The Murder and Aftermath

3.1.17 The murder

What 'facts' are shown about planning the murder?

[jp]

• Pauline conceived of the murder and she chronicled everything in her diary.
• Initially, Pauline expressed a wish or desire that her mother should die, because she saw her mother as an 'obstacle,' but she did not state anything beyond that.
• Pauline did not tell Juliet of her desire to murder Honora for some time, until a few days before the murder.
• The murder was planned by both girls during their final visit together at Ilam. Juliet was portrayed as being completely distraught, tearful at the prospect of separation and almost reluctant. Certainly not the instigator. By that time Pauline was calculating, harsh, cynical and possibly not well-grounded in reality. We are shown several scenes suggesting that Pauline's perceptions of the world were quite distorted. What we see does not match her words.
• The method and weapon used were planned ahead of time, in detail, in the day or two before the murder and the murder was eventually carried out very much as planned.

What 'facts' are shown about the preparation for the murder?

[jp]

• Juliet chose a half-brick for the murder weapon from a pile of bricks near the Ilam garage, wrapped it in a newspaper and brought it to the Riepers' house inside her purse.
• In her bedroom, Pauline put Juliet's half-brick in one of her stockings, knotting it to keep the brick from coming out; this was to be the murder weapon.
• Pauline placed the murder weapon in her school satchel and carried it the murder scene.

What 'facts' are shown about events up to the murder?

[jp]

• Pauline is shown writing an entry in her diary headed "The Day of the Happy Event" in bed before getting up.
• Ticking watches and clocks give the times of all important events on June 22, 1954.
• Juliet collected the half-brick and then was dropped off, by her father, by shops near the Riepers'. She walked to the Riepers' after shopping for "fruit."
• Honora prepared lunch, which appeared jolly, and Bert, Wendy, Honora, Juliet and Pauline were present. Bert and Wendy went back to work. Bert said "good-bye" but he turned and looked at his wife, briefly, before he walked out the door. Honora and the girls cleaned up.
• Honora and the girls walked to Cathedral square and caught a #2 bus (Cashmere) to go to Victoria Park.
• Honora and the girls walked from the bus terminal up to the tearooms at Victoria Park for tea and cakes before the murder. Honora had tea, the girls had (orange) soft drinks. There were only a couple of other people in the tearooms. Honora had cakes.

What was shown during the "Humming Chorus" walk?

[jp]

• The three went through a gap in the hedge/wall near the teashop and started to walk down a muddy dirt path into Victoria Park.
• Pauline was leading, Honora came second and Juliet took up the rear.
• Pauline and Honora walked across a small wooden bridge; it looked more like planking laid into the path than a bridge.
• Juliet dropped the pink stone on the path to distract Honora on the way back. "The Humming Chorus" ended, there was a quiet pause and the soundtrack went back to immediate, live sound with no music. A few birds called out.
• Honora was calm and composed and quite cheery, giving motherly advice to Juliet to button up her coat (she did, but her eyes were a million miles away).
• Honora looked at her watch (3:18 p.m.) and suggested they turn back so they wouldn't miss their bus.
• Pauline, standing behind Honora as they started back, pointed out the pink stone to her mother: "Look!, mother!" Honora bent down to examine it. Pauline reached into her school satchel. She had determination on her face, but we find out it was fragile. The camera zoomed in on the tam on the back of Honora's head.

What 'facts' are shown about the murder itself?

[jp]

• Pauline swung the brick and struck the first blow to her mother, from behind, onto the right rear of Honora's head (the blow lands off camera). Honora cried out and we see her fingers drop the stone. Honora fell forward, face downward, head uphill, onto her hands and knees.
• Pauline was shown crying after the first blow, obviously regretting her action. However, once the deed was started, she and Juliet carried on until her mother was dead.
• Honora was hurt but not rendered unconscious by the first blow, or by the second, or the third or the fourth. All four blows were from Pauline, swinging the brick.
• After the fourth blow we are shown Honora, now bleeding quite profusely onto her face from unseen wounds on the back of her head. Honora is shown falling forward again, face- down onto the ground. She has been moaning, wailing and crying out pitiously all this time, in obvious pain.
• Juliet is shown returning. Honora pleads with her, reaching out her hand. Honora's face and hand are bloody. Juliet reaches out...
• Juliet reaches out, but to Pauline. We see that Pauline is blood-spattered, slightly, on her face and hand. Juliet takes the brick from her.
• Pauline goes down and struggles. We see her grasp Honora by the back of her neck and hold her, face down, against the ground.
• Juliet is shown wielding the brick in both hands. She strikes Honora (off camera) once.
• We see, briefly, Pauline holding down a struggling Honora, still face down on the ground.
• Juliet strikes a second (off-camera) two-handed blow.
• Pauline raises her head and we see she is now covered in blood on her own head.
• Juliet strikes a third (off-camera) two-handed blow.

How accurate are the 'murder facts' shown in the film?

[jp] A detailed comparison is given below in section 4.7, but to summarize: the majority of 'facts' shown by Jackson about the events of June 22, 1954 conformed to facts entered into testimony during the girls' trial.

But is the film's version of the murder accurate?

[jp] Ah! This is a very different question. It is explored in much more detail below in section 4.7. The short answer is, surprisingly: No.

Qualitatively, emotionally, the murder shown may be similar in some respects to the actual murder, but there are many details and complexities omitted by Jackson.

What was the motive for the murder?

[jp] Jackson's statements at the beginning of this section are pretty consistent with the superficial facts presented in the film.

