The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Director:

Sofia Coppola

Writers:

Jeffrey Eugenides (novel)
Sofia Coppola (written by)

Release Date:

12 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Love Sex Passion Fear Obsession

Plot:

A group of male friends become obsessed with a group of mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents after one of them commits suicide.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Virgin | Obsession | Sex | Suburb

Awards:

3 wins & 11 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 23	5:05 AM	TMC
Wed. Dec. 2	11:30 AM	SHOW

Cast

James Woods	...	Mr. Lisbon
Kathleen Turner	...	Mrs. Lisbon
Kirsten Dunst	...	Lux Lisbon
Josh Hartnett	...	Trip Fontaine
Michael Paré	...	Adult Trip Fontaine (as Michael Pare)
Scott Glenn	...	Father Moody
Danny DeVito	...	Dr. Horniker
A.J. Cook	...	Mary Lisbon
Hanna Hall	...	Cecilia Lisbon
Leslie Hayman	...	Therese Lisbon
Chelse Swain	...	Bonnie Lisbon
Anthony DeSimone	...	Chase Buell (as Anthony Desimone)
Lee Kagan	...	David Barker
Robert Schwartzman	...	Paul Baldino
Noah Shebib	...	Parkie Denton

Also Known As:

Sofia Coppola's the Virgin Suicides (USA) (complete title)
The Lisbon Sisters (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong thematic elements involving teens.

Runtime:

97 min | Germany:90 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Malaysia:U | Iceland:L | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

American Zoetrope

Trivia:

When the boys and girls are calling each other to play songs on the record player, they don't use the standard '555-' phone numbers used in television and film.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: One reporter states that Bonnie Lisbon is the youngest of the five. This is blatantly wrong, as she was fifteen years old (placing her smack in the middle of the five), but it can be chalked up to sloppy reporting.

Quotes:

Lady in car: Those girls have a bright future ahead of them. The other one was just going to end up a kook.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (2007)

Soundtrack:

End It Peacefully

Arty, but lacking

I was not impressed with this movie.

Artistically it was great. She took a nothing script, bland characters, and no plot and turned it into something watchable (with the help of some good actors). You can get caught up in the poetry of it all. But when the end credits roll I was left wanting for a plot that never was. Simplification version: the girls parents were insane and eventually the girls killed themselves to be free. Okay. But that was one sentence. 2 hours built around 1 sentence? And where was the believability? Do you know the paperwork to take your kids out of school? You can't just decide that they aren't going and then no one ever shows up again. A little thing called social services existed even in the 70s. The neighbors or other children never intervened? One kid was already dead and the whole community went - that's cruel, la la la? I tried finding some sort of moral, parable, or warning in the story but also found that lacking. Don't trust men - they'll get you into trouble when you open yourself to them? Kind of cliched and generalized. Losing innocence = death? Kind of makes insane moms point for her. Don't enjoy life, it'll kill ya! Don't be insane to your kids? As if that was a rational choice that we could learn to avoid by watching movies. (Prozac is so passe - just start running Clockwork Orange, Cuckoos Nest, etc and eventually people will learn to not be insane. Trendy but effectual.) Lacking morals, lacking plot, lacking a cohesive end, it becomes a pretty art film done for the sake of art alone. Go into it that way and one might enjoy it.