The Virgin Suicides

Review: The Virgin Suicides

          “What are you doing here, honey? You're not even old enough to know how bad life gets.” “Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl,” spoke Cecilia Lisbon after her first attempt of suicide. The Virgin Suicides follows the lives of the Lisbon sisters who deal with high school, boys, and death. The Lisbon girls are the daughters of a conservative family who didn’t allow much room for them to be themselves outside the home. This upbringing may have been the cause to the girl’s suicides towards the end, leaving an entire neighborhood in shock and awe over the event.

          The Virgin Suicides is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Eugenides. It’s an honest, social commentary on youth, depression and suicide. Sofia Coppola, being the “writer/director” of the film, used a lot of scenes that only had background sound, emphasizing the deep, meaningful subject matter of the film which symbolized the “silence” the Lisbon sister’s shared amongst themselves and not with their parents, who wouldn’t listen. The acting for the film, although average, was very well done and convincing especially with the younger cast. They act as the stereotypical boys and girls in high school--hormonal, breaking all the rules their parents have set. The film, which appeared to take place in the 70s decade, had a sepia, light brown/yellow effect to it to clearly show the decade along with it’s props of station wagons, corded phones, and vinyl records.

          Coppola did an excellent job at bringing the novel and the lives of these teenagers to life. Everything about it was truly convincing and took the viewer into the conservative 1970s to know what the Lisbon sister’s were about.