The Virgin Suicides

I have watched this several times over the years. The music is great...love 70's songs. Story is sad and loosely based on a true story. Kirsten Dunst is really good in this film.

One of my favorite movies! Definitely a classic.

Apparently those who cannot act, can direct. The legendary bad performance Sofia Coppola turned in for her father's "The Godfather, Part III," will now be reduced to being the prelude to what should be a stunning career as a director. Currently nominated for Oscars for both writing and directing Best Picture nominee "Lost in Translation," Coppola already proved her competence behind the camera in her first full-length feature, "The Virgin Suicides" (She previously made a 14-minute short, "Lick the Star"). They will be arguing heredity versus environment on Sofia Coppola for the next half-century.As our story begins, we are informed by the film's narrator (Giovanni Ribisi) that the first of the Lisbon sisters to attempt suicide, was the youngest, Cecilia (Hannah Hall). Told by the doctor that she is not old enough to know how bad life gets, Cecilia calmly responds, "Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a thirteen year old girl." Having watched "Thirteen" this week, I know bad that age can be, but that is not what "The Virgin Suicides" are about. This film is more about what the boys in the neighborhood thought about the Lisbon sisters than what drove them to suicide.Strangely enough, "The Virgin Suicides" is not a black comedy, although there are a few moments along those lines, mostly supplied by the adults in the narrative. The boys in the neighborhood worship the Lisbon sisters as icons of both feminine beauty and mystery, especially Lux (Kirsten Dunst), the second youngest of the quintet and the one who is most determined to have done some living before she dies.There is a metaphor at work big time in "The Virgin Suicides," because the Lisbon sisters might kill themselves, but the ideal they represented to the boys in the neighborhood will live forever. Coppola creates a wonderful romantic scene when the girls are pulled from school and shut up in their house in maximum security isolation by their mother (Kathleen Turner) after the death of Cecilia. The boys and girls exchange phone calls in which they play songs from their favorites records, never saying a word, but communicating a lot of emotions in their selections. What impresses you about Coppola's direction in this film is that she keeps the story and her camera under control. There really are not big moments in this film, just skillfully crafted small ones.The cast also features James Woods as the girls' father, Scott Glenn as Father Moody, and Danny Devito as Dr. Horniker. You get the feeling that daddy's name might have gotten them to read the script at which point the script sold them on participating in this one. Josh Hartnett plays Trip Fontaine, the one boy in the neighborhood who grows up to make a move for Lux (and who grows up to be played by Michael Paré). This 1999 film was adapted by Coppola from the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, which supposedly is Coppola's favorite book. "Lost in Translation" was an original story and script, so Coppola has already moved to the next level. On the basis of these first two films, we certainly have to look forward to what she comes up with next, because Coppola is getting off to a great start behind the camera.

When I first saw this movie I cried, I watched it again today and still found myself tearing up. I personally have experience with suicidal ideation, but there's something about watching the demise of young souls that makes it all seem moot. Here's a story about teen girls, who should at that age be discovering who they are on the track to being women. Unfortunately, overbearing and strict parenting denied them the right to get to know themselves and the world around them. Teenage years can be an angsty time, full of uncertainty and heartbreak, but its a part of life. With this film, you witness the demise of their adolescence. The acting is well done, Kristen Dunst in particular sticks out to me the most. The film leaves out a few more disturbing aspects from the novel, but overall the movie is well done.

The movie presents the events, but provides little in terms of analysis, and does not even give a lot of food for thought. The suicide of the first girl is presented with no background at all. The rest can be partially explained by strict parenting, but it is a very sorry reason as presented in the movie. Surely there must have been inner turmoil or at least a more restrictive family life? I was a suicidal teenager myself, and I was full of angst and darkness. These girls seem very complacent and commonplace; the diary of one of them is filled with mundane observations. My own diary at the same age was all about existential despair and lack of meaning in life. I feel that, as presented, the events in the movie appear to be a freak accident observed by a more or less indifferent neighbor. Sometimes a movie manages to make you think while showing most mundane events; not this one. The cinematic presentation is fine, but I feel it as empty.

The movie is an account of outside perspective of the girls' lives. So you never really know what is truly happening in their home. I agree with the other reviews on that the music in the movie is fantastic. But I didn't see any other reviews indicate how our culture was back then. Neighbors constantly talking about how that household was essentially a prison to those young girls, but never intervening. How their mother ran a strict household, doing her best, but no one ever getting close enough to her to let her know her love for them was choking them.I think the lesson of this movie isn't just about how suicide affects everyone, even those who weren't directly involved. But also how freedom to grow, is also very important to teenagers. They need to live their own lives, within reason, but to be able to make mistakes.