The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides is

The movie

Sofia Coppola, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, wrote the screenplay and directed the 97 minute film.

Related Topics:
Sofia Coppola - Francis Ford Coppola - Screenplay

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As far as Sofia Coppola's script and direction are concerned, Eugenides's novel is so elusive that there is no other feasible way of filming it. This is why with this film you get what you expect: short, incoherent scenes, no continuous dialogue, with voices frequently difficult to make out because the characters are always somewhere in the background—never two people in close-up actually talking to each other. Many of the boys' encounters with one or more of the Lisbon sisters are accidental rather than carefully planned so no one ever takes their time to sit down and have some peace and quiet. The Lisbon girls always seem to be on the run: at the lockers at school to get to their next class, or in front of their house so as not to let their strict mother (Kathleen Turner) wait too long.

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It was probably a wise decision to make the film short: A film like this might seem too long for many to watch for two hours. Just like the novel, there is a semi-documentary air about it, for example when the Dr Hornicker, the psychologist (Danny DeVito) reports his findings concerning Cecilia's unsuccessful suicide attempt, or when the adult, institutionalized Trip Fontaine reminisces about his relationship with Lux. Also, Sofia Coppola relies heavily on voice-over narration.

Related Topics:
Danny DeVito - Voice-over

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Scenes that were left out (not an exhaustive list):

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• Lux Lisbon (Kirsten Dunst) faking an illness as her only means of getting out of the house and having a pregnancy test
• Mr Lisbon (James Woods) acting as chaperon at a school dance
• Mr Lisbon quitting his job
• the Lisbon family shutting themselves off from the rest of the world, their house gradually falling to pieces, nothing being mended (for example the TV), dirty plates everywhere, lots of weeds in their front garden, etc. (all that is conveyed in the film is that they do not leave their house any more)
• Mary surviving her sisters for more than one months and only then succeeding in taking her life.

The more than 150 characters who are mentioned by name in the novel have been reduced to a handful of neighbours. Also, the atmosphere of fetishism ("Exhibits") on the part of the now middle-aged admirers has been left out.

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On the other hand, the following scenes have been captured very well on film (again a random list):

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• The girls putting on weird dresses for the school dance
• Lux being commanded by her mother to burn her collection of LP's
• The elm tree in front of the Lisbons' house being cut down, with the four sisters trying to rescue it by forming a human chain and doing some tree hugging
• The boys playing records down the phone (e g Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally")
• Lux having promiscuous sex on the roof of their house

Finally, the scene where the boys are lured into the Lisbons' house by the girls on the night of their suicide pact is exactly as the reader will have pictured it: the boys sneak downstairs to the rec room, find it as they last saw it about a year ago (although the camera does not linger on this), and then, suddenly and chillingly, see two legs—Bonnie's—dangling from the ceiling.

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