeed a miracle, one must feel, that two such heavenly creatures are real."'']]
3
4	''Heavenly Creatures'' is a 1994 drama film directed and co-written by Creator/PeterJackson and starring Creator/KateWinslet and Creator/MelanieLynskey in their film debuts.
5
6	Set in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the early 1950s, the story is {{narrat\|or}}ed by [[TeensAreMonsters 14-year-old]] Pauline Parker (Lynskey) through her diary entries.
7
8	Pauline is [[AloofDarkHairedGirl a bright, imaginative, but gloomy girl,]] traits that set her apart from her salt-of-the-earth working-class parents and run-of-the-mill schoolmates. Enter [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Juliet]] Hulme (Winslet), a NewTransferStudent from England, born to [[TheBeautifulElite a wealthy, glamorous, intellectual family]] – everything that Pauline dreams of for herself.
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10	Bonding over their shared traits – childhood ailments, feelings of superiority and loneliness, an [[WorldBuilding imaginary fantasy kingdom]] – Pauline and Juliet quickly become inseparable. Both their fantasies and their friendship sustain the girls during a tumultuous year in which Pauline's already [[ToughLove rocky relationship]] with her mother steadily declines, Juliet's [[IncurableCoughOfDeath health issues]] threaten her life, and the Hulmes' marriage teeters on the brink of divorce. With their worlds falling apart around them, Pauline and Juliet begin to withdraw not only from their families, but from reality itself, retreating into fantasies in which they escape to [[ImagineSpot The Fourth World]], a PersonalizedAfterlife of "music, art, and pure enjoyment" occupied by their hand-selected "saints" and accessible to only an elite few [[TitleDrop "heavenly creatures"]] – such as themselves.
11
12	Alarmed by the changes that the intense friendship has wrought on their daughters, the girls' parents agree it would be best to separate them, with Pauline's mother appearing to be the ringleader behind the decision. Juliet will be sent to live with relatives in South Africa, while Pauline, unable to obtain a passport without her parents' consent, will be left behind. But on the eve of Juliet's departure, Pauline comes up with [[{{Matricide}} the perfect plan for the girls to stay together.]]
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14	BasedOnATrueStory. Weird trivia note: the real Juliet Hulme later achieved international fame as [[Literature/TheCharlotteAndThomasPittSeries best-selling mystery novelist Anne Perry.]]
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16	----
17	!!Provides Examples Of:
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19	%% * AcheyScars: Pauline has a huge scar on her leg; Juliet's ''are on her lungs.''
20	* AdaptationalHeroism: Although she is rightfully portrayed as the undeserving victim of a terrible betrayal and murder, Honorah's more unreasonable aspects are toned down for the film; in real life she pulled Pauline out of school because she thought it was giving her ideas above her station rather than because she was concerned for her.
21	* AdaptationDistillation: Of the girls' fantasy realms. In real life, Pauline wrote as the ruler of her own fictional kingdom of Volumnia, while Juliet's kingdom was Borovnia. Likewise each kingdom had a tyrannical, murderous heir of the realm: Princess Marioli for Volumnia and Prince Diello for Borovnia (with Marioli being the more sadistic and dominant of the two). The film condenses this down to the single kingdom of Borovnia and makes Diello the primary baddie.
22	* AdaptedOut:
23	** Pauline's younger sister Rosemary. Rosemary had Down's Syndrome and lived apart from the family in a state institution, as did many such children at the time. ''Unlike'' most institutionalized children, however, Rosemary was still very much a part of the family: the family travelled to see her almost every weekend and frequently took her home for extended visits.[[note]]For what it's worth, Pauline was said to be especially close to Rosemary, which might have influenced her decision to work with disabled children as an adult.[[/note]] Likely she was Adapted Out because it would have required explaining why a young child kept disappearing and reappearing throughout the film, a narrative thread that might have distracted from the main story. Even a casual mention of "we're going to see Rosemary on Saturday" would seem like a throwaway line without more context.
