Discuss+and+explain+the+importance+of+characterisation+in+Heavenly+Creatures

Characterisation can be defined in __Heavenly Creatures__ as the way in which the emtional and physical attributes of the characters in it are portrayed, the type of person each characer is and the methods Peter Jackson, as director, uses to show this. Heavenly Creatures is a journey of two girls living in Christchurch in 1954; Pauline Reiper and Juliet Hulme. Jackson fully develops each part of the girl's characters through use of the camera, dialogue and Pauline's diary entries. it is very important for the viewer to see the girls develop emotionallyas it is crucial to understanding the film and the angle on this event that Jackson has taken. The characterisation of Honora is crucial to the storyline and makes the ending so emotionally disturbing.

We see the film through Pauline's eyes. Juliet plays a part of equal importance but it is Pauline's life that we are shown. Right from the start my attention was drawn to this downcast face and we saw differences that stood her out from the rest of the girls at Christchurch Girls High School. Pauline's hair appears scruffy and unkempt in a surrounding sea of groomed blond hair. While the other girls appear distinguished by being dropped off or walking, Pauline is still pulling her stockings up while climbing over the fence. In contrast to the other girls, she is introspective and gruffly acknowledges her classmates. Right from the beginning we start to build up an overview of Pauline's life from the images given to us. Her family is shown to be poor. The lean-to, lodgers, clothes and speech of Pauline's parents show their poverty and social situation. However we are also given the positive aspects of this kind of lifestyle: the carings parents, the simplicity of the elation at Pauline's good school marks and her parents' devotion to their daughter shown by their presence around the hospital bed in the flash-back to when Pauline was little.

Pauline is characterised in contrast to Juliet. Pauline allows Juliet to lead the friendship which indicates her introverted nature. Pauline is worshipful of Juliet's life, hands on her every word and enters into the idea of writing an imaginative novel with as much zeal as Juliet. We first see Pauline's adoration when she sees Juliet almost as a fantasy, as she stands on the bridge in Ilam wearing a princess dress. Juding from the look on Pauline's face we can tell that this wonderful sight transfixes her. [ //add in info and examples of Juliet's extroverted nature compared to Paulines, the contrasts to Juliet's and Pauline's lives]// These factors lead to Pauline wanting so much more than her life can give her. This desire ultimately leads to her mother's murder as she believes that this weill free her to be part of Juliet's family. We are shown the physical differences: Pauline appears somewhat frumpy compared to Juliet. Juliet is always wearing light coloured or sophisticated clothing. In comparison to Pauline's dark-coloured clothing that reflects her brooding and dark nature. Juliet's clothing also reflects the family's material wealth. All of Pauline's attention is focussed on Juliet and this causes a sad detachment from her own family. Jackson shows Pauline's love of the fantastic with the friendship progressing and the two girls creating their own fantasy world called Borovnia. As the film progresses, fantasy will intrude more and more into the girls' lives until eventually fantasy and reality become inextricably mixed and Pauline and Juliet lose hold of reality. This is an important part of characterisation in __Heavenly Creatures__ as the progression fantasy leads to Pauline killing her mother. They created a world and they constantly acti it out with Juliet as Deborah and Pauline as Charles and later, Gina. Pauline's characterisation is shown with/through the contrast between her and Juliet.

