Heavenly Creatures

Screenplay by

FRANCES WALSH AND PETER JACKSON

Illustrated by

PAUL HAMLYN:

PROLOGUE:

Newsreel footage of Christchurch circa 1954.

EXT. VICTORIA PARK/BUSHY TRACK - LATE AFTERNOON CAMERA CRASHES out of

bush and races up a dark bushy track.

CLOSE ON . . . two pairs of feet running up the track, slipping in the

mud . . . desperate.

WIDE SHOT . . . reveals TWO GIRLS running up the track, distraught.

JULIET HULME:
nearly 16 - tall, blond and willowy,

and

PAULINE RIEPER:
16 - dark-haired, shorter and stockier than Juliet.

It is 1954. Both girls are dressed in overcoats on a chilly winter day.

They slip and stumble on the dirt track that winds up the steep

Victoria Park hillside. Thick vegetation and overhanging trees give the

path a tunnel-like feeling.

CUT TO:

EXT. OCEANLINER'S DECK - DAYBLACK & WHITE . . .

Pauline and Juliet running . . . this time they are happy, in holiday

clothing, weaving around OTHER PASSENGERS as they race along the deck

of an oceanliner.

INTERCUT BETWEEN:

EXT. VICTORIA PARK/BUSHY TRACK - LATE AFTERNOON Pauline and Juliet

desperately scrambling up the track.

AND:

EXT. OCEANLINER S DECK - DAYBLACK & WHITE . . .

Pauline and Juliet happily bounding along the ships deck.

They push past a group of PASSENGERS. Juliet waves and calls out.

JULIET:

Mummy!

The PACE of the INTERCUTTING between TRACK and SHIP, COLOUR and BLACK &

WHITE, increases in rhythm.

Pauline and Juliet run up toward a MAN and WOMAN (HENRY and HILDA) on

the deck.

JULIET:

Mummy!

PAULINE:

Mummy!

CAMERA RUSHES toward Hilda and Henry (not seen clearly) as they turn to

greet the two girls:

CRASH CUT:

EXT. VICTORIA PARK/TEAROOMS - DAYAGNES RITCHIE, proprietor of the

tearooms at the top of Victoria Park, comes rushing down the steps

toward CAMERA . . . her face alarmed.

PAULINE:

(O.S.) (Panicked) It's Mummy!

Pauline and Juliet rush into CLOSE-UP . . . panting heavily. For the

first time we realise their clothes, and Pauline's face, are splattered

with blood.

PAULINE:

(Panicked) She's terribly hurt . . .

JULIET:

(Hysterical) Somebody's got to help us!

CUT TO:

SUPERTITLES ON BLACK:

During 1953 and 1954 Pauline Yvonne Parker kept diaries recording her

friendship with Juliet Marion Hulme. This is their story. All diary

entries are in Pauline's own words.

INT. CHRISTCHURCH GIRLS' HIGH - FOYER - MORNING MUSIC: "Just a Closer

Walk With Thee," sung by a HUNDRED SCHOOLGIRLS.

The school crest "Sapienta et Veritas" embossed in the lino just inside

the entrance.

Lisle-stockinged schoolgirl legs carefully walk around the crest . . .

TRACK along with the schoolgirl legs.

CUT TO:

EXT. SCHOOL BUILDING/CRANMER SQUARE - MORNING HYMN CONTINUES

OVER:
TRACKING . . . with a row of schoolgirl legs, marching in a

crocodile line across Cranmer Square.

CRANE UP . . . to reveal CHRISTCHURCH GIRLS' HIGH.

SUPER:
"Christchurch Girls' High, 1952"

CREDITS BEGIN . . . GROUPS OF GIRLS, in heavy, pleated, over-the-knee

school uniforms, wearing hats, gloves and blazers, flock through the

school grounds.

MISS STEWART, the headmistress, stands by the rear entrance, scanning

girls' uniforms as they enter.

