This corrosive tragi-comedy is a surprisingly well-put-together little movie that achieves most of its goals.
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:91
Fresh:70
Rotten:21
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Sofia's successful directorial debut lies in the movie's compelling story and the actors' genuine emotions.
Theatrical Release:19-05-2000
Synopsis: Based on the 1993 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES tells the dreamlike tale of the Lisbons, a family living in a sheltered 1970s suburbia. When Cecilia (Hannah Hall), the youngest of... Based on the 1993 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES tells the dreamlike tale of the Lisbons, a family living in a sheltered 1970s suburbia. When Cecilia (Hannah Hall), the youngest of the five teenage Lisbon daughters, inexplicably commits suicide, the rest of the family--Mr. Lisbon (James Woods), an awkward high school math teacher; Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner), a stern, humorless housewife; and the four remaining sisters: Lux (Kirsten Dunst), Bonnie (Chelse Swain), Mary (A.J. Cook), and Therese (Leslie Hayman)--recedes into a morbid cloud of repression and denial. As the girls are forced to retreat from everyday life by their conservative mother, they become the subject of fascination for a group of neighborhood boys, who narrate the story and hope to rescue the girls from their listless confinement. The first feature by director-screenwriter Sofia Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's daughter), THE VIRGIN SUICIDES is a mesmerizingly atmospheric film that perfectly captures both the moody tone of the book and the light-saturated feel of the 1970s. Dunst gives a standout performance as the promiscuous Lux, who becomes the sole obsession of high school ladies' man Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett). The movie also includes cameos by Danny DeVito and Scott Glenn. In addition to songs by Heart and Todd Rundgren, the film features an evocative score by the French duo Air. [More]
Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett
Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Hannah Hall, A.J. Cook, Chelse Swain, Danny DeVito, Scott Glenn, Jonathan Tucker, Leslie Hayman, Anthony DeSimone, Michelle Duquet, Michael Paré
Director: Sofia Coppola
Director: Sofia Coppola
Screenwriter: Sofia Coppola
Producer: Dan Halsted, Chris Hanley, Francis Ford Coppola, Julie Costanzo
Composer: Air
Reviews for The Virgin Suicides
The film just bored me stupid. Very few laughs, even less memorable scenes, and definitely not an 'entertainment' film, by any stretch of the imagination.
It's hard to remember a film that mixes disparate, delicate ingredients with the subtlety and virtuosity of Sofia Coppola's brilliant The Virgin Suicides.
Though she wisely foregoes drawing simplistic conclusions from a story brimming with unanswerable questions, Coppola doesn't scratch very far below the surface of this enigmatic fairy tale.
Contrary to the expectations of cynics who still blame Coppola for single-handedly ruining The Godfather: Part III, this film is quite an achievement.
Coppola has created a detective story without a solution and a coming-of-ager without discernable characters.
I am tired of seeing male adolescent sexual fantasies as deeply symbolic of life, the universe, and everything. But these are the themes The Virgin Suicides wants so desperately to present to us as fresh and new.
There are a lot of good individual elements on display, yet they never quite gel into something that completely satisfies.
The movie ultimately succeeds because of its convincing emotion. In contrast to big-screen bummers we see every week, this movie conveys genuine sorrow.
Kirsten Dunst is marvelous as the most adventuresome of the girls, and Josh Hartnett is fine as the high school hunk.
At the film's best, Coppola shows a deftness at editing, weaving together soft superimpositions of faces and readings of Cecilia's diary to give a feeling of innocent yearning.
The Virgin Suicides captures in stylized vignettes the intertwining strands of innocence, desire and despair in the psyches of teenage girls.
One of the most promising directorial debuts in recent memory, with the ability to cast a spell I have yet to shake three weeks after seeing the film.
[Coppola] has the courage to play it in a minor key. She doesn't hammer home ideas and interpretations. She is content with the air of mystery and loss that hangs in the air like bitter poignancy.
Latest News for The Virgin Suicides
July 15, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Pretty Persuasion
One of Sundance's more buzzed-about films was the dark high school comedy "Pretty Persuasion," and now you can check out the trailer over at Quicktime's Trailer Site.... More...
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