Review of The Virgin Suicides (2000) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

This is very much a psychological coming of age style drama (i.e. a fairly character driven drama at that, or should that be characters driven, those obviously being the Lisbon sisters, all of whom seem to the local adolescent boys as almost some form of mythological enigmas).

The plot pace is really quite slow. I'd say that if your mainly looking for a drama with a fair amount of action in it, then don't look here, as it could come across as quite mundane. The majority of the film is dictated from the point of view of the Lisbon sisters fellow male pupils, who provide narration, giving an insight in to how they viewed the girls, how little the community knew and understood them. There are some dream like scenes, reconstructions of daydreams and the like, whereby their shown in very soft, fuzzy focus, with colours blending in to one another, giving it a surreal feel. It is somewhat cliched in parts, with such dreamlike scenes including one of the girls skipping through meadows wearing a summer dress what you could describe as a very innocent and perhaps virginal way(?).

The film is set primarily in the 1970s, although its all about looking back at what happened during the time there were a series of suicides in the family but these, obviously, occured in the 1970s (its pretty easy to tell that its set then given the fashion, music and everything, although im not sure that the start of the film specified which year its supposed to be set in).

Thematically speaking, it covers adolescent isolation, obsession, issues to do with strict parenting and 'growing pains' I guess you could say (in a non-sexual way, I should add(!)). The musical score includes tracks such as How Can You Mend A Broken Heart performed by Al Green, Strange Magic performed by ELO and I'm Not In Love performed by 10CC.

Cast wise, James Woods portrays the Lisbon sisters father, Ronald and Kathleen Turner plays the mother, who I don't think was referred to by a particular name. Josh Hartnett plays the main guy Trip Fontaine, the typical teen hunk who has the hots for one of the sisters (Lux). He comes across as very cool, calm and collected, quite charismatic and the like. The sisters are portrayed by Kirsten Dunst, who plays Lux, the blonde bombshell who keeps her distance much to the guys frustration, A.J. Cook plays Mary Lisbon, Leslie Hayman plays Therese Lisbon, Chelse Swain plays Bonnie Lisbon and Hanna Hall plays Cecilia Lisbon, who takes centre stage at the start of the film. Pretty much all of the sisters look similar, in being blonde, dreamy adolescents. They all come across as somewhat mysterious and keen on each others company, as would make sense given their domestic isolation.

I felt that it had quite a haunting type feel to it, with rather 'floaty' music used in some scenes (I'm not sure quite how else to describe it). Its certainly quite atmospheric and spookily engrossing as well, if you share the boys curiosity to try to get a glimpse of the private lives and thinking of these young girls, to spot what led up to the inevitable sad ending. I suppose it isn't exactly an original film in terms of the plot but the characterisations were done in a way that I found it quite an intriguing film, as I tried to imagine myself in the shoes of the various sisters and look out for the presumed signs of what may or may not have prompted the sisters' downfalls. It almost has the feel of a sort of a twisted fairy tale of sorts, if that makes any sense?. It certainly won't appeal to everyone but at just over an hour and a half long, its a pretty good film of its type.

I found the ending to be rather sudden and as such took me by surprise, even though I was somewhat aware of what it would be, not least due to the fact that I'd read the novel the film is based on (The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides), although that was some time ago as I was finishing secondary school, around the end of the 90s (this film was originally released in the year 2000, although in the US it was released in 1999, according to IMDB).

Part of what makes it so haunting is the fact that its set in such a mundane seeming, typical middle class town, not somewhere where you may expect there to obviously be young people with especially troubled minds. I suppose, if I had to compare it to another film, I'd say that as far as the psychological drama side of it is concerned, its a bit like 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'.

The film script was written by and the film was directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola. I believe this was the first feature film she directed, or certainly it was one of her first. Its certainly quite stylish - it has the feel of a cult, indie hit . It doesn't seem like a multi million blockbuster, its more of an understated, subtle yet chilling family drama of sorts.

Yes I'd recommend it.