EXT. RIEPERS' HOUSE/BACK GARDEN - MORNINGCLOSE ON . . . Pauline

Rieper's legs as she tries to hitch up her baggy stockings. She hops

over a fence and hurries toward the school, which backs onto the

Riepers' garden.

She carries a boy's-style school bag on her shoulder and walks with a

slight limp.

EXT. CHRISTCHURCH STREETS - MORNINGTRACKING . . . LOW ANGLE with the

Hulme car coming toward CAMERA.

INT. SCHOOL CORRIDOR - MORNINGTRACKING . . . with Pauline's striding

feet down a crowded school corridor. CRANE UP . . . as she walks toward

CAMERA. In contrast to the other girls, she is introspective and

gruffly acknowledges her classmates.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL ASSEMBLY HALL - MORNINGThe ornate wooden ceiling of the

assembly hall. TILT DOWN . . . to a sea of schoolgirls singing the last

verse of the hymn. Miss Stewart and the STAFF are standing on the

stage, singing.

LONG LENS into the crowd . . . Pauline is not participating in the

hymn. Her eyes look about uninterestedly.

ZOOM IN . . . on Miss Stewart glaring straight at CAMERA.

Pauline mouths the last couple of words.

The hymn finishes.

MISS STEWART:

Sit!

Everybody sits.

EXT. CHRISTCHURCH GIRLS' HIGH/CRANMER SQUARE - MORNINGThe Hulmes' car

pulls up outside the school.

CREDITS END:

WIDE SHOT . . . Juliet Hulme gets out of the car, followed by her

father, HENRY. They walk into the school.

CUT TO INT.

SCHOOL FRENCH CLASS - MORNINGClass 3A are in the midst of a French

lesson. All the class have name cards hanging around their necks

denoting their chosen "French name." MISS WALLER gestures at a screed

of subjugated verbs scrawled on the blackboard.

MISS WALLER The imperfect subjunctive, like the imperfect indicative,

indicates action in the past. "II voulait qu'elle lui donnat de

l'argent." Translate, somebody . . . quickly!

A SCHOOLGIRL - LAURA - blurts out from the front of the class.

LAURA:

"He wanted her to give him some money."

MISS WALLER:

(Angry) Put your hand up! I will not have girls talking out of turn in

my class!

The door opens and Miss Stewart brings Juliet into the room.

The presence of the headmistress causes the class to stand up.

MISS STEWART:

Good morning, gels.

CLASS (In Unison) Good morning, Miss Stewart.

The class sit.

MISS STEWART:

Miss Waller . . . class . . . this is Juliet Hulme. Juliet is joining

us from St. Margaret's, and prior to that she spent some time at

Queenswood in the Hawkes Bay.

Juliet looks at Miss Stewart haughtily.

JULIET:

I am actually from England, Miss Stewart.

MISS STEWART:

Of course . . . Juliet's father is Dr. Hulme, the Rector of the

University.

Miss Waller looks impressed. Pauline is quietly drawing horses at the

back of the class.

MISS STEWART:

Juliet's travelled all over the world, and I'm sure she'll be very

eager to share her impressions of exotic lands across the seas with the

gels of 3A. I'll leave you to it, Miss Waller. Juliet.

Miss Stewart leaves. Miss Waller smiles at Juliet.

MISS WALLER:

You can sit over here, Juliet.

Miss Waller gestures to a desk at the front. She gives Juliet a

cardboard name card.

MISS WALLER:

We use French names in this class. You can choose your own.

Miss Waller returns to the blackboard and starts writing.

MISS WALLER:

Now, irregular verbs in the present subjunctive. . . "qu'il vienne". .

.

JULIET:

Excuse me, Miss Waller . . . you've made a mistake.

Miss Waller turns to Juliet-who now has the name "Antoinette" hanging

around her neck.

JULIET:

"Je doutais qu'il vienne" is in fact the spoken subjunctive.

MISS WALLER:

It is customary to stand when addressing a teacher . . . "Antoinette."

Juliet stands.

JULIET:

You should have written "vint."

Miss Waller frowns, glances at the board, and hastily rubs out the

offending word.

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