Wonderfully written and
directed by Sofia Coppola in her first feature film attempt, produced
by her father, Francis Ford Coppola.
Virgin Suicides follows the last
few months of the Lisbon sisters to their tragic demise. The story is
told by five boys who were in love with the sisters and watched their
every step. The parents of the sisters played by James Woods and
Kathleen Turner are religious and strict, appearing almost loving and
loveless at the same time. Could perhaps they be driving force of the
sisters suicides or could their failure to be accepted into the social
realm be it? There are times where you laugh at some of the characters,
but the overall effect of the film is extremely sad. The movie is
somewhat slow paced but always interesting, with a terrific musical
score from Air. (Which I recommend - having had the soundtrack since
Febuary and wanting to see the movie more and more since then.) There
are some really excellent shots within: beautiful cinematography in
most of the indoor scenes give the film a retro 70's look and feel. I
do hope to see more films by Sofia in the future, as she's doing an
excellent job following in her fathers footsteps. So far this year,
it's the best film I've seen, although it's competition hasn't been too
strong. Don't let this slip by, as I doubt it will last much longer in
the theaters.