Heavenly Creatures Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Heavenly Creatures Blu-ray Movie Review

Heaven and hell.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 2, 2011

The past year or so has been a banner twelve month period for Blu-ray fans of Peter Jackson. Not only have the Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Versions been released in high definition (albeit in some controversial transfers), at least a couple of Jackson’s pre-Lord of the Rings efforts, Dead Alive (AKA Braindead) and The Frighteners have also seen the Blu-ray light of day, letting fans get a good look at Jackson’s directorial evolution. Now one of Jackson’s most acclaimed earlier films, Heavenly Creatures, is arriving on Blu-ray, and a simple comparison between it and his previous film, the aforementioned Dead Alive, shows just how far Jackson had come in a scant two years. Now the two films are literally incomparable, the first being an over the top splatter-fest that’s downright silly and (again literally) dripping with blood and guts, while Heavenly Creatures is a more somber, albeit quite fanciful, evocation of one of the most celebrated murder cases ever to hit New Zealand. But on a purely technical level, Jackson’s directorial craft is so far evolved from the somewhat primitive levels of Dead Alive that it’s almost inconceivable that both films sprang from much the same creative crew, and of course from Jackson himself. While there are certainly issues, most of them dramatic, still on display in Heavenly Creatures, Jackson stages the film with a panache and flair far beyond the ken of Dead Alive, which still saw the director kind of feeling his way into an identifiable style. While Dead Alive had a lot of incredibly impressive moments, including that great “lawn’s eye” view of the mower which would later play such an important role in the film’s horrific climax, a lot of the staging in the film seemed overly precious and even pretentious. Heavenly Creatures is therefore probably arguably the first film of Jackson’s directorial maturity, and while it’s not perfect, it is often perfectly filmed, framed and tonally much more assured than any of Jackson’s prior pieces.

Jackson begins Heavenly Creatures with snippets from one of those old travelogue late forties-early fifties newsreels which paint impossible idyllic portraits of their subject cities, in this case Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch is shown to be a wonderland of gorgeous parks, gardens where toddlers happily scramble behind their lawn mowing fathers (there’s that lawn mower trope again—were there lawn mowers in Lord of the Rings?), and a peaceful and serene populace bikes around their mini-metropolis without a care in the world. The newsreel plays as an ironic “grown up” version of the fantasies which will soon erupt—and which Jackson portrays quite fancifully—between two teenage schoolgirls, Juliet (Kate Winslet) and Pauline (Melanie Lynskey). In 1953 conformity was the order of the day, probably nowhere more so than in the stultifying confines of a girls’ school, where conformity is actually dictated by imperious teachers and a Headmistress who tells her charges to “Sit!” as if they were errant dogs.

Juliet and Pauline bond almost immediately, due partially to the fact that both were quite sickly young children, both physically and emotionally scarred by their shared experience, but perhaps more importantly due to the fact that they both have unreasonably romantic and fantasy-laden psychological profiles. Both girls swoon to the music of Mario Lanza and they soon find themselves creating epic stories of a sort of Lord of the Rings-esque land filled with royalty and warring factions, though also populated by a bunch of goofy characters who are perhaps more reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s “off with their heads!” Queen.

Jackson portrays the increasing obsessive quality between the girls, though the film skirts a number of facts, hinting at (even outright depicting) some incipient lesbianism which the real life Juliet insists was never the case while never really making a cogent case for the increasing hysteria that ultimately leads the girls to plot and carry out one of the most notorious murders of the early fifties. Jackson and collaborator Fran Walsh do a fascinating job culling actual quotes from Pauline’s diaries (diaries which in fact led to her quick arrest after the murder) without really providing a convincing context for what ultimately pushed both of these girls over the edge to taking another human life.

Of course part of this story is that it really doesn’t make any sense. These were two girls who in Juliet’s case at least lived a fairly pampered existence, and who in Pauline’s case may not have had all the physical comforts of an opulent existence but who just as certainly wasn’t horribly abused or neglected either. Jackson attempts to distract us from this perhaps unsettling fact by repeatedly showing us the girl’s fantasy worlds, which literally erupt into “reality” and replace what’s actually there. It’s a compelling visual approach and it helps to show, albeit perhaps subliminally, both of the girls’ fragile grasp on ordinary day to day existence.

Winslet and Lynskey both made their film debuts in Heavenly Creatures and they are both unforgettable in the film, though truth be told, and perhaps a bit ironically considering their separate career trajectories, it’s Lynskey who walks off with the film, despite Winslet’s contributions. It’s all the more fascinating in that Lynskey plays a completely shut down, frumpish character which gives her precious little opportunity to “show off” in an actorly way. But that actually work to the film’s benefit, and few will be able to erase Lynskey’s glaring countenance from their minds once they’ve watched the film. Winslet on the other hand comes off as a sort of junior Grace Kelly, waltzing through scenes in gossamer gowns and living her own impossible dream of marrying a Saint in her own self-created religion.

The dialectic between the girls’ burgeoning fantasies and their everyday life is of course the central conceit of the film and also presents the viewer with the perhaps unanswerable question that haunts these characters. For two girls whose imaginations were so incredibly robust, why would the only course of action which occurred to them be one of the most brutal murders of its time? They may have indeed felt they were backed into a corner where events were keeping them from continuing their relationship—lesbian or otherwise—but their lack of ingenuity in solving their “little” dilemma is perhaps the most telling thing about their emotional and mental development.

Heavenly Creatures Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Heavenly Creatures has been through hell with at least a couple of less than stellar previous Blu-ray releases, so the good news here is that this new Lionsgate/Miramax release's AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1 is generally very sharp and well defined. The film alternates between its supposed real life elements and the fantasies into which the girls escape, and both offer decent, if not overwhelming, color with generally very strong greens and reds making the boldest statement in what is sometimes a kind of murky palette. The film's special effects (courtesy of WETA) look surprisingly spry for their age and help to create the otherworldly ambience which is at the heart of these girls' interior lives. On the minus side, the overall look of Heavenly Creatures is just a tad on the soft side, and occasionally the colors seem to bloom into just slightly garish levels of saturation.

Heavenly Creatures Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Heavenly Creatures's new Blu-ray release features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix which is quite excellent as far as it goes. Within the narrow soundfield that is on display here, the soundtrack offers some great fidelity, especially with regard to Peter Dasent's evocative score. Dialogue is cleanly and crisply presented, and the many fantasy elements, many of which feature inventive sound effects, offer great clarity and appealing dynamic range.

Heavenly Creatures Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Theatrical Trailer (SD; 2:03)

Heavenly Creatures Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Juliet Hulme, the Kate Winslet character in Heavenly Creatures, went on to reinvent herself after her release from prison as best selling mystery novelist Anne Perry. Maybe it would take someone of Perry's abilities (not to mention history) to unravel the central mystery of why these two girls ended up committing such a heinous crime. While Heavenly Creatures tries—valiantly at times—to provide some context and rationale for the girls' behavior, ultimately there's probably no explanation for what actually happened. That leaves a gaping hole at the center of Heavenly Creatures which is only partially filled by Jackson and Walsh's screenplay, Jackson's visual flair, and the incredible performances of the two leads, both perhaps improbably making their screen debuts. If you don't mind not having any easy answers, or even any difficult ones, Heavenly Creatures is an often bracing film which offers two unforgettable performances and an unsettling general portrayal of disturbed teens that may make you parents of teenagers reading this review think twice about disciplining your kids very aggressively. This is the best looking Blu-ray thus far, and despite the really disappointing lack of any meaningful supplements, the release comes Highly recommended.