Pauline's diary entries enter the film as voice-overs and are crucial in/to the development of the film and Pauline's characterisation. It is a way we are able to see what Pauline is thinking and to understand a little of why she detaches herself from reality. To a certain extent it allows us to glimpse inside Pauline's head. "We have decided how said it is fo other people that theyc annot appreciate our genius... though no one could fully appreciate us." This thought explains/expresses/highlights her haughtiness towards her parents and at school and why she feels justified to show contempt for her life. Further, her voice-overs help to explain why she feels trapped and nagged. "Mother gave me a fearful telling off along the usual strain." This shows that arguments are becoming familiar and have lost their impact. Instead of feeling suitably berated, and consequently, humbled shed uses the arguments to fuel her anger and resentment. She starts to feel lower and lower as depicted by her diary entry: "I felt thoroughly depressed and even quite seriously considered committing suicide. Life seems so much not worth the living, death such an easy way out." The diary entries also enable us to feel the intensity of Pauline and Juliet's relationships: "One thing Deborah and I are sticking to: through everything, we sink or swim together." This shows how strong their friendship is and partially explains their fast downfall into fantasy. Again Pauline's diary entry explains how she feels: "We realised why Deborah and I have such extraordinary telepathy and why people treat us and look at us the way they do. It is because we are MAD." As Pauline's character matures into a detached sullen girl who is very unahppy and who retreatw into fantasy with Juliet, a plan forms in her mind. The diary entries give us her plan in detail. Without the voice-overs we would be struggling to understand what was happening later in the film. "Anger against Mother boiled up inside me as it is she who is one of the main obstacles in my path." We are able to see her thought processes and how she decides to murder her own mother to solve her problems. This shows her growht as a character. "So next time I write in this diary Mother will be dead. How odd - yet how pleasing." As one of the last diary entries used in the film this is direct and harsh. It shows Pauline's descent into fantasy or madness is complete. Jackson has successfully characterised Pauline throughout the film and shown her progression - descent - with the use of Pauline's diary entries as voice-overs.

We first meet Honora standing at her sink bench. She is 43 years old. Her dark hair is going grey and she has a kind face. Right throughout the movie Honora is charaterised as your typical loving caring mother whose main concern is looking after her daughter, Pauline. Through Honora's dialogue in thein the conversations that take place between her daughter and herself I was able to see how deep her concern is:"You may have forgotten that you were once a very sick little girl, but I haven't!", "I've booked you in for a chest X-ray...just to be on he safe side." Her concern contrasts sharply with that of Juliet's parents who at the same time of Honora's concern are leaving their daughter with tuberculosis to gallivant around England. Hilda corners Juliet into allowing them to leave her. "It's not too late to cancel our travel arrangements...if that's what you want?" Of course Juliet allows them to go. This highlights the contrast between the two different mothers. Honora is also concerned that her daughter gets the best education possible and tells Pauline: "She says the standard of your work is slipping. At this rate she doesn't think you'll get School Certificate." When Pauline angrily replies "Who cares!" her mother responds with passion that "I care...you father cares...we want you to have a good education." Jackson enables the viewer to sympathise and experience some of the emotions that Honora feels. This is achieved as the camera lingers on close ups of Honora's face afer particularly vicious arguments between Pauline and her. The emotion in her dialogue when Pauline wants to live with the Hulmes is evident: "You're our daughter, you belong here with us." This shows how emotionally distraught Honora is. We see how helpless she feels in her expression and how said Pauline's rebelliousness makes her. The film's impact is due largely to how successful Honora's character is. Her innocence, and desire for what is best for Pauline,drives the film's storyline and her murder is so shocking and impacts the viewer emotionally because we feel Honora's pain - the injustice of it all, the great unfairness and how she has tried her best. We are unable to fully comprehend what made Pauline think her mother deserved to be murdered. Right to the end every word Honora utters is for the welfare of Pauline and Juliet. When she is walking towards her death she tells Juliet to "button up your coat, dear. You'll get a chill." The characterisation of Honora in __Heavenly Creatures__ plays a crucial part in the emotional impact of the ending.

Characterisation plays an important part in __Heavenly Creatures__. Pauline's character is portrayed through use of the camera, contrast to Juliet and through her diary entries which are used as voice-overs in the film. The film concentrates on portraying Pauline emotionally, how she feels, in her home situation, about her mother, and her devotion to Juliet. This is crucial to understanding the progression to Honora's murder. The concentrates on the progression and how it happened, so without appropriate characterisation, the film would not be understood. We would not understand Pauline or Juliet's logic, the fear of abandonment and neediness that led to the madness of this twisted logic, and its final fatal act. Honora's characterisation is very clever as we see she is innocent and only wants the best for Pauline. We are also able to see how Pauline feels trapped and nagged though. Close-ups of Honora's face and her passionate dialogue allow her character to shine.

Peter Jackson has worked very carefully on characterisation and it shows when the ending forces you to turn away.