The Virgin Suicides (1999 film)

Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a sucker for a 90's film. Never been Kissed, Empire Records, Clueless, The Doom Generation, Ten Things I Hate About you and many more. You name it and I've more than likely seen it. My list of favourites could go on forever. However, you may be shocked to find out that there is one film which I had never actually seen before and that was Sofia Coppola's 1999 version of 'The Virgin Suicides'. So as you can imagine as soon as I found out about this film during my university course, I knew I had to watch it straight away and therefore, I purchased the DVD. And that pretty much leads me to where I am right now. 



The film is based on the tale of the mysterious Lisbon sisters who fictionally grew up during the 1970's in Detroit America and who have every boy in the neighbourhood dreaming over their beauty and questioning their reserved and rather orthodox upbringing. The film is based on the original novel written by the author Jeffrey Eugenides and if you get the chance I would definitely recommend reading the book before watching the film. I have both editions but I was too keen and found myself reading half the book and skipping to the film. I know it's bad but I do still intend to finish the book, promise.  

Anyway, as pre teen and mushy as I may have initially made this movie out to be, it embarks upon disturbing themes throughout the narrative as the girls go through their first experiences of romance, heartache, parties, then an escalation of repression, terror and consequently death as the movie follows the doomed fates of each sister in the space of a year. Out of the five sisters, the movie seems to concentrate specifically on the lives of the two youngest sisters Cecilia and Lux and the other three (Mary, Bonnie and Theresa) seem to stand in the shadows of their two sisters. However, as the film goes on you begin to realise that the girls do have more personality than it seems but they are unable to show this due to their overly protected and strict parents who control their every move. Although we also start to realise that in terms of Lux's behaviour this is far from true. One thing I will also mention is that the film is told from the perspective of the boys who live in the same neighbourhood as the girls and therefore, it is these boys who watch and obsess over the girls every move. Obviously since it is the boys who are telling the story, it means we never really get to know what goes on within the girls minds, why they ultimately end their lives and therefore, we believe what the boys every word they tell. The whole story is quite a mystery and leaves you wanting more answers about the troubled sisters but overall it definitely translates a great insight into the lives of adolescents during the 70's onto our screens and the diversity of family life.

The film kind of reminds you of the 2002 novel turned film 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold with the whole thrilling and disturbing narrative that unfolds a story of a young girl before and after her death. Not too mention another key similarity is the referral of the seventies era and the clothing especially worn by the Virgin Suicides' teen heartthrobs Trip Fontaine and the girls when they are not dressed to fit their mother's (Mrs Lisbon) conservative vision. (I do hope Josh Hartnett (Trip) was wearing a wig during this film because that hair is just a bit too bowl cut for my liking. But I suppose it was set in the mid seventies, a time for experiment, freedom and shaping identities before the wild glamorous 80's and minimalistic 90's came along. So I guess we will let him off!)

If you haven't yet, definitely read the book or watch the film!

See you soon!