Heavenly Creatures
| Heavenly Creatures | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Peter Jackson |
| Produced by | Jim Booth Peter Jackson |
| Written by |
Fran Walsh Peter Jackson |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Peter Dasent |
| Cinematography | Alun Bollinger |
| Edited by | Jamie Selkirk |
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Production
company |
WingNut Films
New Zealand Film Commission |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes 109 minutes (Director's cut) |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million (est.) |
| Box office | $5,438,120 |
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 obsessive 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.
In 1950s Christchurch, New Zealand, a 14-year-old girl from a working-class family, Pauline Parker (Lynskey), befriends the more affluent English 15-year-old Juliet Hulme (Winslet) when Juliet transfers to Pauline's school. They bond over a shared history of severe childhood disease and isolating hospitalizations, and over time develop an intense friendship. Pauline admires Juliet's outspoken arrogance and beauty. Together they paint, write stories, make Plasticine figurines, and eventually create a fantasy kingdom called Borovnia. It is the setting of the adventure novels they write together, which they hope to have published and eventually made into films in Hollywood. Over time it begins to be as real to them as the real world. Pauline's relationship with her mother, Honora, becomes increasingly hostile and the two fight constantly. This angry atmosphere is in contrast to the peaceful intellectual life Juliet shares with her family. Pauline spends most of her time at the Hulmes', where she feels accepted. Juliet introduces Pauline to the idea of "the Fourth World", a Heaven without Christians where music and art are celebrated. Juliet believes she will go there when she dies. Certain actors and musicians are "saints" in this afterlife.
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Wikipedia