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So last night Gussie and I re-watched
Heavenly Creatures, a movie based on the Parker-Hulme murder case, and the diary entries of Pauline Parker (A.K.A Pauline Rieper). This film tries to interpret the events that led up to the killing of Honora Parker (Pauline's mother). It has been about 7 years since I last sat down to watch it, but I remember thinking it was great. However, it may be that my tastes have changed or that I'm no longer a teenage girl, but I found the characters oddly annoying, loud and obnoxious. I had to remind myself that they were playing 13 and 14 year old girls, but even then, I kept thinking, "This is taking place in 1952, why are the girls so openly rambunctious? And more importantly, why do they have refrigerators? I thought fancy appliances like those were only for the affluent..." hahaha... Anyway, trying to understand the structure of New Zealand families in the 1950's aside, the movie does get better as it progresses. At least, I found that the characters become more interesting and grounded in their madness. I know that last statement may not make sense, but at first it felt like the girls only saw themselves as genius, brilliant beings that were too good for everyone else, but as the film developed, it felt like they were coming to terms with the fact they might indeed be "mad". Their affection towards each other is not healthy, and it doesn't even have to do with them both being girls, or whether it was a homosexual relationship or not, but attachment like the type they had would make anyone cringe. I think the acting was good, but one might find it a bit exaggerated, though that might have to do with the nature of the characters and not so much with the talent of the actors. Anyway, I would still recommend this movie. It's an interesting and quite frighting tale, but it's also kind of fun. Just try to get through the first 20 minutes and the rest should be fine!
