Taglines: LOVE, SEX, DEATH, PASSION, FEAR, OBSESSION Just like life.
A man about forty years of age tells the story from when he was a teenager in upscale suburban Detroit of his and three of his friends’ fascination with the mysterious and doomed Lisbon sisters. In 1974, the sisters were seventeen year old Therese, sixteen year old Mary, fifteen year old Bonnie, fourteen year old Lux, and thirteen year old Cecilia. Their fascination still remains as they try to piece together the entire story.
The sisters were mysteries if only because of having a strict and overprotective upbringing by their father, who taught math at the girls’ private co-ed school, and overly devout Catholic mother, who largely dictated the household rules. The story focuses primarily on two incidents and the resulting situations on the girls’ lives. The first was an action by Cecilia to deal with her emotions over her life. And the second was the relationship between Lux – the sister who pushed the boundaries of the household rules most overtly in doing what most teenagers want to.
The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Scott Glenn, Josh Hartnett, Michael Paré, Danny DeVito, Melody Johnson, Kristin Fairlie and Michèle Duquet. The film also features Scott Glenn and Danny DeVito in minor roles, and a voice narration by Giovanni Ribisi.
Based on the 1993 best selling debut novel of the same name by American author Jeffrey Eugenides, the film tells of the lives of five teenage sisters in a middle-class suburb near the outskirts of Detroit during the 1970s. After the youngest sister makes an initial attempt at suicide, her sisters are put under close scrutiny by their parents, eventually being confined to the home, which leads to their increasingly depressive and isolated behavior. Like the novel, the film is told from the perspective of a group of adolescent boys in the neighborhood who are fascinated by the girls.
Shot in 1998 in Toronto, the film was director Sofia Coppola’s debut feature. It features an original score by the French electronic band Air. The film premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, and received a limited theatrical release on April 21, 2000 in the United States, later expanding to a wide release in May 2000. It was met with largely positive critical reception, with both the performances and Coppola’s direction receiving note. The film marked the beginning of a working relationship between Coppola and star Dunst, whom Coppola would cast as the lead in several films in the following years.
The Virgin Suicides was filmed in 1999 in Toronto, Ontario, standing in for suburban Detroit, Michigan, on a reported budget of USD$6 million. The shoot lasted roughly one month. Coppola was inspired by photographer Takashi Homma’s photos of suburban Japan when choosing the filming locations; “I have always been struck by the beauty of banal details,” she said, “and that is what suburban style is all about.” The film’s occasional use of stills and collages was intended to evoke the “fantasia” of adolescence. Cinematographer Edward Lachman shot the film. Coppola’s brother, Roman, was the second-unit director on the film.
The Virgin Suicides (2000)
Directed by: Sofia Coppola
Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Scott Glenn, Josh Hartnett, Michael Paré, Danny DeVito, Melody Johnson, Kristin Fairlie, Michèle Duquet
Screenplay by: Sofia Coppola
Production Design by: Jasna Stefanovic
Cinematography by: Edward Lachman
Film Editing by: James Lyons, Melissa Kent
Costume Design by: Nancy Steiner
Set Decoration by: Megan Less
Art Direction by: on P. Goulding
Music by: Air
MPAA Rating: R for strong thematic elements involving teens.
Distributed by: Paramount Classics
Release Date: April 21, 2000
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