You'll be happy to find Heavenly Creatures has been successfully exported! Oh, you already knew that. Anyway, as I'm very much into foreign languages and all, this is the sort of thing I find really interesting (how the title was translated). So here goes, how Heavenly Creatures was translated in the following countries:
France - Créatures Célestes: funny, this. Whereas in English we've got two words ('heavenly' and 'celestial') in French we've only got 'céleste', which can be translated by both. No 'Celestial Creatures' then, they just kept the original title Heavenly Creatures.
Italy - Creaturas dil Cielo (Creatures Of Heaven) - a reminder of Daughters Of Heaven, which was performed onstage a few years before HC's release. But this title-choice was probably just for the ear - sounds better in Italian this way, I bet.
Brazil - Almas Gêmeas (Soulmates) - maybe not as striking as Heavenly Creatures, but still dwelling on that spiritual thing.
Danemark - Engel min engel (Angel My Angel) - I love this title. It's a bit cheesy but it just sounds so unlikely or something... Maybe a reminder of An Angel at my table, I don't know (starring Shallow Grave's Kerry Fox ! and of course directed by another New Zealander, Jane Campion...)...And I like that mirror-effect between the two 'angels'. I also wrote that this was from Sweden. I was wrong and I apologize to all Swedes and Danes, and any other people that might have been offended or deceived by this mistake. Won't happen again... Until it does.
Portugal - Amizade sem limites (Boundless Friendship) - to me this title is different fom the others. The others refer to lightness and this one focuses on the intensity of the relationship. I think it's a mistake, I mean sure the murder was one of the results of that intensity, but what's great about the original title is that it's so unlike the murder, on the contrary it's very light and pure.I feel Boundless Friendship gives away the story without creating an antithesis between the title and the end of the film, and it's really a shame.
Sweden - Svarta Änglar (Black Angels) - I wonder if 'dark angels' wouldn't sound better... Anyway. Again a title that doens't create a dichotomy between the title and the actual events! This one already contains it, black and angels! Where's the fun ? The title was supposed to reflect the girls' dreams, and then we had what really happened. I mean 'heavenly creatures' is such a far cry from what the Parker/Hulme case is usually associated with ('heartless monsters' is a little more like it). There goes subtlety, I guess... And thank you very much to the teacher who helped me distinguish Swedish from Danish (this is silly. He won't even come here, I don't know his name... But thank you very much anyway).
I've just started compounding these titles, so if you have more HC titles feel free to email me (or if I mistyped something, too)...
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