The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides

2000 R 1h 37m Criterion Collection

A man about forty years of age tells the story from when he was a teenager in upscale suburban Detroit of his and three of his friends' fascination with the mysterious and doomed Lisbon sisters. In 1974, the sisters were seventeen year old Therese, sixteen year old Mary, fifteen year old Bonnie, fourteen year old Lux, and thirteen year old Cecilia. Their fascination still remains as they try to piece together the entire story. The sisters were mysteries if only because of having a strict and overprotective upbringing by their father, who taught math at the girls' private co-ed school, and overly devout Catholic mother, who largely dictated the household rules. The story focuses primarily on two incidents and the resulting situations on the girls' lives. The first was an action by Cecilia to deal with her emotions over her life. And the second was the relationship between Lux - the sister who pushed the boundaries of the household rules most overtly in doing what most teenagers want to do - and Trip Fontaine, he who could have any girl he wanted but wanting solely Lux.

Director
Sofia Coppola
Starring
Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Michael Paré
Genre
Drama, Romance
My Rating
★★★★½ 9.0 / 10
Format & Location
Format: 4K
Location: Shelf
Date Added
October 21, 2023

Review

Sofia Coppola knows how to shoot beauty and knows how to make you feel that beauty. This movie is gorgeous, and a story I find fascinating. It has been since around 2002 that I read the book, but I recall liking it a great deal. I read it so I could appreciate the movie, which I loved then. This was the first time seeing it since 2002 and I loved it this time as well. In retrospect, the look most likely inspired a lot of the style I tended toward when I shot and edited both video and still photography at that time. That's beside the point, which is thatI loved this.

This also crosses off my "Female Filmmakers" category ij the Criterion Challenge. This one has given me the idea to rank the challenge at the end of the year.