Ultimately, in "Heavenly Creatures," Jackson chose to describe events without providing a statement of a clear, rational motive for Honora's murder from any of the characters, including Pauline.

Pauline stated, in her diary voiceover, that she thought of her mother as being "an obstacle" but, really, this is a terribly obscure reference. We are not told anything concrete by Pauline that would provide a convincing motive for a crime of this magnitude. Pauline never says, explicitly, what process or action Honora is being an "obstacle" against, though we infer it is Pauline going away with Juliet. The closest we get is Pauline's statement that, for her to get a passport before the age of 20, she would have to get her "sodding parents' consent."

Why did Jackson choose to omit a clear motive?

[jp] A motive was presented during the trial and there was also one voiced in the court of public opinion in real life. Jackson obviously does not believe these motives are completely credible. However, it has to be said that his film superficially conforms quite closely to the motive proposed by the prosecution, namely, that Pauline and Juliet were completely overwrought at the thought of being separated and they saw Honora as the person standing in the way of their being together. However, the prosecution implied the girls were lesbian lovers; Jackson does not seem to accept that as either true or a reason for murder.

Does shutting your eyes help during the murder scene?

[jp] Absolutely not. In fact, the murder is probably more horrific to people who have shut their eyes and who must imagine what is happening from what is heard on the extraordinary sound track.

Although the murder is probably one of the most visceral and emotionally-graphic murders I have seen on screen, it is also, perversely, one of the least explicitly violent (no blows are actually shown landing on poor Honora) and one of the least bloody. The blood shown is actually very realistic, nothing like the over-the-top gore-fest for which Jackson is renowned. The only graphic scene of extreme gore connected with the murder is the brief shot we see of the girls at the tearoom, long after the murder has taken place: they have spatters and streams of blood on their faces. We might even think at that time that they have been injured somehow and the blood is theirs. Later, of course, we come to fully appreciate that the blood was entirely Honora's.

How is sound used in the murder scene?

[jp] In a word, brilliantly. The use of sound in the whole last act is masterful--through the entire film, in fact. The emotion of the scene is painted almost entirely through the presence and absence of sound, the stunning soundtrack (see 3.1.19), the superb sound effects and the tight sound editing. Gold star from me, for the sound.

Particularly noteworthy are the way that the commingling of fantasy and reality is conveyed, the way we experience the girls' unsuccesful attempts to detach themselves emotionally from the events, and especially the way we share Honora's realization and her horror through her terrible cries. It is true that good sound can bypass conscious rationalization in the viewer and strike at a deeper, more primitive level of understanding. This certainly is the case in "Heavenly Creatures." The audience has no quick defense against the sound used in the murder scene and it is a profoundly unsettling experience. Exactly as Jackson intended.

3.1.17.1 The aftermath (Prologue)

What is shown in the "flight scene" of the Prologue?

[jp]

• The archival soundtrack distorts, dissolves into a roaring sound and screams gradually break into the foreground sound.
• We smash through trees and foliage from the perspective of the runners, a steadicam shot.
• Cut to a long tracking shot from below/behind, our view obscured by foliage, of the girls running up an inclined path through the woods. Juliet, in her grey coat, is leading. Pauline, in her brown coat, follows. We can only see the motion and the coats and hear the screaming.
• Cut to close-up of legs, running, stumbling, bloody and muddy. We see shoes. The sound is immediate, foreground sound; we hear branches being hit, mud squirting.
• Cut to sepia legs running on a wooden deck, through streamers and the bars of a railing. The sound is a musical score--strings. The absence of foreground sound is startling.
• Cut to bloody legs, running, feet and, prominently, brown school sandals and socks. The soundtrack is foreground sound, screaming, crashing.
• Cut to sepia torso side shot of Juliet, in a print dress running in front of Pauline, in a white summer blouse and skirt. Both are smiling as they run on deck, brushing aside streamers; the railing is prominent.
• Cut to a 'parallel' torso side shot of the girls running through foliage, breathless, in panic. And that soundtrack.
• Cut to shot from behind Pauline, looking forward. We see her black hair flying, her brown cloth coat and Juliet in front.
• Cut to front shot, sepia, on the deck. Juliet is in front; she waves and laughs and calls out "Mummy!" Pauline bobs into view from behind, with the same laughing and waving. She cries out: "Mummy!" Juliet turns to look at Pauline. Their voices are the only foreground sounds. Everything else is silence.
• Cut to see a couple standing at the rail. The man is coated, hatted, the woman is dressed all in white. They begin to turn. There is a huge, growing wind sound.
• Cut to the final dash. First, a steadicam shot around a hedge; we see a woman running down the steps toward the camera. Then a jerky handheld camera shot from the woman's perspective. The girls run up to the camera and we see their faces for the first time. They are both covered in blood and gore on their faces and their hands. Pauline cries out: "It's Mummy! She's terribly hurt!" Juliet puts her face into the camera and screams: "Help us!" By the end of the film we will find out that this is the only time Pauline will refer to Honora as "Mummy"... every other time it is "Mother."

What 'facts' about the aftermath are shown in the film?

[jp]

• The girls both ran screaming and completely hysterical back up the path to the teahouse.
• The teahouse proprietor ran out to encounter the girls, who were covered in spattered gore on their faces and clothes and Juliet's hands are also shown covered in blood.
• Pauline cried out "It's Mummy! She's terribly hurt!" Juliet cried out for help.

Are these 'facts' accurate?

[jp] These 'facts' of the aftermath match parts of Mrs Agnes Ritchie's statements made to police, section 7.5.1, but there was much more to the aftermath, of course. See section 4.7 and 7.3.