24	** People watching the film might not even realize that Pauline's maternal grandmother (the "Nana Parker" who told her about Honorah running off with Pauline's father) lives with the family. She's the elderly woman visible in the background during the second Christmas scene, and in the "dinner table" sequence in the Director's Cut, she offers to break a wishbone with Pauline. While technically present, the film makes it seem she's only visiting for the holiday, not the part of daily life she really was.
25	* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Pauline seems to be relatively well-liked at her school and cordial with her family when the film begins, but withdraws as her friendship with Juliet intensifies.
26	* AntiEscapismAesop: The movie involves two girls escaping from the harsh reality they live in by creating an imaginary kingdom - this trope comes into effect when one of the girls starts showing signs of insanity and becomes more and more obsessed with the imaginary world to the extent of everything else. Even her parents' lives. But the girls are also obsessed with being together in reality. This is a pretty significant divergence from the events the movie was based on, as such claims were part of an InsanityDefense that was pretty quickly rejected (more like demolished, accompanied by ridicule from the prosecution. The girls' own statements and writings proved that they knew exactly what they were doing and that it was morally and legally wrong, just felt it was justified under the circumstances).
27	* BathtubBonding: The girls frequently bathe together and are shown chatting from opposite ends of an enormous clawfoot bathtub. [[spoiler: (The subject they're bonding over is murder.)]]
28	* BigFancyHouse: Ilam, home of the Hulmes. It's huge, beautifully furnished and elegant with vast gardens and grounds.
29	* BloodFromTheMouth:
30	** Juliet has tuberculosis and she starts coughing blood at school.
31	** One patient at the place where Juliet is
32	* TheCameo: The homeless guy Juliet hugs towards the beginning of the movie when she and Pauline are running out of the theater in joy is Peter Jackson.
33	* ChekhovsGun:
34	** The movie's first glimpse of Pauline is a shot of her [[StockingFiller hastily tugging her stocking up her thigh]] as she hurries to school. [[spoiler:In the final scene, the same stocking, now loaded with a brick, is used to bludgeon her mother.]]
35	** The ring with a pink jewel in the middle that first shows up in an ImagineSpot is what the girls use to distract Honora so they can attack her.
36	%% * ChewingTheScenery: Kate Winslet goes into this area every now and again.
37	* {{Chuunibyou}}: The two girls' delusions of The Fourth World and their alternate personae there can be interpreted as a particularly dark case of Chuunibyou, years before the term was coined in Japan.
38	* ClosetKey: The introduction of Juliet. Not only do her personality and interests perfectly compliment Pauline's, but she is also constantly shot in a romantic/idealised way, never more so than when Pauline visits her house for the first time. Whatever the true story was, the film frames it as a love story between Pauline and Juliet- and Juliet is most certainly the Closet Key.
39	* ComicBookFantasyCasting: In-universe, murderous and violent Prince Diello resembles Creator/OrsonWelles, whom Juliet vocally despises as a ugly, horrid man, and Pauline learns to fear after watching ''Film/TheThirdMan'', though he's clearly an erotic fascination for both of them: when Pauline mounts Juliet, they respectively imagine the other as Diello and Harry Lime.
40	* CommonalityConnection: Juliet and Pauline bond over their shared history of being sick. They are also both huge fans of the ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' adventure series.
41	* CompletelyOffTopicReport: The girls are assigned to write an essay on "The Role of the Royal Family Today". Juliet writes on the royal family of Borovnia, the fantasy realm she and Pauline created. Pauline comes to her defense by pointing out the assignment never specified which royals.
42	* CureYourGays: Pauline's therapist thinks that homosexuality, a terrible disease in his eyes, could be cured eventually.
43	-->'''Doctor Bennett:''' Chances are she'll grow out of it. If not... well, medical science is progressing in leaps and bounds. There could be a breakthrough at any time!
44	* DatingWhatDaddyHates: A variation, but when Pauline's parents are SlutShaming her for sleeping with John (when she actually had only cuddled with him), she retaliates by sneaking over to his house and making it official, whilst imagining she's actually in Borovnia reuniting with Diello and the rest of the royal family, including Juliet.
