The Virgin Suicides (film)

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The Virgin Suicides

Directed by	Sofia Coppola
Produced by	Francis Ford Coppola Julie Costanzo Dan Halsted Chris Hanley
Written by	Sofia Coppola (screenplay), Jeffrey Eugenides (novel)
Starring	James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst Josh Hartnett
Music by	Air
Distributed by	Paramount Classics
Release date(s)	April 21, 2000^[1]
Running time	97 min.
Language	English
Budget	$6 million^[2]
IMDb profile

The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett. Based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, the film tells of the suicides of the five Lisbon sisters in a upper middle class suburb of Detroit during the 1970s. The girls’ suicides fascinate their community as their neighbors struggle to find an explanation for the acts.

The film is considered faithful^{[citation needed]} to Eugenides’ novel both in letter and spirit. Coppola used short, ambiguous scenes and wispy strands of dialogue to recreate the strange and elusive quality of characters in the novel.^{[original research?]} Much of the voice over narration, used prominently in the film, is taken directly from the book.

The film was a critical success, earning a score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer^[3]. It helped Coppola move from under the shadow of her father Francis Ford Coppola and establish herself as a promising young director in her own right. According to Box Office Mojo, the film grossed $10.4 million worldwide, slightly less than half of which was domestic.^[1] This movie ranked number 39 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

The film's soundtrack featured thirteen tracks by the French electronic band Air. The film itself also featured songs by 1970s-era performers Heart, Bread and Carole King.

[edit] Partial cast listing

James Woods as Mr. Lisbon
Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Lisbon
Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine
Kirsten Dunst as Lux Lisbon
A.J. Cook as Mary Lisbon
Hanna R. Hall as Cecilia Lisbon
Leslie Hayman as Therese Lisbon ^[4]
Chelse Swain as Bonnie Lisbon

Michael Paré as Adult Trip Fontane
Danny DeVito as Dr. Hornicker
Giovanni Ribisi as Narrator
Hayden Christensen as Joe Hill Conley
Jonathan Tucker as Tim Weiner

[edit] Notes and references

^ ^a ^b The Virgin Suicides from Box Office Mojo
^ Business Data for The Virgin Suicides from IMDb
^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/virgin_suicides/
^ The Virgin Suicides is Hayman's only film credit. She is a long time friend of the director, Sofia Coppola, and was given a part in the movie for this reason. She can also be seen in The Flaming Lips' promo for "This Here Giraffe" which was also directed by Sofia Coppola.