VIRGIN SUICIDES

"Just as American Beauty captured the essence of suburban reality of a seemingly ordinary family living in an ordinary house in an ordinary street, so too does Sofia Coppola's accomplished debut The Virgin Suicides in its depiction of impressionable adolescence. Beautifully written and structured, Coppola entices us into the seductive world of the beautiful Lisbon sisters, whose fascination and mystique have increased over the years. Recounted as a fable, the passage of time has magnified the allure of these golden nymphs, who were the subject of lust of every teenage boy in the neighbourhood. With an air of gentle expectancy, we are hypnotised by the magic of romantic notions, idealism and the wonder of innocence. This is a story about illusion. The reality (making out in the hush of the night in an empty football field) is a sobering revelation. It's a complex and bewitching film – gorgeous to look at with stunning cinematography and production design. Kirsten Dunst is beguiling as Lux, whose sexuality is flaunted as surely as a predator taunting prey. All the performances are assured, with James Woods' marvellously subtle but memorable, hopelessly dominated husband and father. It has the mystique of Picnic at Hanging Rock, the undercurrent of Heavenly Creatures and the magic of good cinema. The Virgin Suicides is a haunting and ethereal work that captures the drama of adolescence – fantasy and reality."
Louise Keller

"As powerfully written and performed as American Beauty, The Virgin Suicides is set in the same middle American suburban ambiance where death-defying feats of human emotional endurance are everyday occurrences - just hidden from tabloid view. It is one of those films where all the elements come together superbly, haunting us with a recognisable resonance. This is American society exploring itself with all the honesty and courage of its most celebrated cinema more than a half century ago. The excellent adaptation is handled with assurance, and the casting deserves an Oscar. But it goes beyond those individual elements; like all great cinema, the film gathers itself into a force that is greater than just the sum of its parts. It generates a tone of haunting melancholy that draws us into the storyteller's point of view as part and parcel of the exposition process, so that we share the feelings of the characters as if they were our family and friends - American accents, culture and idiosyncrasies notwithstanding. The Virgin Suicides is riveting drama, delivered with a lightness of touch that elevates it to something special."
Andrew L. Urban

"The Virgin Suicides marks a stunning debut for Sofia Coppola. It a most assured piece of work, but a first film none the less. Coppola's achievements are many. She evokes such an ethereal quality in this piece and still manages to address so many teen issues. Make that life issues, as the key to the tragedy/mystery is a loss of innocence. And this loss of innocence for so many of us is both a mystery and a tragedy. Based on the book of the same name by Jeffrey Eugenides, Coppola's screenplay explores that passage to adulthood on so many levels. The parents never gave that innocence a chance. Kathleen Turner gives a stunning performance as the overbearing, overprotective Mrs Lisbon who is entirely unable to trust her daughters to find their own way. The brilliance of the performance though is the empathy she manages to evoke. Balanced against this is another performance entirely against type by James Woods as the hopelessly ineffectual Mr Lisbon. Coppola certainly knows how to direct her actors, evoking a most alluring turn from Kirsten Dunst as the Lisbon girl who dares. Again, the passage to adulthood is a rough one here as it is for school heartthrob Trip Fontaine and the four boys who watch the girls' every move from a window opposite the Lisbon house. All of this works wonderfully. Reservations remain with some irony not hitting the mark and, more importantly, a certain lack of soul. This will no doubt come. Coppola has a great future."
Lee Gough