The Virgin Suicides 9/10

The Virgin Suicides (R) 1999
Reviewer’s Tilt (6)
Drama-96min
Special DVD Features worth a look- The Making Of The Virgin Suicides

With The Virgin Suicides, screenwriter/director Sophia Coppola pays audiences back the debt she owes them for her performance in The Godfather III. For those of you who have seen The Godfather III, you realize what an accomplishment this film must be. Transforming the best selling novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, Coppola guides the project with the knowing hands of a loving mother. Giovanni Ribisi is perfectly understated as the narrator of this 25-year flashback of a well-heeled Michigan neighborhood. The story follows four neighborhood boys who become infatuated with the teenage Lisbon sisters. Years later, they reexamine the unsettling events leading up to the film’s titular conclusion. Like all great films, the visceral experience rests in the “feel” of the film, rather than in any particular dialogue or visual.

Deft cinematography, casual acting and an adroit soundtrack convey the melancholy of youth, reminding us of the utter vulnerability lurking just below the surface of every teenager. Just like the precipitous infection of the Lisbon’s Elm tree, the virulence of life critically infects the girls, leaving them mere hollow shells, devoid of feeling. Unlike Nabokov’s Lolita, the Lisbon girls exude an accidental sensuality, a sensuality belying their rotting interiors. The true tragedy of adolescence is the indifference with which it doles out pleasure and pain. This film captures that feeling, drawing adults of all ages and all generations back to a time they all cherish, but few would repeat. The Virgin Suicides is a timeless original, destined to become a classic.

Format: Color, Widescreen Anamorphic, Closed captioned.
Sound: (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Extras: Featurette "The Making Of The Virgin Suicides," Air "Playground Love" video; photos, trailer.