The Cinematheque

New Restoration

“[An] extremely assured directorial debut … Coppola casts quite a spell.”

Tom Charity, Time Out

A mystery wrapped in the wistful reveries of youth, Sofia Coppola’s bewitching feature debut heralded an artist already in command of her voice and singular aesthetic sensibilities. Adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides’s acclaimed first novel, The Virgin Suicides starts with a troubling question: in suburban Michigan circa 1975, why did the Lisbon girls, a sisterhood of five Catholic teenagers, kill themselves? It is an enigma still haunting the men who frame Coppola’s delicate film; their memories, clouded with longing and regret, conjure stories of adolescence when, as classmates, they infatuated over the unattainable daughters. Kirsten Dunst, ethereal in her first collaboration with Coppola, leads an ensemble that also includes Josh Hartnett, James Woods, and Kathleen Turner. French duo Air contributes the original score; famed DP Edward Lachman provides the dreamy cinematography. Initially drawing comparison to Peter Weir’s spellbinding Picnic at Hanging Rock, Coppola’s film is now its own indelible coming-of-age classic.

“A perfect marriage of style and substance … Sofia Coppola’s debut continues to haunt.”

Benjamin Lee, The Guardian

“Nothing less than a timelessly romantic suburban myth that could become a cult classic.”

Graham Fuller, Sight and Sound