Heavenly Creatures
Short description
In 1950s Christchurch, New Zealand, two teenage girls form an intense friendship that becomes the centre of their lives. Pauline is withdrawn and Juliet is outgoing, and the two are drawn together by a shared appetite for fantasy and literature. Together they invent an elaborate imaginary kingdom, and their closeness soon alarms their families, who move to separate them. The girls resist, and the conflict between their private world and the adults determined to end it drives the story forward.
Based on a real case, the film follows the two friends through their obsessive bond and the pressure placed on it, without showing where events ultimately lead. Peter Jackson directed and wrote the screenplay with Fran Walsh, and Jim Booth produced. It is the fourth of the fifteen films Jackson has directed, arriving between Braindead and The Frighteners. Melanie Lynskey plays Pauline and Kate Winslet plays Juliet, with Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, Clive Merrison and Simon O'Connor among the 37 credited cast members.
Made for about 5 million US dollars, the film took roughly 3 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.2 out of 10 from around 71,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7 out of 10 from just over a thousand votes. A critics' rating of 8.3 out of 10 from 107 reviews places it noticeably higher than the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film that Juliette and Pauline are watching in the cinema is "The Third Man".
- In 1994, it was revealed that Juliette was the mystery novelist Anne Perry, working in the detective genre. She revealed her real name while the film was in production. Attempts to find Pauline Parker at the time were unsuccessful. It was only in 1997 that Parker was discovered in Kent, England, where she was teaching children to ride horses. Parker had taken the name Hilary Naten, became a devout Catholic, and dedicated herself to working with children with disabilities.
- Melanie Lynskey was cast as Pauline two weeks before the start of filming. At the very last moment, screenwriter Fran Walsh found Lynskey at one of the local schools. Lynskey was shown video of Kate Winslet’s audition (Winslet was to play Juliette, Lynskey’s character’s friend) and told: “You’ll have to act as well as she does.”
- The voice-over text uses content from Pauline's diary, which was played by Melanie Lynskey. The characters of the stories (as opposed to the stories themselves) and the fictional world are also taken from Pauline's diaries.
- The murder depicted in the film caused a sensation throughout New Zealand at the time, so director and screenwriter Peter Jackson decided to focus on the relationship between the characters played by Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet, rather than showing the actual events that preceded the crime. In addition to studying Pauline’s diary, the filmmakers organized searches throughout the country for anyone who had ever known Pauline and Juliet, and spoke with each person to better understand both girls.
- The film was shot in the vicinity of the town where the real events that formed the basis of the film took place. Only the murder scene was filmed within 100 yards of the actual crime scene.
- 175 young actresses auditioned for the role of Juliet, and the choice fell on 18-year-old Englishwoman Kate Winslet, who was previously known only for small roles in television films.
- Peter Jackson played a cameo role in the film: Kate Winslet's character kisses him, disguised as a homeless man passing by a cinema where the film's happy heroines have just exited.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
