The Virgin Suicides (2000)

The film focuses on the five Lisbon sisters, beautiful, yet repressed by a religious and overly protective mother (Turner), who encourages their intellectual growth, but tries to block any sexual or emotional stirrings. The girls turn their passions into other channels, bonding tightly with one another, and viewing the world as outsiders. When the youngest attempts, then succeeds at killing herself, the family gains an unwanted notoriety, and a group of local boys begin to worship the remaining sisters from afar, gathering materials, and creating a fantasy world about them.

Lux, the most beautiful and free-spirited of the sisters (Dunst), attracts the attentions of the most popular boy in school, Tripp (Hartnett), who confuses raging hormones with love, and begins a campaign to 'have' her. Winning the respect of their father (James Woods, in another excellent 'against-type' portrayal), he succeeds in wearing the mother down, and arranges 'dates' for the sisters, so he can take Lux to the Homecoming Dance. The party provides the springboard for the tragedy that gives the film its name, and catapults the girls into icons that the boys who admire them can never forget.

There are many reasons to buy this film; Coppola's understanding of how boys and girls interact, and her sure touch with their issues about sexuality; Kirsten Dunst's best performance to date, conveying both sweetness, and barely suppressed erotic desire; Kathleen Turner's breakthrough as a character actress, sacrificing her glamorous persona for a stocky and frumpy matron. There are some excellent cameos, as well, particularly Danny DeVito as a clueless psychiatrist, Scott Glenn as a family priest who offers platitudes instead of comfort, and Michael Paré as an older Tripp, reminiscing about Lux, and their 'love'.

This is a very special film, one that you will not soon forget! I highly recommend it!

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The time frame is the mid-'70s and the setting is an upper class suburban community in Michigan. The film tells the sad story of the five Lisbon sisters - Cecilia (age 13, played by Hanna Hall), Lux (age 14, played by Kirsten Dunst), Bonnie (age 15, played by Chelsea Swain), Mary (age 16, played by A.J. Cook), and Therese (age 17, played by Leslie Hayman) - all of whom come to a bad end before finishing high school (this much is revealed during the introductory voiceover, which is provided by Giovanni Ribisi). Unhappy, neglected Cecilia is the first to give up on life - after surviving one suicide attempt, she is successful on the second try. In the wake of that event, the atmosphere surrounding the surviving sisters becomes grim, and their parents' overprotectiveness threatens to suffocate them. For most children, mothers and fathers set boundaries; for the Lisbons, it's iron bars.

The Virgin Suicides is filmed as a memory looking back through 25 years, and the point-of-view is that of a boy who was in love with one (or perhaps all) of the girls. As a result, the events recounted here offer a filtered perspective of the sisters and the complexities of their lives. Presenting things in this manner, The Virgin Suicides manages to be both poignant and touchingly nostalgic. Also, Coppola's style is such that she avoids turning the film into a sudsy melodrama that glamorizes self-destruction.

One of The Virgin Suicides' strengths is its ability to effectively capture the nuances of teenage life during the '70s. Coppola gets all of the little things right: the awkwardness of a chaperoned boy/girl party, the thrill of first love, and the nervousness of the pre-dance ritual (in this case, the homecoming dance, not the prom). The film also boasts a solid soundtrack featuring a few songs that haven't been endlessly recycled in other, recent, set-in-the-'70s features. In one key scene, music provides a link between the Lisbon girls and the outside world - it becomes their only viable means of communication and free expression.

Most of the cast is comprised of fresh faces, all of whom do solid jobs. The more recognizable names include Kirsten Dunst as Lux (the girl with the most visible role), James Woods (as the girls' father), and Kathleen Turner (as their mother). Josh Hartnett (last seen as the guy who loses the girl in Here On Earth), who is slowly building a reputation in Hollywood, plays heartthrob Trip Fontaine, whose poor treatment of Lux sets off a chain of events that leads to one of the movie's tragedies. The Virgin Suicides also includes excerpts from a modern-day interview with a forty-something Trip (played by Michael Pare), who clearly has regrets about his treatment of Lux.

By using occasional bursts of humor and setting up the film as a collage of reminiscences, Coppola establishes a mood that is wistful and sad, but not funereal. There are a few instances when the film gets a little heavy handed, but, for the most part, the tone is well modulated. Although Coppola almost certainly gained more than a little help from her famous father in getting the production off the ground, the talent evident in her debut argues that this is not a case of unwarranted nepotism. The apple has not fallen far from the tree.

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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.

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