The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola’s 1999 feature directorial debut, is a dreamy haze, exploring the love, loss, and all-around horrific experience of being an adolescent. Told from the perspective of a group of men reflecting on their teenage years in suburbia, this film explores their confusion over the tragedy of the seemingly mysterious Lisbon sisters. Early in the movie, the youngest of the five Lisbon sisters, Cecilia (Hannah Hall), attempts to take her own life. This prompts the Libson’s overprotective parents to attempt supervised socializing between their daughters and the neighborhood boys. While I won’t go into detail to avoid giving too much away, these meager attempts are only met with further tragedy. The rebellion—or normal adolescent exploration—of sister Lux (Kirsten Dunst) leads to the parents further restricting their daughters from experiencing the outside world. The neighborhood boys grow progressively more infatuated with the Lisbon sisters, claiming to fall in love with them in their own way.
This movie is understated, yet powerful. The inner struggles of the Lisbon sisters are not hammered into the minds of the audience, rather shown. The Lisbon sisters are shown more as something to be hidden from the world, and admired from afar, not actual people. Their mother Sara (Kathleen Turner) is increasingly stricter, and father (James Woods) tries to help, but without attempting to truly understand his children. The neighborhood boys who the sisters look to for solace, view the girls through the lens of a hazy, unattainable dream. They do not understand the girls, and are infatuated by them. This painfully adolescent expression is beautifully captured by Coppola. While this movie is filmed like a daydream, it is not a light watch. It deals largely with the grief and trauma of loss and repression, and the turmoil of finding your way in the world as an adolescent.
The Virgin Suicides
1999
dir. Sofia Coppola
97 min.
Screens on 35mm Monday, 3/25, 7:00 @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Preceded by optional seminar with Lesley Professor Ingrid Stobbe (6:15)
Part of the ongoing series: Big Screen Debuts
