Well, here I am catching up on months-old emails, and this was one message I
wanted to
reply to, if only briefly (and very belatedly). Treefiddy, I felt like I was
reading my own
story as I read yours. I was 30 when it came out and like you was not one for
mad
swooning crushes over movies, at that age especially, but I was head over heels
for this
one for some reason. Kept seeing it at each new theatre it would spring up
at... also
acquired the soundtrack, with great difficulty (it was autographed by Peter
Jackson actually
- there's a story for another time!...) and was generally obsessed. And of
course my first
ever website project was all about HC and still gets viewers today. One
difference for me
was my complete lack of knowledge of Jackson or his earlier work - though after
HC I
certainly sought it out. Even post-Kong and LOTR, I consider HC his best, most
satisfying
work. And I was probably one of the few who went to "Titanic" almost entirely
because I
wanted to keep up with Kate Winslet's post-HC career. (Though she's now of
course a full-
blown official Star and the sense of being one of a small band of faithful
fans, thanks to
HC, when she was still mostly unknown, has long faded...
Anyway, nice to hear your story and glad to see you on the relatively quiet but
very much
still active HC list!
Adam
("The Fourth World Website")
--- In heavenly-c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, TREEFlDDY@... wrote:
Yes, that film had a similar effect on me as well. Watched it sometimes
three times in a day, and even listened to a cassette copy of the film at
work
sometimes. Couldn't get enough! I told a friend that I wished I could stick
a
tap into the tv and drink the movie by the glassful. I'd say I invested at
least a year obsessing over it. I paid dearly for the soundtrack on CD,
bought several editions of the film in various formats, used a HC screensaver
complete with audio track, and even have a couple of large posters. It was
amazing to me that it was the first movie for Melanie and Kate's first major
film
as well. Even though I was 35 when it came out, I was swept up by it and
lived, as it were on the brink of the 4th World for much longer than anyone
of
my ostensible maturity should have done. For example, one time I calculated
precisely the time so that the first blow in the film would coincide with the
anniversary of the "Happy Event" to the minute. Not only that, I read
several of Anne Perry's novels and even bought an autographed copy at a rare
book
shop for too much money. And, like you, I am not given to such excesses.
This was a unique experience for me, but I had fun, learned a lot and still
regard Heavenly Creatures as one of the best films I've ever seen. By the
way,
I only went to see it because it was a Peter Jackson film, and quite a
departure for him. I had had no previous knowledge of the "Event" or the
case and
just wanted to see what Peter was up to at the time.
And by the way, it's nice to get a mailing from this group that isn't spam!
