The Purpose Of Jackson's Use Of Puccini's 'Humming Chorus' And Final Aria Of Madame Butterfly Heightens Meaning In 'Heavenly Creatures'?
In Heavenly Creatures (1994), Jackson uses aria from Puccini's Madame Butterfly intensify the events that follow, therefore Juliet sings aria the evening before she and Pauline commit the murder.
Madame Butterfly Summary:
Butterfly (a 15 year old Japanese girl) marries a U.S Naval officer named Pinkerton; he leaves shortly after their wedding and returns three years later. Butterfly remains waiting on Pinkerton's return, despite many believing it will not happen. It is then revealed that she has since given birth to his son. It is then that pinkerton arrives back to the house in Japan - but with his new American wife, Kate. Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes to see her himself, Butterfly then prays to statues of her ancestral gods. Butterfly then says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him. She places a small American flag into his hands and goes behind a screen, killing herself with a hara-kiri knife. Pinkton then enters, but he is too late.
This inter-textual reference highlights the significant of Juliet and Pauline's actions, making them even more harrowing. The distress at the end of the opera is heart wrenching; Jackson mimics this distress, engulfing the audience in the absolute sadness. This almost makes the audience sympathetic toward the two girls, much as the audience is toward Butterfly.
Not only does this boosts the audiences participation as they feel smug and intelligent for noticing such a reference, but the soundtrack also foreshadows the films later events, and the two girls demise from the glorification of their imaginary.
Another aspect of Jackson's use of the extracts from "Madam Butterfly" is because the girls lived in a heightened world of grand opera and film.
ReplyDeleteAlso there is a tragic inevitability in the film. The conventional endings of grand operas such as Puccini's "Madam Butterfly", "Tosca" and "La Boheme" ( is either suicide or death from consumption). The girls saw themselves as part of some grand opera or saga thus could justify their action. They were also lonely.
One small revision....you mean glorification of their imagination rather than "imagery".
One other point about using grand opera, if you watch the final 5 minutes (the finale) on you tube you will see that all the deaths are about profound love and inability to cope with separation. Another link to "Heavenly Creatures.
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