Heavenly Creatures Analysis

Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Director: Peter Jackson

Clubbed to death scene.

A classic a thriller convention that Jackson uses in Heavenly Creatures, is the use of clocks. The close ups of the clock signify that time is a serious matter within the film. Time is used in Heavenly Creatures to foreshadow what time the girls will commit their murder and the gives the audience the impression that they are up against time.

Leading up to the murder, the two girls and Pauline's mum are walking down a hill on a very small path. The path is narrow and leads down a steep slope which makes the audience realise the mother had no chance of escaping. The lighting is ambient and natural which challenges the thriller conventions. The space in which the murder is done is very open and challenges the conventions of a thriller, because the space is very open and in broad daylight- this shows the naivety of the girls.

The low angle shot of their woman's feet going down the steps shows how steady they are moving, to be careful not to trip or slip. The soundtrack in this scene is very light and dreamlike, which reflects the girl's dreamlike state and the fact that they want to be together forever. The soundtrack fits in well with the slow motion emphasising that the scene is almost a fantasy.

During the scene the girls come across a muddy part of the steep path and a close up is used of Juliet's hand holding onto a tree for support, this could indicate the 'dirty behaviour' of both of their girls for murdering their mother and could reflect Juliet's mood for trying to, 'get a grip' on the crime she is about to commit, so she does not feel guilt.

Jackson uses many close ups in this scenes, predominantly of the girl's feet and hands. This shows their 'fidgety' nature and emphasise how important hands and feet are to the human body, because they can both cause much damage on someone else, this is also foreshadowing the murder that is yet to come.

The Mother stops to look at the time on her watch, the use of this is another reference to the importance of time within this film and the time that the mother is up against (till her murder). The use of shot-reverse-shot on both of the girl's faces indicates that they are now about to commit the murder. Juliet drops a purple gem on the floor, which catches the eye of the Mother. The gem is extremely sparkly and neatly cut, which contrasts greatly to the mud that it has landed on. The gem could also represent the girls and the 'muddy' patch that they are about to land themselves in by committing this 'dirty' crime.

As Pauline reaches into her school-girl satchel to get the stocking filled with bits of brick, the audience now know that this is for definite the time for the Mother to die. As Pauline takes the first hit with the brick-filled-stocking the screams from her mum contrast greatly with the dream-like soundtrack which has now ended. The blood that gushes out of the Mother's head and her ghastly screams add tension to a sense of realism to the film.

The crime is shown also with flashbacks in black and white. The use of black and white shows that the scenes are memory and that this is a separate part to the scene that is taking place, both linking the tragedy that is taking place.