45	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Because the setting is the early 1950s, the Doctor and the parents talk about homosexuality like it's a horrible disease that must be cured as soon as possible.
46	* DidNotThinkThisThrough: The murder plot was just as poorly thought out as you'd expect from two teenage girls with [[SmugSnake delusions of grandeur]]. Their plan hinged on the (unbeknownst to them) very unlikely possibility that Honorah would die instantly from a blow to the back of the head. When this doesn't happen, they panic and kill her in such a brutal way that it's virtually impossible for the police to even consider any other hypothesis than murder. Even more egregious is the fact that Pauline wrote extensively about her plans and left the highly incriminating journal in plain sight in her room. The police waste no time in arresting and charging both of them.
47	* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: When the doctor tells Pauline's mother he has diagnosed Pauline with "homosexuality," he can barely get the word out.
48	* DoggedNiceGuy: John takes this to creepy levels when he climbs into Pauline's bed, then pressures her to have sex later, and then follows her train on a bike, screaming about how much he loves her. ValuesDissonance as back then this would just be considered cute teenage/young adult behaviour.
49	* TheDreaded: Creator/OrsonWelles... for some reason. Possibly because he had put on numerous nightmarish [[Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds radio drama]] and stage plays, including a version of ''Dracula'' with script taken straight from the book, Orson had quite the reputation among young women in this time period. You either thought he was fascinating and sexy, or -- the most hideous man alive. (Pauline is fascinated by him while Juliet can't stand looking at his photo.)
50	* EnfantTerrible: Prince Diello, the young heir to the rulers or Borovnia, is very murderous.
51	--> '''Deborah:''' Although only ten, Diello has so far killed fifty-seven people and shows no desire to stop. ''[[AndThatsTerrible It worries me, Charles!]]''
52	* EnglishRose: Juliet is a pretty, intelligent girl from England, born to a rich, glamorous, intellectual family. She has striking eyes, blond hair, peachy-pale complexion, bee-stung lips and visually fits the archetype very well. She's attached to her parents, is seen playing with her little brother and has an intense friendship with Pauline. She's occasionally too spirited and sometimes downright rude to teachers, which might be excused because she's a teenager, but later events subvert this trope entirely: English Rose can't be a murderer.
53	* FauxDocumentary: The "Visit Christchurch!" film that begins the movie. It looks and sounds like your typical 50's documentary.
54	* FeetFirstIntroduction: We are first introduced to the girls with a shot of their running feet [[spoiler: as they flee the murder]]. When the movie proper begins, our first view of Pauline is her feet as she hops a fence to get to school on time. The camera continues to focus on her hurrying feet, obscuring her face until she's on her way to assembly.
55	* ForYourOwnGood: Juliet is repeatedly told "it's for the good of your health" and sees it as an excuse for her parents abandoning her. She does a towering rant on this subject when Honorah uses the phrase. When her parents tell her they're not only leaving Christchurch for England but that ''she isn't going with them'', that they're going to ditch her in South Africa with an aunt, they give her the "for the good of your health" bullshit again and she lets out a frustrated, gut-wrenching scream.
56	-->'''Juliet:''' They sent me off to the Bahamas for the good of my health. They sent me to the Bay of bloody Islands ''for the good of my health!''
57	* HenpeckedHusband: Dr. Hulme, rector at Canterbury College and a distinguished professor, is submissive to his wife Hilda. She even moves her lover into their house.
58	* HistoricalBeautyUpgrade: Averted, surprisingly. Kate Winslet does in fact bear a striking resemblence to the young Juliet Hulme, while Creator/MelanieLynskey actually scales her attractiveness down to play Pauline.
59	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Pauline believes Dr. Hulme is working with the girls against Pauline's mother's plan to separate them, when he's the one who introduced the idea of keeping the girls apart.
60	* HotGypsyWoman: Gina, a gypsy girl from Borovnia. (In addition, many former schoolmates of the real Pauline described her as "gypsy-like," with black hair and flashing eyes. Small wonder Pauline chose Gina as her [[SelfInsertFic alter-ego]].)
