Movie Analysis - The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides is a novel written by Jeffrey Eugenides, and it is then filmed by Director Sofia Coppola in 1999. The movie Virgin Suicide is Coppola’s first directed movie but overall, it have a well critic and reputation from both the Hollywood and the public.

The story takes place in an affluent neighborhood in the 1970s. The story is about how a group of grown up neighborhood boys explores the past and to find out the answer for the suicides of five Lisbon sisters – who the boys had infatuated with. In another words, the movie is center with these five Lisbon sisters – 13 years old Cecilia, 14 years old Lux, 15 years old Bonnie, 16 years old Mary, and 17 years old Therese.

The purpose of this movie is to help the audience to understand the importance of exploring and understanding the past, in order to eliminate the repetition of the same mistakes in the future. To achieve the desired purpose of the film, Coppola had used cinematic techniques to illustrate the girls’ story.

The story is presented in a narrative form, from the perspective of an anonymous boy from the neighborhood boys. This technique is used beside to make the film more interesting, but also to help the audiences get involve and participate in the movie, rather than just an “outsider” of it.

The film starts off with a long shot of path filled with trees from an affluent neighborhood – where the Lisbon family was moving in. Trees are used as a symbol of the girls’ life in this scene – the trees is green and they look healthy; however, the trees are actually sick “inside”. This metaphor that the girls seem beautiful but deep inside their soul, they are actually suffering.

Screenshot - long shot of path filled with trees from an affluent neighborhood

Soon the camera has switches to a group of people dressing in bright color as a long shot, whom trying to chop the “sick” trees down. Color contrast between warm and bright color is used to catch the audiences’ attention, acknowledge them the fact that something is wrong and the story of five Lisbon sisters is starting to begin.

Screenshot - a group of people dressing in bright color as a long shot

The story of five Lisbon sisters begins with the attempted suicide by the youngest sister, Cecilia in the cool color bathroom. The color contrast between the previous scene - warm color, and the bathroom - cool color symbolize that Cecilia is living in a different “world”, she is “different” and she is suffering.

When comparing this movie to Coppola’s other film, such as the “Lost in Translation”, I realize Coppola like to make “contrast” between scenes in order to stand out the characters’ emotions among others. For example, the contrast between the warm color in the neighborhood and cool color in the bathroom from Virgin Suicides, and the contrast between the bright hotel room and dark bar in Lost in Translation. This technique creates two different “worlds”, ”emotions” and “identities”. Moreover, this unique and symbolic filming method also helps label these movies as “Coppola’s movie” indirectly to the audience.

When Coppola filmed the scene, where Cecilia attempted suicide in the bathtub which filled with water in a high angle, it seems like she is lying in her tears and “a damaged boat sinking into the sea”. All these reflected how depress she is and how much she is suffering. On the other hand, while Cecilia lying in the bathtub, it seems like she is baptizing. This echoes to the following shoot where Cecilia is holding a picture card of mother Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she is rescued. All these linked back to the fact that Cecilia and the Lisbon sisters are born in a traditional catholic family.

Screenshot - Cecilia attempted suicide in the bathtub which filled with water in a high angle

Screenshot - Cecilia is holding a picture card of mother Mary when she is rescued

Therefore, as Cecilia attempted suicide, does this means Cecilia is trying to “escape” through death and wanted to “reborn” through the power of her religious belief? This is ironic since the girls are born in a traditional catholic family, they are taught how to love and treasure themselves. However, they attempted suicide at first and committed suicide at last. All these have also questioned the audience that whether Coppola is trying to deliver a message of we are all the children of mother Mary, should be loved and no one should be suffering?

In the middle part of the movie, after the scene where Lux has sex with a guy named Trip Fontaine, after the school event “Homecoming Dance” and broke the Lisbon family’s curfew. Then the Lisbon family has taken the five sisters out from school, physically and mentally “caged” in the house. During the time, the five sisters contact the “outside” world – the neighborhood boys using light signals through the windows and share songs over the phone as a way of communicating and releasing their feelings. The way of how they using light signal and telecommunications to contact the outside world, it is similar to how the ships communicate between each others in the older days. This scene is echoes to the beginning scene when Cecilia lying in the bathtub just like a sinking boat, and also reminds the audience that the five Lisbon sisters is suffering due to the lack of freedom and identity.

Screenshot - light signals used as a way of communicating and releasing their feelings

Moreover, the name of the youngest sister, Cecilia, it is a Latin name and its original meaning is “the way for the blind” - If Cecilia is the “blind”, then she has a higher chance of losing her “way” comparing to others. In fact, she was the first to lost hope, lost her way in her life path and ended her life journey by committed suicide. As such, it echoes. Moreover, the name Lux, the 14 years old sister; it is also a Latin word and with an original meaning of “light”. However, ironically, she is “dark” – she lost her freedom, identity and the hope to be alive.

The ending of Virgin Suicide is very ironic and upset. The purpose for the Lisbon family to “cage” the five sisters is to “protect” them and make sure they are doing the “right” things. However, the five Lisbon sisters committed suicides. This is totally out of the Lisbon family imaginary and expectation. This ending explained to the audience that “authoritarian” has never been the best solution for all matters and in all situations. As a conclusion, the ending enables the audience to puzzle out the girl’s story, and also to understand the purpose of the film – the importance of learning from the past and mistakes.

Reference:

IMDb.com, 2010, Awards for the Virgin Suicides, [online], available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159097/awards, [12.04.10]

The Virgin Suicides, (motion picture), 2000, United States

Wikipedia, 2010, The Virgin Suicides, [online], available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Virgin_Suicides, [12.04.10]

Wikipedia, 2010, Sofia Coppola, [online], available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Coppola, [12.04.10]