Central to the tragic yet compelling world of The Virgin Suicides are the five doe-eyed, angelic Lisbon sisters (Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary and Therese). Based on Jeffrey Eugenides’ cult novel, Sofia Coppola’s 1999 film has gained the same cult status since it captures both the triviality and grandeur of youth.
Set in an American suburb in the 1970s, a maths teacher (James Woods) and his uptight Catholic wife (Kathleen Turner) are parents to these seemingly perfect girls. All illusions of normal suburban life are, however, shattered following the unsuccessful first suicide attempt of their youngest daughter, Cecilia (Hanna Hall). This acts as a catalyst for these already strict parents to become even more overbearing and insular. This results in a captivating story of the girls’ brief lives narrated by the teenage boys who live on their street.
It is obvious from the title that the girls will kill themselves but Coppola provides us with an unanswered mystery as we are given subtle clues but no hard facts. However, this lack of explanation is the point: the girls have altered the lives of the boys, now men, who preserve the Lisbon sisters as the kind of perfect ideal they present to the outside world. Through studying the sisters, the boys gain a rare insight into “the imprisonment of being a girl.” This gives an unexpected perspective on what should be regarded as a difficult subject matter.
“Cecilia was the first to go”, we are told right at the beginning. “You’re not even old enough to know how bad life gets,” Dr. Hornicker tells her following her first suicide attempt. Cecilia’s matter-of-fact response is “Obviously doctor, you’ve never been a thirteen year-old girl.” The film’s cult status perhaps stems from the fact that it climaxes on the concept that youth does not necessarily equate to happiness.
Previously published here
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