61	* HowWeGotHere: The film opens with a blood-spattered Pauline and Juliet screaming at passersby for help, then flashes back to two years previous to show the events leading up to this moment.
62	* IHaveManyNames:
63	** Pauline Rieper, AKA Paul (for short), Charles (role-playing), Gina (another role-play character and briefly her preferred name), Yvonne (middle name/family nickname), [[spoiler: Pauline Parker, after it's discovered that her parents never married, and Hilary Nathan, after being released from prison]]. (Additionally, Pauline renames her lover from boring ol' John to Nicholas after yet another role-playing character who loves the fictional Gina.)
64	** Juliet Hulme, AKA Deborah ("Debórah," her role-playing name), Giulietta (Italian for "Juliet" and Pauline's romantic name for Juliet in her diary), Antoinette in French class (though In Real Life, she briefly insisted on being called this by her family), and [[spoiler: Anne, as the alias she used after she was released from prison]].
65	* ImagineSpot: The girls imagine very violent things happening to a sanctimonious priest, a smarmy child psychologist, and their parents. Other Imagine Spots have them visiting Borovnia, and they have a spiritual vision of the Fourth World (their version of heaven).
66	* IntimateHairbrushing: When Pauline is on a trip with Juliet and the Hulmes, Hilda brushes Pauline's hair who really enjoys the attention. Shortly after Hilda lovingly (though in a jest) calls Pauline her foster daughter. It's meant as a compliment to the girls' strong bond.
67	* InAWorld: Read ''and'' played with in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vUl-1FJ9E the trailer]], narrated by none other than Creator/DonLaFontaine.
68	* {{Irony}}:
69	** The girls concoct the scheme because they are desperate not to be separated--only for them to be arrested immediately, sent to different prisons, and "it was a condition of their release that they never meet again".[[note]]This is a load of bunkum, originally concocted by Juliet / Anne Perry. According to Peter Graham's account of the Parker-Hulme murder, ''So Brilliantly Clever'', "It has often been said, not least by Juliet Hulme herself, that a condition of the girls’ release was that they were to have no further communication. This was not so. The ''Sydney Sun-Herald'' quoted [Secretary for Justice] Barnett as saying, "Miss Hulme’s release is unconditional. . . . Miss Parker’s release is subject to general control as to her residence, employment and the like". Asked if the girls had been given, or been asked to give, an understanding to keep apart or refrain from corresponding, the secretary for justice said they had not been released on such a condition."[[/note]]
70	** When asked by police if his daughter kept a diary, Herbert Rieper directed them to where the diary was kept, unlocked and in plain sight on Pauline's desk. He stated that neither he nor his wife would ever read their child's diary as they considered that an unforgivable breach of privacy--a very honorable sentiment, particularly for parents in conservative Christchurch in the 1950s. Had they been a little less noble and a little more nosy, Honorah's death might have been prevented.
71	* KubrickStare: Pauline, ever the gloomy girl, keeps giving people (and the camera) the stink eye. She glowers at her parents, teachers, classmates or her doctor.
72	* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Dark-haired, shorter, curvier, dramatically pale Pauline in contrast to taller, slimmer, peachy-pale skinned blonde Juliet. Justified, as the actresses were chosen in part for their physical resemblance to their real-life counterparts.
73	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Both girls gradually come to embrace the idea that they are "mad" as they become more and more infatuated with each other--and their infatuation eventually drives them to murder.
74	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Juliet and Pauline accept the idea that they are "mad" as they become more and more infatuated with each other--and their infatuation and fear of being separated eventually drives them to murder. The common belief of the time was that homosexuality was a form of mental illness ''and'' a sign of low morals, thus being in love would mean that the girls were literally both "crazy" and "evil." Both sets of parents certainly take this belief to heart, and their interference unwittingly leads to tragedy.
75	* MadLove: Juliet and Pauline become madly in love and are devastated when they learn they are going to be separated. It manifests in their fantasy world: It even has its own banner that explodes in blood!
