Review of The Virgin Suicides (2000) by Anatoly S — 10 Feb 2010

"Love Sex Passion Fear Obsession".

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.

REVIEW.

Neophyte filmmaker Sophia Coppola makes an auspicious directing debut in her adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' novel set in the 1970s suburbia recollecting the tragic account of the golden haired ethereal Lisbon sisters, whose eponymous acts, cause reflection and observation by a group of pubescent boys bewitched, beguiled and bewildered by their hypnotic captivity by their strict effectless parents. Dunst gives a star-making performance as the most prominent of the siblings with her cheery grin masking a hollow existence that best sums up the plight of the sullen girls forced by their folks to their eventual demise. Coppola uses her cinematographer Edward Lachman and production designer Jasna Stefanovic to the hilt in the diffused faded lighting suggesting an old Polaroid come to life with its dead on accurate period encapsulation. She fares less on the four young men however which should've been the strong point (as it was in the book) in why they become obsessed but her use of FM pop nuggets like Todd Rundgren's 'Hello, It's Me' in an inventive, heart-breaking interpretation of playing telephone is one for the film vault of great scenes. Woods and Turner ? both barely recognizable - are outstanding in deglamourized almost sponge-like interpretations as the clueless couple whose doom is sealed from the first life attempt on. Joins the pantheon of suburban rot cinema with 'Ordinary People', 'The Ice Storm' and 'American Beauty'.