Great movie, but a wasted DVD opportunity (The Virgin Suicides (DVD))

Member Name: cswann

Product:	The Virgin Suicides (DVD)
Date:	19/03/04 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great movie, Budget price

Disadvantages: Lack of extras

“The Virgin Suicides” was Sofia Coppola’s last movie as a director, previous to “Lost in translation”, which of course she recently won an Oscar for. Personally, I felt there were other directors and movies which deserved the award more than “Lost in translation” did. I also feel that “The Virgin Suicides” was a better movie. But there you go. That’s the Oscars for you.

I saw “The Virgin Suicides” at the cinema when it first came out, and enjoyed it – I found it a strange but very rewarding movie.
It’s based on the novel of the same name, by Jeffrey Eugenides. It’s the tale of the Lisbon sisters, and is set in the 70’s, and very reminiscent of the Wonder years, in that it is narrated by a male who is looking back over the years. The boys are so polite and nice, too – although this could be down to the fact that they are the ones doing all the story telling, so come to think of it they could be misrepresenting it all. Anyway, it’s the story of the Lisbon girls, as seen through the eyes of some teenage boys.

There is plenty in the movie to get you thinking about voyeurism – the boys are voyeurs, the camera is (the film reminds me of every boy’s dream of having X-Ray eyes) and aren’t we, too?
Cecilia’s is the first suicide – I don’t think this will spoil the film for anyone – the title gives it away for a start! The story is not at all predictable, though. It’s more of a “whydunnit” than a “whodunnit” in any case.

I love the way "The Virgin Suicides" is filmed. There are photographic tricks galore, like the snapshot scenes, showing the passing of time and the seasons.
&
#65;fter Cecilia’s death, it is noticeable, for instance, how the house gets extremely untidy - so although this film is strange in many ways, it is at the same time much closer to real life than the usual Hollywood offering.

It is difficult to get a feeling of which of the young boys is narrating – although that may not be important, in a sense they are interchangeable. Similarly, it is not really important which boy is going out with which sister. Mind you, their mother, strict and repressive, brilliantly played by Kathleen Turner, would prefer to use the word ‘escorting’ rather than ‘going out with’. James Woods plays Mr. Lisbon, a bit of a wet rag compared to his wife, but the two of them are collectively quite strict, and repressive.

Lux Lisbon is played by Kirsten Dunst, more recently seen in “Spiderman” and “Mona Lisa Smile”. She is stunning, of course, and it’s easy to see why all the boys would go for her especially, of all the sisters. She is the most memorable character in the movie, and it was a brilliant role for Dunst, and one which she performs very well.
The relationship between Lux and Trip (the bad boy, played by Josh Hartnett) is given more attention than the platonic relationships of the other sisters. It is portrayed as a kind of moralistic tale of ‘real’ first love – on the one hand, full of immature gestures (writing his name on your underwear!) but also with more obviously ‘adult’ scenes with the two of them getting more intimate and sexual.

The soundtrack, from Air, which stands on its own as a very fine album, definitely adds to the movie experience. Also, there are some very appropriate songs in there, too – when the characters play records (7 inch singles, of course) songs like H
;eart’s “Crazy on you”, or Electric Light Orchestra’s “Strange magic”, we know that they are being played for a reason.
Actually, there’s a reason on the part of the moviemaker, as well – the subject matter (craziness, magic…) all adds to the atmosphere. But in any case, that’s how it was with singles in the old days. The act of playing them was significant, and could even be seen as, religious, almost.
In the movie, you can even hear the crackle and hiss that you get when it’s on vinyl – it’s all part of the experience. And any soundtrack with music from Todd Rundgren in it is immediately raised a notch in my opinion.

Danny DeVito appears as Mr Horniker, the counsellor called in to see the girls. Also, Giovinni Ribisi provides the narration.

It looks great - the colours and the cinematography are, for me, worth repeated viewings, quite apart from the acting and the story.
I think it has failings (it can be a little too much like a teen TV series in some respects) but it's excellent from a director so young, and clearly she's been recognised as a real talent with this year's Oscar.

This DVD is a bargain at the moment - £6.99 on amazon.co.uk.
It’s very disappointing in terms of extras – there’s the theatrical trailer, and, well, that’s it, really.
No commentaries, not even any subtitles... Nothing. It’s still a bargain, though.

An excellent film – one you need to see more than once if you want to get the most out of it, so DVD is the ideal way to see it.

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