The Virgin Suicides (1999)

A group of male friends become obsessed with a group of mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents after one of them commits suicide.

Director:

Sofia Coppola

Writers:

Jeffrey Eugenides (novel), Sofia Coppola

Stars:

James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst

3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Woods	...	Ronald Lisbon
Kathleen Turner	...	Mrs. Lisbon
Kirsten Dunst	...	Lux Lisbon
Josh Hartnett	...	Trip Fontaine
Michael Paré	...	Adult Trip Fontaine (as Michael Pare)
Scott Glenn	...	Father Moody
Danny DeVito	...	Dr. Horniker
A.J. Cook	...	Mary Lisbon
Hanna Hall	...	Cecilia Lisbon
Leslie Hayman	...	Therese Lisbon
Chelse Swain	...	Bonnie Lisbon
Anthony DeSimone	...	Chase Buell (as Anthony Desimone)
Lee Kagan	...	David Barker
Robert Schwartzman	...	Paul Baldino
Noah Shebib	...	Parkie Denton

Storyline

The lives of an eclectic group of men who live in an affluent American suburb in the '70s are forever changed by their obsession with five doomed sisters.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | virgin | suburb | school | isolation | 

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Taglines:

Beautiful, mysterious, haunting, invariably fatal. Just like life.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong thematic elements involving teens

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount Classics [us] Paramount Classics [us] (Obsession Design)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sofia Coppola's the Virgin Suicides

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£141,888 (UK) (19 May 2000)

Gross:

$4,859,475 (USA) (25 August 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Zoetrope, Eternity Pictures, Muse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 90 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sofia Coppola:  [sun through leaves] 

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Goofs

During the end credits, one of the Sloan songs is titled as "End it Peacefully" when its actual title is "The Lines You Amend" from the album "One Chord to Another" released in 1996.

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Quotes

Trip Fontaine: You'll love it.
Trip Fontaine: Peach schnapps.
Trip Fontaine: [Voice over] Babes love it.
Lux Lisbon: That stuff tastes really good.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Kirsten Dunst/Eminem (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Dark Messages"
(uncredited)
Written by Air
Performed by Air

User Reviews

Captures the Dark Comedy and Lyric Poetry of the Book

I'm uncertain why the daughter of a Hollywood icon would select as her first director effort a nearly unfilmable book of linguistic time bombs and nearly unspeakable tragedy. Jeffrey Eugenides's book The Virgin Suicides is one of the underappreciated gems of the 1990s and surely Sophia Coppola must have known that the critics would have it out for anything she did (see reviews listed under "acting: Part 3, The Godfather"). So Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford, decided to do something unexpected: She made a gem of a movie that's easy to like and complex enough to savour.

Taking place "25 years ago" in "Michigan," The Virgin Suicides tells the story of a group of teenage boys and the Lisbon sisters, whose suicides changed them forever. The book is told with a rather unique choral narrator (the entire story is in the first person plural) which makes it clear that the focus of the story is not the Lisbons, but the boys and their attempts to restructure the events of what must have been their final summer of innocence. Similarly, the film features extensive voice-overs, culled from the book, coming from an unidentified member (or members) of the gang. You might wonder why you're never able to distinguish between any of the four or five or six males who wander through the story, or why at least several of the Lisbon girls also blend together, but rest assured it's intentional. The Virgin Suicides is very much about a baffled collective.

The movie begins with the first suicide attempt of the youngest Lisbon girl. When the doctor examining her asks why should would try to kill herself she offers the simple response, "Obviously, Doctor, you have never been a thirteen year old girl." The book and film are both really about men and how incapable we are of understand what it's like to be a thirteen year old girl or a thirty year old woman or really anything in between. And what's even more frustrating is the fact that women seem to understand men so devastatingly well (a trait perfectly personified in Kirsten Dunst's portrayal of middle sister Lux). The narrative such as it is marches inexorably through the gradual awakening of the narrators and the inevitable realization that they never knew anything.

Coppola, who also adapted the screenplay, makes decent use of the book's two metaphorical subplots -- an outbreak of Dutch Elm Disease and a cemetery worker's strike. The rot of suburban life lies at the core of this story and Coppola wisely never overplays her hand. She loves using mythic imagery, generally revolving around Dunst, an actress beginning to produce the kind of resume that speaks of longevity. Coppola's background in costuming is also evident, displaying the decadence and tackiness of the observing characters, contrasted with the spare Puritainism of the Lisbons.

Coppola gets mostly good performances from the young generation of her cast. As the only two characters to get individual notice, Dunst and Josh Hartnett do excellent work. She's the animal core of the film and he perfectly captures the perplexed, corrupted purity of the male side of the story. Playing against type, James Woods is excellent as the Lisbon's introverted henpecked father and Kathleen Turner is effectively scary as their domineering mother.

The film is also aided by some wonderful technical work including Jasna Stefanovic's nostalgic, but never cutesy production design and Edward Lachman's versatile cinematography. The soundtrack by the French band Air is also notable, mixed with various hit songs from the period.

The Virgin Suicides has perhaps too many moments of whimsy, where it seems too devoted to its source, even when the material doesn't translate properly. But still, it's the moments of magic -- the Lisbon girls prom, an eerie family party, and phone conversation spoken only with records -- that stand out. I'd give this one an 8/10.