Death - Simply Stated
Sofia Coppola made a powerful directorial debut with The Virgin Suicides. She may have received the clout to do so from her infamous father, who also helped produce it, but she wields it well. Having been an actress, and growing up with a father who directs, Coppola manages to shine in her own right. Perhaps her childhood had a positive impact on her vision of performance as each of the five siblings are startlingly subtle individuals no matter how much screen time they have.
The Virgin Suicides articulates what few films attempt, teenage angst without glossy, melodramatic predictability. We watch the slow demise of the 5 Lisbon sisters through the eyes of the young men they grew up with. The first daughter, Cecelia (Hanna Hall) is discovered attempting suicide within the first few minutes, and the simplicity with which it’s handled creates an easy sympathy with the neighborhood boys’ obsessions.
Although young suicide is often blamed on the parents, and in this case is as well, Coppola intelligently chooses to show these folks as doing the best they can think of. After all, Cecelia does go to a therapist (a nice cameo for Danny DeVito) after her first suicide attempt. He balks at her disarming line of “You obviously haven’t been a 13-year-old girl”, but assumes she is crying for attention. The Lisbons immediately have a party upon hearing that perhaps she needs to be more social, and this is the evening she finally succeeds in ending her life. Sometimes parental-child relationships just can’t connect no matter how hard it is tried.
James Woods (The General’s Daughter) and Kathleen Turner (Beautiful) are thankfully cast against type as Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon. Woods is a somewhat aloof and affectionate bore, leaving the childrearing to his wife as was custom 25 years ago, but not a harsh father. Turner is matronly, and though neurotic in terms of her progeny dealing with the outside world, any mother might be able to sympathize with her efforts. They aren’t abusive so much as overly protective, such as not liking their daughter to go out in cars due to the possibility of an accident. These traits, set against teenagers’ natural tendency to want what they can’t have, and to be curious and searching, strengthen the human realism.
The trick to this film is that although you know that the main characters will die, the emotional journey to see get there is actually an interesting character study. From simple moments of the girls calling the neighborhood boys to play records back and forth, to seeing the reaction of the outside world, this portrait of suburban life is a poignant mix of stability and claustrophobia. Statistically speaking, the majority of successful suicides are of those who do not talk about doing so, and these girls are no exception. They don’t talk about it to get yet more parental attention, they seem simply drawn to the form of escape that becomes clear after the death of the youngest.
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