Movie Description
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.
| Credits | | Producer: | Chris Hanley, Francis Ford Coppola | | Cast: | Anthony DeSimone, Chelse Swain, Jonathan Tucker, Leslie Hayman, Michael Paré, Scott Glenn |
| Details | | Sound: | HiFi Sound, Stereo Sound, Surround Sound |
Notes
Theatrical release: APRIL 21, 2000 (NY/LA/SF)
MAY 5, 2000 (WIDE)
Ed Halter and Godfrey Cheshire of the New York Press and Stephen Garrett of Time Out New York voted THE VIRGIN SUICIDES one of the top ten movies of 2000.
The Chicago Film Critics Association nominated Jean-Benoit Ducket and Nicholas Godin, aka AIR, for Best Original Score.
Editorial Reviews
"...The movie's best moments have an inspired feeling of playfulness and freedom matched by Ms. Dunst's smart, beguiling performance as Lux Lisbon..."
New York Times - p.E18 - A. O. Scott
"...[The film is] disarmingly wispy....[The virgins] are blessed with great luminosity..."
Premiere - p.22 - Glenn Kenny
"...This sublimely confident and poetic debut has the power to endure..." -- 4 out of 5 stars
Total Film - p.81 - Dorian Lynskey
"...Coppola does a lovely job of staging the romance..."
Entertainment Weekly - p.49 - Owen Gleiberman
"...The director captures the novel's intrinsic nostalgia for the loss of adolescence..."
Film Comment - p.73-5 - Chris Chang
"...There are nice moments throughout, and Coppola has done a deft job evoking the spirit of the film's period and suburban setting..."
Box Office - p.143 - Lael Loewenstein
"...Sofia Coppola shows an impressive maturity and an assured skill....The result is a highly affecting film unafraid to exact an emotional toll..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (04/21/2000)
"...THE VIRGIN SUICIDES is Sofia Coppola's first film....She has the courage to play it in a minor key....She is content with the air of mystery and loss that hangs in the air like bitter poignancy..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (05/05/2000)
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