As gentle music plays across the opening moments (of the Virgin Suicides), a sunny day captures families playing outside within a sleepy suburb. This picture-perfect glimpse at the neighbourhood is contrasted with an indoor scene, as Cecilia Lisbon (Hanna R. Hall) – the youngest of five sisters – attempts suicide. Dr Horniker (Danny De Vito) tells Cecilia that she is not old enough to know the difficulties of life, to which she responds that he has obviously never been a thirteen-year-old girl.
As the exchange depicts an adult believing the teenage girl to be over-dramatic instead of understanding what led to her actions, it effectively captures the heart of writer/director Sofia Coppola’s debut feature. Reflecting on his childhood during the mid-1970s, an unseen narrator (Giovanni Ribisi) recalls how he and fellow adolescent boys were enchanted by the Lisbon sisters.
The boys develop imagined versions of the sisters they amuse themselves watching, appropriately at a distance due to their refusal at seeing the girls as people. The repeated choice to put the sisters on a pedestal is a substitute for offering help and understanding, as the dreamlike quality Coppola infuses into the dark material leaves a haunting tale where cries for help are constantly left unanswered.
This is further shown as the boys spread stories of sexual conquests and fantastical hideouts to build their status while remaining detached from the pain felt by the sisters. The most identifiable male character is Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett), the school heartthrob who becomes smitten with Lux Lisbon (an enchanting Kirsten Dunst). He claims to hold feelings for her, yet falls into the same traps which show his disinterest in engaging with her as a person. When his homecoming plans involve arranging dates for the other Lisbon sisters, he treats them like cattle to be traded off depending on the best offer presented by fellow football players.
While the story unfolds from the male gaze, it avoids making the same mistakes the boys do and ensures the girls’ voices are felt. While they enjoy playing with the tree in front of their house and writing love interests’ names on their underwear, the sisters’ voices are muzzled by their overprotective religious parents (Kathleen Turner & James Woods). As they ensure the girls have little time outside of the house, with potential suitors only allowed to spend time watching TV with the family, the stricter rulings imposed on the daughters leave them feeling suffocated and appears to seal their fates.
From neighbours to news reporters, everybody heartbreakingly prefers to spread gossip and cling to idealised tales rather than listen and understand. It’s easier for them to sit back and pass judgement instead of understanding the truths of flawed people and offering help. When the tragedy occurs, the adults are good at moving on while the boys do not share that sentiment. They’re haunted by a constant questioning of the Lisbon sisters’ actions, yet will never find an answer due to their inability to scratch beneath the surface as they misunderstand the past.
The Virgin Suicides is out now on Studio Canal Blu-Ray/4K
James’s Archive: The Virgin Suicides (1999)
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