Not so ‘Heavenly Creatures’...! part 2

Camino Frances Day 29

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

“Oh no!… the sound tape on my recorder is running out right in the middle of the shot! I can't find my equipment case with my spare audiotapes… my sound vehicle has disappeared!... Then I find a spare tape, but it's all twisted… and it unspools in my shaking hand, with 1/4 inch tape spewing out uncontrollably all over my sound trolley… the film crew are all glaring silently at me as I franticly rush about like a chicken with its head chopped off! I sit bolt upright in bed in a cold sweat, with my heart pounding in my chest. The bedroom is completely dark. Oh man…it’s just another one of my emotion-sapping anxiety dreams.”

We were halfway through our 1993 ten-week Heavenly Creatures shoot when our film crew were struggling to cram into a tiny room at the rear of a two storey timber building in downtown Christchurch to film an important interview scene.

‘Ho-mo-sex-uality’… An extreme close-up of the psychiatrist slowly moving lips started this pivotal scene. Honora had taken her daughter, 16-year-old Pauline Parker, to be interviewed by a psychiatrist because Honora was worried about the intense and somewhat ‘unsavoury’ relationship she felt Pauline had developed with 15-year-old Juliet Hulme. At that time in New Zealand homosexuality was considered an illness.

Why are we squeezing all our lights and camera gear into this tiny space where there's hardly enough any room to work around our actors when we could have easily filmed this scene in our spacious studio, I thought.

Ahhh… but this was the ACTUAL room where that interview took place back in 1954. Peter Jackson just likes to surprise by using authentic touches like that in Heavenly Creatures.

Soon came Peter Jackson’s ‘Frock Day’… a tradition he established as a playful way I suppose to boost crew morale and foster camaraderie on set. On this special day, us male members of the crew dressed up in women's clothing, adding a fun and light-hearted element to the usually intense and demanding filming day environment.

‘Yours truly’ in my glam gear!

I was a little embarrassed at first because I’d never done this sort of thing before (no I didn’t feel my manhood was under threat!). But it was a real hoot seeing a lot of our tough grips and gaffer guys in colourful skirts and frocks!

I think it’s a very kiwi thing… all about creating a relaxed atmosphere, breaking down barriers, and allowing everyone to have a bit of fun together… and likely contributes to the creative success of PJ’s films.

You’re all no doubt familiar with a clapperboard. That simple slate board identifies the film, scene, slate and take at the start of each shot.

The camera assistant slaps the two zebra-patterned wooden parts together creating a loud ‘clap’ sound that’s used by the editors to synchronise the picture and soundtrack, because they are usually recorded separately at the filming stage and brought together later. It also allows the editors to keep track of the thousands of individual shots created on any given feature film.

The American and British film industries each developed different slating systems to keep track of this mountain of shots. The British system was strictly chronological, as you’d expect from the formal Brits. On day 1 of the shoot the first shot of the day was ‘Slate 1 Take 1’. The next take of the same setup ‘Slate 1 Take 2’. Then ‘Slate 1 Take 3’ etc. Once the director was happy and the camera was moved and the next shot in that scene became ‘Slate 2 Take 1’, and then ‘Slate 2 Take 2’ etc. It didn’t matter that you might for instance be filming Scene 52. That first day of filming may have ended up on say ‘Slate 25 Take 5’.

So, at the start of Day 2 the next shot in the film would then be ‘Slate 26 Take 1’, then ‘Slate 26 Take 2’ etc…etc. And so, you move in chronological number order regardless of whatever the scene number was that was being filmed.

A clapperboard somewhat similar to the one we were using

For various reasons (that I won’t go into just yet) you always shoot a feature film out of sequence, never in strict scene order.

Whereas with the far simpler American system, if you start day one filming Scene 52 then the very first shot on day one is ‘Slate 52 Take 1’ and then ‘Slate 52 Take 2’ etc until the director is happy to move on. Once you setup the next camera position, that next shot of that scene will be ‘Slate 52A Take 1’ then ‘Slate 52A Take 2’ etc. And the following shot will be ‘Slate 52B Take 1’… etc.

So, every shot to do with Scene 52 will be identified on the clapperboard as ‘Slate 52… ’ so it's much easier for the editors to locate all the shots to do with a particular scene.

So today everyone uses the more efficient American slating system, but back in 1993 we were using the British slating system.

Now there's a crucial scene in Heavenly Creatures where Pauline Parker is in the hallway of her house on the phone to Juliet.

They are getting more and more frustrated about their mothers’ resistance to their grand ambitions. While again discussing their dream to head off together to the United States to become famous writers in Hollywood, Pauline's mum Honora comes into the hallway, hears part of the conversation and is despondent that her daughter is still entertaining this absolute fantasy of going to America with Juliet and becoming famous Hollywood writers.

