“So much has been said about the girls over the years. But we have never found an answer. It didn’t matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls… but only that we had loved them… and that they hadn’t heard us calling… still do not hear us calling them from out of those rooms… where they went to be alone for all time… and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.”
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.
Sofia Coppola’s first feature length film is based off of the Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel of the same name, The Virgin Suicides is a fascinating story about the lives of five sisters who have affected the lives of the neighbourhood boys, so much so that they have been trying to figure out what their motives were for committing suicide so young. A great film which delves you into the mystery, documenting the girls through the eyes of the boys who cared for them deeply. The acting is superb and the cinematography is gorgeous. What this film does is genius…it doesn’t need to answer the questions posed, it does imply some reasons why the girl would commit suicide but it doesn’t truly reveal it. We are left in the dark as much as the boys are, which is an interesting idea. I really enjoy this film and find it a great way to start a film career, especially for someone like Sofia Coppolla, who’s father has given the film world such classics as The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now! and The Conversation. Sofia would go on to make Lost in Translation and win an oscar for her efforts, but remember, you have to take some steps before you get to the top and this is a leap of a film. Great movie…very sad but great movie.
4.5 out of 5
Mise-en-Scene 