Virgin Suicides

"The Virgin Suicides" is a sort of mixed bag. It's a beautiful made movie with wonderful directed sequences in it but the storytelling doesn't always makes sense and is simply terrible lacking at times. A case of 'style over substance' you can perhaps conclude. It isn't always clear in the movie where the movie is heading to. This is mainly because there are often characters introduced in the movie, who once after they are out of the story, make you wonder what exactly their purpose for the movie was. Characters come and go in this movie and once you think that they are going to play an important part for the movie, they are already gone again. The story isn't always told from the right perspective which makes this movie at times a bit incoherent to watch. This is also due to the fact that at times the movie is set in 'present time' (1999), while the rest of the movie is set in the '70's. Those sort of scene's make it pretty obvious that this movie is based on a book. I'm sure all those element worked just fine in the book but for a movie it is pointless and adds no extra value to the story. A lot of things still remain unclear after the movie has ended, which makes this movie as a whole an unsatisfying one to watch. I also never really got into the characters. I never quite knew what went on in those girls heads and I never felt their desperateness and their cry for help. The portrayal of their parents (James Woods and Kathleen Turner) was also a opportunity wasted. Instead as strict and tough parents they are portrayed as simply narrow minded people, who have their own ideas about what's good and wrong for their children. If they had portrayed the parents as two completely strict and tough persons, the movie would had become more, claustrophobic, sensible, emotional and more understandable. The cast is good and has cameos in it from Danny DeVito and Scott Glenn and roles from Josh Hartnett and Hayden Christensen before they received real fame as actors. The movie however isn't really a character movie. The main essence of the movie is put on the style and look of it. For that reason the movie also perhaps feels a bit as a waste of a great cast. The movie is good looking and well directed by Sofia Coppola but it seemed that they forget about the story at times. It makes "The Virgin Suicides" a bit of an incoherent movie to watch at times. Because of the lacking storytelling the movie never truly becomes emotional or truly understandable and therefor it's nothing more than a just average drama that is good looking but nothing more than that. 6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

In 1974, in Michigan, the lives of a group of teenage boys are affected by the suicide of five girls from the Lisbon family. Cecilia (13) (Hanna Hall), Lux (14) (Kirsten Dunst), Bonnie (15) (Chelse Swain), Mary (16) (A. J. Cook) and Therese (17) (Leslie Hayman) move with their Mathematics teacher father Mr. Lisbon (James Wood) and their possessive housewife mother Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner) to a calm suburb house. Their beauties attract the attention of a group of boys that meet in the house on the other side to watch the girls. When Cecilia commits suicide, the girls stay at home for a period, returning to school later. When the handsome football player Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett) seduces Lux and spends the night outside with her, Mrs. Lisbon locks the girls at home, leading them to commit massive suicide. The first time I saw this movie was on 15 October 2001, and I was impressed with the magnificent debut of Sofia Coppola as a director. Yesterday I saw "The Suicide Virgins" again and I keep my first impression. Sofia Coppola uses the opposite style of her sensationalist father, and explores with extreme sensibility this tragic, morbid and disturbing theme, the suicide of teenagers. The behavior of the American society is subtly criticized, through the condemned action of the press and the lack of attitude from the neighbors and school community, since these agents see and comment the abnormal behavior of the Lisbon family and take no attitude to help the girls. The nostalgic music score, with classics from the 70s, is another plus. With regard to the charismatic team of actors and actresses, their performances are simply stunning. Five years later, it calls the attention the modifications mainly in Josh Hartnett, who I believe was participating of his first important movie: he was a practically unknown teenager, and now is a famous adult actor. Kathleen Turner, from the sexy and gorgeous Matty Walker/Mary Ann Russell of "Body Heat" (1981) to this awful Mrs. Lisbon, is also impressive. "The Suicide Virgins" is a movie that deserves to be watched many times. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "As Virgens Suicidas" ("The Suicide Virgins")