76	* MadeOfPlasticine: The Borovnians. ''Literally''. The girls create their characters from clay in their reality, and they look like that in their fantasy world as well. Those plasticine suits must have been hell to wear. There's a note in the credits: ''Special thanks to the brave Borovnian extras.''
77	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Juliet for Pauline, at least initially. (At times Juliet seems ''clinically'' manic, gushing effusively about her fantasies, posing dramatically, and possessed of boundless energy.)
78	* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Pauline thinks that murdering her mother will solve her and Juliet's problem and that without her mother's interference, she will be able to stay with Juliet.
79	--> '''Pauline''' (journal entry): Anger against Mother boiled up inside me, as it is she who is one of the main obstacles in my path. Suddenly, [[{{Matricide}}a means of ridding myself of this obstacle]] occurred to me.
80	* [[MrImagination Ms. Imagination]]: Both Pauline and Juliet by quite a bit.
81	* NewYearsResolution: Pauline starts 1953 with a resolution to be "more lenient" with others. By 1954, her resolution has darkened to "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may be dead."
82	* NiceGuy: In real life, Mr "Bloody Bill" Perry turned out to be this. He married Hilda, was very kind to Juliet, and soon adopted her, giving her his surname.
83	* OneGenderSchool: The girls attend Christchurch Girls High School, one of the oldest all-girls schools in New Zealand. It remains girls-only to this day.
84	* ParentalHypocrisy: When Mrs. Rieper chews out Pauline about sleeping with John and calls her a "cheap little tart", Pauline angrily retorts that she's no better, as Honorah ran away with Pauline's father (who abandoned the wife and children he already had) when she was only a little older than Pauline herself. Even more scandalous for the 50s, Mrs. Rieper actually never married Mr. Rieper.
85	* ParentsAsPeople:
86	** Despite being seen as a villain keeping her from Juliet, Pauline's mother really does seem to care about what is best for her daughter, but just doesn't know how to handle her. [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Pauline didn't make it easy for her.]]
87	** In the Director's Cut, stoic Dr. Hulme is shown curling up in an armchair and weeping like a child as he hears his wife and her lover laughing together in bed.
88	* ParentalNeglect: Juliet's parents left her alone in hospital for ''five years'' when she was first sick. Then in the film, when she's diagnosed with tuberculosis on her lungs, her parents simply leave her behind to go on a business trip (her father has a conference while her mother is accompanying him). Honorah had believed they'd cancelled the trip and is clearly bewildered by their decision.
89	* ParentalObliviousness:
90	** Pauline's father thinks the major concern is that the girls don't spend enough time out of doors in the fresh air--ironic, considering what actually happens when they finally go for a walk in the park.
91	** Both sets of parents are concerned that their daughters might be lesbians but they fail to see what is really wrong: it doesn't occur to them that they are so desperate that they begin plotting murder.
92	** Mrs. Hulme repeatedly insists that "it's all perfectly innocent" when her husband expresses concerns that the girls might be engaging in inappropriate behavior. (Views of lesbians and teen sexuality in the 1950s notwithstanding, a fifteen-year-old girl taking nude photos of herself with the intention of mailing them to Hollywood film producers really ''is'' a matter for parental intervention.)
93	* RealPersonCameo: One of the photos in Pauline's room is the real Juliet Hulme.
94	* ScreamingBirth: Juliet enacts one as Empress Deborah giving birth to Prince Diello ([[PillowPregnancy a cushion]]). Pauline is on hand as Emperor Charles assisting the delivery.
95	--> '''Charles:''' Deborah... we have a son -- and heir.
96	--> '''Deborah:''' I shall call him -- ''[[AHeroIsBorn Diello]]!''
97	* ShoutOut: The photo of Orson Welles that floats away on the river is a homage to a scene from ''Film/TheThirdMan''.
98	* ShownTheirWork:
99	** The entire film was shot on location in Christchurch, NZ. They even filmed where the actual murder took place. According to [=IMDb=], it became eerily quiet when they started shooting, so they moved up a few paces until things felt comfortable. That's the actual tea shop in the park; when filming was completed, the tea shop was torn down so that it wouldn't become a Graceland.
