The Virgin Suicides

One of my favorite films of all time, which I suppose I say a lot, but seriously I love this film and the repeat-viewing is very high for me. I revisited this film while I was away for a week long training for my new job in Flint, MI. Not a lot to do in Flint, so watching 3-4 movies a night became my safe haven and escape. I was extremely excited to revisit this film again, even after having watched it about 5 times prior. I even suffered through watching it on MegaVideo where you can only watch 72 minutes of a film and then you have to wait 54 minutes before you can watch anymore. A very clever ploy. Well played MegaVideo, well played.

The Virgin Suicides Trailer

Sofia Coppola directed this film and also rewrote the novel into screenplay format. She also directed LOST IN TRANSLATION, which is also another one of my favorite films – go figure. Both films do share similar tones and overall pacing. LIT is probably slower however. THE VIRGIN SUICIDES centers on a young group of boys who become infatuated with a group of girls who are all sisters. It takes place during the 1970s and the day and time is beautifully recaptured in scene and music. The soundtrack is impressive by itself, with artists such as The Hollies, Heart, Styx, Todd Rundgren, and Al Green. It is the perfect audio track companion for this film. And the music plays a large role in the film. It serves as an escapism venue for the girls and boys to experience together (over the phone when they are under house arrest).

The parents, played by James Woods and Kathleen Turner are extremely overprotective and overbearing. Their strictness eventually causes Lux (Kirsten Dunst) to rebel and stay out all night with Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett), the high school heartthrob. When she finally comes home her parents lock the girls out from the entire world. No school, no friends, no music – one memorable scene where Lux’ mother burns all of her rock vinyl records right in front of her. I was reminded of a time when I took was forced to smash my rock albums… Hmmm… Peer pressure can be a pain.

For me, the film is an exercise in looking at the interworkings of a teenage mind. How can those who are so young and innocent feel so burdened with their current stresses of life in which they decide to end their lives? Of course the shocking scenes in this film involve the suicides of these young women – the ending being the culmination of course. But for me it was the journey that left the heaviest impression. We watch these girls really enjoy life and become social butterflies when they are given some slack from their parents. However, when they are treated like jewels that must be kept hidden and safe from the “big bad world” they resort to the only escape they see.

The ending always makes me think. Why didn’t they just leave with the boys that night instead of killing themselves? I’ve landed on the resolution that they couldn’t escape and leave because they were already dead and there was no saving them anymore: The living embodiment of the American dream gone incredibly arye. And by involving the boys in their final suicidal pact they got to share that very intimate act with them. Otherwise their parents would have probably covered the entire event up, as they did throughout the film with other family matters. This was their final scream out to the world to let them know that the young and innocent can still be plagued by the darkness of existence.

Even with all of the nicest things in life – the home, family, relationships; people can still be empty. It’s a scary thought to think that what we’ve been told our whole life could be big air. Finding the flaw within the flaw.

Rating: 9/10