THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (FILM)

'''The Virgin Suicides''' is a 1999 film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett. Based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, the film tells of the suicides of the five Lisbon sisters in an upper middle class suburb of Detroit during the 1970s. The girls’ suicides fascinate their community as their neighbors struggle to find an explanation for the acts.

Contents

Plot outline

Reception

Score and soundtrack

Partial cast listing

Notes and references

External links

Plot outline

The film takes place in Grosse Pointe, Michigan in the 1970s, as four neighborhood boys look back on their neighbors; the Lisbon sisters. Beautiful and unattainable, Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux, and Cecilia are the enigmas that fill the boys' dreams. The film begins with the suicide attempt of the youngest sister, Cecilia, and the immediate aftermath. During a chaperoned party that was intended to make her feel better, Cecilia excuses herself and finally succeeds in taking her life by jumping off the roof and landing on the gate on their front lawn. The rest of the movie explores the girls' sheltered lives through the eyes of four neighborhood boys. Libertine Lux and Trip Fontaine, having recently emerged from baby fat, form a relationship and Trip persuades the girls' father to allow Trip to take her to Homecoming by promising to find dates for the other girls. Lux and Trip consummate their love and unexplainably, Trip leaves her. Lux breaks curfew, and the girls are punished by being taken out of school and kept within their house indefinitely. They contact the boys using lights and share songs over the phone while the songs noticeably become sadder and more lonely. After weeks of being confined to their home the Lisbon girls invite the boys over. When the boys arrive, they find Lux alone, smoking a cigarette in the living room. She invites the boys inside to wait for her sisters while Lux goes to wait alone in the car. The boys wander into the basement where they find a body hanging in the basement. The boys run out and try to begin the slow task of forgetting the girls. The boys figure that Therese, who took sleeping pills, was dead by the time they got there, Bonnie was the one hanging in the basement while Mary stuck her head in the oven. Lux was the last to die and was later found by policemen in the garage with the car running. The boys go to parties and try to forget the girls but still find themselves around the house. The parents of the girls give up and quietly move away. Even years later, the boys still find themselves talking in corners at business parties going over the evidence they had gathered only to find that the mystery of the girls is never to be solved, and that the Lisbons will always haunt them.

Reception

The film was a critical success, earning a score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer^[3]. According to Box Office Mojo, the film grossed $10.4 million worldwide, slightly less than half of which was domestic.¹ This movie ranked number 39 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

Score and soundtrack

The film's score featured thirteen tracks by the French electronic band Air.
The soundtrack featured songs by 1970s-era performers and by Sloan

★ The Hollies - "The Air That I Breathe"

★ Carole King - "So Far Away"

★ Heart - "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man"

★ Sloan - "Everything You've Done Wrong", "The Good in Everyone", "On the Horizon", "Can't Face Up" and "The Lines You Amend"

★ Electric Light Orchestra - "Strange Magic"

★ 10CC - "I'm Not in Love"

★ Gilbert O'Sullivan - "Alone Again (Naturally)"

★ Todd Rundgren - "Hello, It's Me"

★ Styx - "Come Sail Away"
There was a separate soundtrack released, featuring music from Heart and Todd Rundgren.

Partial cast listing

★ James Woods as Mr. Lisbon

★ Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Lisbon

★ Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine (teenager)

★ Kirsten Dunst as Lux Lisbon

★ A.J. Cook as Mary Lisbon

★ Hanna R. Hall as Cecilia Lisbon

★ Leslie Hayman as Therese Lisbon ^[4]

★ Chelse Swain as Bonnie Lisbon

★ Michael Paré as Trip Fontaine (adult)

★ Danny DeVito as Dr. Hornicker

★ Giovanni Ribisi as Narrator

★ Hayden Christensen as Joe Hill Conley

★ Jonathan Tucker as Tim Weiner

★ Chris Hale as Peter Sissen

★ Sally Cahill as Mrs. Hedlie

Notes and references

1. ''The Virgin Suicides'' from Box Office Mojo
2. Business Data for ''The Virgin Suicides'' from IMDb
3. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/virgin_suicides/
4. ''The Virgin Suicides'' is Hayman's only film credit. She is a long time friend of the director, Sofia Coppola, and was given a part in the movie for this reason. She can also be seen in The Flaming Lips' promo for "This Here Giraffe" which was also directed by Coppola.

External links

★ Official movie site

★

★ Tribute site with screen caps and interviews