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3.1.16.9 Horses and unicorns
** Why were horses important in the film?
Jackson and Walsh took their cue from real life. In real life, horses figured very
prominently in the case. Pauline had had riding lessons for years. Juliet did, indeed,
have a horse, and she did sell it to Mr Perry for cash. Pauline bought a horse, secretly,
and hid that fact from her family. There were horse paddocks adjacent to Ilam. The girls
apparently snuck out for midnight rides by moonlight on several occasions, and they
invited others to join them, according to Glamuzina and Laurie. The grazing fees for
Pauline's horse became an issue in the Rieper home, when they were discovered. In real
life, Pauline's writings figured horses very prominently as beings with personalities and
passions. They were frequently very violent, and were often the agents of revenge or
murder. In her real-life stories, Pauline's version of Diello, for example, was a horse
named 'Vendetta.' (see 7.4.1).
** Where are real horses mentioned explicitly in
the film?
Late in the film we learn that Juliet had a horse, though it is not shown. She sold
it to Bill Perry to raise money for the planned escape to Hollywood.
** Where do horses appear in "Heavenly
Creatures?"
In short, EVERYWHERE. There are horses, somewhere, in just about every set and in
most scenes. There are also unicorns. So, again, something factual, namely Pauline's
fascination with horses, is communicated very subtly by the filmmakers, rather than as an
explicit statement. [aa]
* Pauline drew three horses in her French notebook (see 3.1.10). The largest one was rearing on its hind legs, a reference to real-life fiction of Pauline Parker (see 7.4.1), and the other two had their their long manes flying in the wind. The image of the rearing horse appears elsewhere, in Borovnia, as a unicorn. * Juliet made the plasticine figures of two horses facing in opposition, with flying manes, displayed on the Ilam mantle. Pauline noticed them immediately. * There's also a horse motif at the Rieper home, as well--I've spotted three expressions of it [aa]: - There's a large painting on the wall in the sitting room with a white horse. - There's a bronze horse figure on an end table that appears to be a part of a lamp. We see it over Honora's shoulder in the chat with Dr Hulme scene. - And there's a small gold statuette of a rearing horse on the mantlepiece (it took a few viewings before I spotted that one!). * Pauline and Juliet are making models of horses in the first "Donkey Serenade" model-making scene. Of course, a donkey is a kind of a horse, too. And, in real life, Pauline wrote a book called "The Donkey's Serenade." * At Port Levy, when "Charles clutched his wounded shoulder," we hear a magnificent steed snorting and panting in the soundtrack. Just before the door gets flung open, there is the shadow of a horse and rider that plays across it. Excellent little touch by the crew doing the 'miniatures.' * Juliet has plasticine figures of horses in her bedroom, on the night table. We see them in several scenes, most prominently in the birth of Diello and the enacting the Saints making love scenes. Juliet takes them, or makes others, for her room in the sanatorium. * Pauline has several plasticine figures of horses in both her bedrooms. In the outside bedroom, there are horses on the windowsill and horses in bookends. The bookends reappear upstairs, when Pauline moves inside. * Pauline has several drawings and paintings of horses on her bedroom walls. They move around as time goes by, and she carries them upstairs to the inside bedroom when she is moved. There are horse heads, rearing horses, and a pair of horses facing in opposite directions, just like the models on the Ilam mantle.
** What would Freud have to say about all those
horses?
Not that hard to figure out, of course. Horses are usually taken to be a
sublimation of sexuality, untamed erotic passions etc and to be literal expressions of
libido barely held in check and they are often used that way in literature.
** What's a unicorn and how is it related to a
horse?
A unicorn is a mythical beast. There is an excellent account of their history and
meaning in myth in the FAQ for Ridley Scott's "Legend." Themes usually
associated with unicorns are purity, innocence, conditional love, and they are often used
as representations of Christ in later literature.
** Where do unicorns appear in "Heavenly
Creatures?"
The girls first see unicorns grazing peacefully in the Fourth World, during their
first vision of the Fourth World at Port Levy. There is a statue of a rearing unicorn in
the centre of the Borovnia courtyard. Another reference to Pauline's real-life fiction.
After this, the unicorns reappear in a simple but very unsettling shot of the girls
outside Ilam at sunset on their last evening together. The two girls are shown standing
hand in hand on the lawn, facing Ilam, and the pair of unicorns is grazing peacefully on
the lawn by the house. By placing the unicorns in an otherwise 'real' scene, vaguely
reminiscent of Grant Wood's "American Gothic" for some reason, Jackson used them
to communicate very effectively the complete melding of reality and fantasy that had taken
place for Pauline and Juliet by the day of the murder.
** Are there any other connections with mythical
horses?
Christchurch is located in New Zealand on Pegasus Bay. Pegasus, of course, was the
winged horse of Greek legend.
