Heavenly Creatures is a film dating from 1994 set in the 1950s telling the story of a relationship of two young school girls. It shall be shown how this film is an example of postmodernism, and the feature named pastiche will be considered in depth showing how this film can be so defined and finally a look at the effect of the signifier will complete this work.
One main feature of postmodernism is “the effacement of some key boundaries or separations, most notable the erosion of the older distinction between high culture and so-called mass or popular culture” . There are numerous popular culture references in this film including the various film magazines seen in the two young female protagonists' rooms, and in the infirmary. In addition, film magazines were used for obtaining the pictures of the Saints which were used at the Ilam shrine.
A scene in Heavenly Creatures depicting Juliet and Pauline engaging in the lecture of ‘Biggles of the Camel Squadron' and ‘Biggles of 266' is another popular culture reference as in the United Kingdom, he was a “cultural icon” and here it is also demonstrating the close cultural link between Christchurch and England which shall be looked at later.
Finally, the girls go to watch ‘The Great Caruso' which appears to be screened for the first time in New Zealand a couple of years after its release date. “Jackson is using pop culture as a clock, and is saying it took a while for things to get to Christchurch” .
[...] Their fantasy world becomes their reality. Once they cross that line, their otherwise superficial, conventional world is turned upside down”[6]. One of the most significant features of postmodernism today is pastiche. Pastiche is the imitation or mimicry of other styles and particularly of the mannerisms and twitches of other styles according to Frederic Jameson. “Jackson's use of dialogism is Wellesian in itself, as Welles constantly played with the idea of putting multiple discourses into dialogue with each other”[7] which is a typical theme of postmodernism as can be seen by postmodernists such as Michael Foucault whose work is hard to classify as history, social theory or political science due to the multiple discourses. [...]
[...] Heavenly Creatures Heavenly Creatures is a film dating from 1994 set in the 1950s telling the story of a relationship of two young school girls. It shall be shown how this film is an example of postmodernism, and the feature named pastiche will be considered in depth showing how this film can be so defined and finally a look at the effect of the signifier will complete this work. One main feature of postmodernism is effacement of some key boundaries or separations, most notable the erosion of the older distinction between high culture and so-called mass or popular culture”[1]. [...]
[...] Third Man' is used a lot as the viewer sees clips of this film when the girls are in the cinema and in famous clips of the chase scene in the Vienna sewers all shots of Harry Lime have been replaced by "Heavenly Creatures'" own 'most hideous man alive' . played by E. Jean Guerin”[9]. Third Man' soundtrack is also imitated as the girls leave the cinema. This particular practice of pastiche is not “high cultural but very much within mass culture and it is generally known as the ‘nostalgia film'”[10]. It consists merely of films about the past and of specific generational moments of that past. [...]
[...] “Peter Jackson does a masterful job of capturing the essence of 1950s religious repression in New Zealand. It could be England or American in the 1950s due to the close cultural ties mentioned earlier. The two families are increasingly concerned about the girls' friendship in a strictly moralistic which is why Pauline's mother tries to separate them as right from the start there are causes for concern pertaining to the nature of their friendship which in the film takes on an amorous connotation. [...]
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