Yet again she tells Pauline that it's pure teenage fantasy… it’s never going to happen. At which point her daughter gets really angry… puts the phone down and just walks slowly and resolutely away from her pleading mother, and up the stairs towards where the camera is mounted. As Pauline comes towards the camera with this thunderous, absolutely determined look on her face we can see still Honora down below still imploring her daughter to get real. This is the crucial point in the movie where Pauline finally decides that she's actually going to kill her mother… because she is the one constant obstacle standing in the way of Juliet and her realizing their Hollywood dream.

When Peter calls ‘Cut’, someone says ‘Do you realise what's on the clapperboard?... Slate 666!’ It could have easily been ‘Slate 665’ or ‘Slate 667’ but it was actually ‘Slate 666!’ Doo, doo doo, doo… doo, doo, doo...

Following the vicious murder of Honora Parker in Victoria Park the police didn’t initially suspect Pauline or Juliet of this cold-blooded act. But eventually the police did became suspicious of them due to several factors. First, the intense and obsessive nature of their friendship raised concerns among their families. When their parents had threatened to separate them, the girls had reacted violently, which further raised red flags.

Additionally, the police found a brick with bloodstains and a stocking, which matched the murder weapon used to kill Honora Parker. The girls' behaviour and their elaborate fantasy world, which they documented in their diaries and letters, also provided crucial evidence. Ultimately, the combination of these factors led the police to investigate and eventually arrest Pauline and Juliet for Honora’s murder.

A crucial entry in Pauline’s diary the day before the murder ‘…we decided to use a rock in a stocking…so the next time I write in the diary mother will be dead…’

The girls’ trial was a sensation. Much of the evidence presented by witnesses focused on the close relationship between the two teenagers, their absorption with one another, and their fantasies about becoming famous novelists.

The Crown prosecutor maintained that the girls were not insane but ‘incurably bad’. The pair was found guilty but escaped the death penalty as they were both under 18. They were sentenced to ‘indefinite imprisonment’ and ordered never to contact each other again.

It turned out that they each served about five years in prison.

On her release Juliet changed her name, left New Zealand and disappeared from view. While we were shooting Heavenly Creatures in 1993 interest in the murder reignited, and journalists managed to track down Juliet Hulme, who was then living in Scotland under the name of Anne Perry – and leading a successful life as a best-selling murder mystery crime fiction writer (she’s sold more than 25 million copies of her books).

Kate Winslet in her stunning portrayal of Juliet Hulme

Pauline Parker took on the name Hillary Nathan after her release and led a more private life, eventually settling in a small village in England, working with horses, and avoiding public attention.

Melanie Lynskey in her debut role as the brooding and emotionally volatile Pauline Parker

At the time of Perry's death in 2023, Juliet and Pauline were not believed to have ever had any contact since their trial.

Heavenly Creatures, co-written by Peter Jackson and partner Fran Walsh, went on to be nominated for the Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards in 1995.

Even though Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction collected the ‘golden guy’ that year, just being nominated for an Oscar Award had placed Peter Jackson firmly on the radar of Hollywood’s movers and shakers.

Heavenly Creatures cast and crew

Day 29 Cacabelos to Las Herrerías 17 June 2018 28.2 kms (17.5 miles)

Yesterday my kind American friend (who had suffered her own shin splint) gave me a spare leg compression sock that she had bought.

This morning I struggle this compression sock over my taped leg and start out.

Road walking soon turns into walking through vineyards over rolling hills.

Again, I stop to grab a handful of delectable dark red cherries from the many trees thankfully along this section of the Camino.

After breakfast in picturesque Villafranca de Bierzo I walk for quite a few kilometers beside a highway that winds its way following a river upstream through tree-lined valleys.

I stroll along with an American lady from California and while we chat the kilometers melt away.

My leg feels good today, and again I am able to stretch my leg out to full length strides.

I pass through many small towns, some prosperous and some looking sadly derelict.

The Camino Frances is certainly an economic boon for a lot of Northern Spain's small towns and villages.

After hydrating in La Portela de Valcarce I feel so good striding along that I decide to go a little further than my intention at the start of the day (just an extra 1.6 kms).

I finally stop at the beautiful little village of Las Herrerías (The Blacksmiths), where I can hear a stream burbling through the valley in front of my albergue as I update my Polarsteps, enjoy my second satisfying cerveza grande, and bask in the shade in 26°C (79°F) rejuvenating warmth.

My learning for today:

Not to get drawn into other individuals caminos, but to stay true to my own camino experience.

Goodnight, and much love and gratitude from New Zealand.