100	** Even the actual 1950's Christchurch Girls' High School was used, despite the school itself moving from the City Centre to Riccarton in 1986 and the building having become an art gallery. The building was later torn down after being damaged beyond repair in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
101	** Exterior shots of Ilam, the Hulmes' home, were filmed at the actual Ilam, including the scenes of Juliet singing on the balcony and greeting Pauline from the bridge. Ilam, once the Christchurch University Dean's residence, is now an events venue, but the exteriors and gardens have not changed much since the time of the murders.
102	* ShutUpHannibal: Pauline shuts up her mother who accuses her of having loose morals.
103	--> '''Honorah''': You're nothing but a cheap little tart!
104	-->'''Pauline''': Well I must take after you, then! ''(Honorah slaps her.)'' You ran off with Dad when you were only seventeen! Nana Parker told me!
105	* SiblingYinYang: While only peripherally involved in the story, short, stout, EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Pauline has a tall, blond, glamorous-looking sister.
106	* SockItToThem: The movie ends with a murder committed with a brick in a nylon stocking.
107	* StandardFantasySetting: Borovnia.
108	* TeensAreMonsters: Pauline and Juliet are fourteen and fifteen at the beginning of the film, sixteen and seventeen by the end. Together they plan and carry out a murder.
109	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Honorah's death. She's beaten with a brick stuffed in a stocking. Violent as it is, the film actually ''tones it down''.
110	* TitleDrop: Pauline's poem has the phrase "heavenly creatures".
111	-->''"'Tis indeed a miracle, one must feel,\
112	That two such heavenly creatures are real."''
113	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Juliet's mother, as mentioned by director Peter Jackson. He believes it's possible that Mrs. Hulmes told Juliet that Pauline could come with her to South Africa, but that she would need Mrs. Rieper's permission. Jackson believes Mrs. Hulmes knew that Mrs. Rieper would never consent, and so made the offer in order to not come out like the bad guy. Unfortunately, this led to Pauline seeing her mother as the only obstacle to a happy life with Juliet...
114	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory:
115	** In the film, Juliet is framed as the rich, popular blonde beauty and Pauline the dumpy, friendless outsider. In real life, however, ''Pauline'' was described as glamorous by classmates: a "proud beauty" "like a gypsy" with "flashing eyes that would just strike you dead." Far from being ostracized or withdrawn, Pauline was a clever, well-liked {{Tomboy}} who only became an outsider when she dropped all her old mates in favor of Juliet. In contrast, Juliet was considered a [[BritishStuffiness snooty Brit]] with a "perpetual cold" who [[PlayingSick exaggerated her symptoms]] for attention, and who was described as sickly and sallow, with a constant dour expression.[[note]]In fairness, all her former classmates also remember Juliet as beautifully dressed, and envied her for being allowed to put a blonde rinse on her hair--quite daring for a teen in the 1950s.[[/note]]
116	** Juliet's teachers fawned over her and overlooked a great deal of her disrespect and arrogance simply because she was English, wealthy, and the daughter of the college dean, as opposed to the film where teachers frequently call out her rude behavior.
117	** The "Letter from Old Stew" scene is more bunkum. Pauline was ''not'' failing English, but doing well in school and didn't want to leave. Honorah pulled her out because she felt the school was causing her to have pretensions/ambitions above her lowly working-class station. The letter, when it came, questioned Honorah's decision, and was signed not just by Miss Stewart but by Hilda Hulme, Juliet's mother, who was on the school board. Had Jackson stuck to the facts here, it would have gone a long way toward establishing Honorah's real character and Pauline's motive. Since he wanted to make Honorah nicer than she really was, the incident was rewritten to portray her as just a concerned mum.
118	** According to Juliet Helm, now named Anne Perry, although the relationship between the girls was obsessive, the two were never lesbian.
119	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Juliet's brother Jonty disappears about halfway through the film. His absence is never explained or remarked upon.[[note]]In Real Life, Jonty was away at school during much of this period.[[/note]]
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Context Film / HeavenlyCreatures