When the name Coppola is mentioned in a sentence, the immediate reaction is Francis Ford Coppola, the man behind great films like The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, Peggy Sue Got Married, and The Godfather Trilogy featuring the highly celebrated first two parts of the film. While Francis Ford Coppola has settled into an idyllic lifestyle, a new generation of Coppolas is emerging. With his nephew Nicolas Cage, already an Oscar-winning actor with a celebrated career, Coppola's children are now following their father's footsteps as directors. There's Roman Coppola, who recently earned good reviews for his debut feature CQ while helming such award-winning music videos for bands like the Strokes and Fatboy Slim's Praise You with then brother-in-law and Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze. The other Coppola that is making a name for herself as a filmmaker is Spike Jonze's wife and Roman's sister Sofia, who wowed audience with her 1999 full-feature directorial debut The Virgin Suicides.

The Virgin Suicides is a movie based on the Jeffrey Eugenides novel that was adapted by Coppola into a screenplay. The film takes place in an idyllic suburbia in the mid-1970s as neighborhood boys discover their own sexuality while watching the self-destruction of a group of young sisters as they're being trapped into their strict family home. While Sofia Coppola does capture a sense of tranquility and authenticity of the times like her father Francis did in The Godfather, Sofia brings a deeper tone to the film where at first, everything seems innocent but there's something amiss. With an ensemble cast that includes veterans like James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Scott Glenn, Danny Devito, and Michael Pare along with up-and-coming stars like Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Jonathan Tucker, Robert Carmine (the singer for Rooney, who is credited in the film as Robert Schwartzman), Hayden Christensen, and Chelse Swain (sister of Dominique), The Virgin Suicides is a breathtaking debut from Sofia Coppola.

When the film begins, it starts off with a narrator (Giovanni Ribisi) talking about how his old neighborhood back in the mid-1970s was never the same without the Lisbon girls. The narrator talks about how he and a few of his friends that included his friends Tim Weiner (Jonathan Tucker) and Chase Buell (Anthony Desimone) are transfixed by the beauty and mystique of the five Lisbon girls. There was the youngest, 13-year old Cecilia (Hanna R. Hall), 14-year old Lux (Kirsten Dunst), 15-year old Bonnie (Chelse Swain), 16-year old Mary (A.J. Cook) and the eldest, 17-year old Therese (Leslie Hayman) that all lived in a quiet, idyllic home with their strict mother (Kathleen Turner) and math teacher father (James Woods). To everyone, life seems fine for the Lisbons but Cecilia was rushed into the hospital after a horrifying suicide attempt.

After some counseling from Dr. Horniker (Danny Devito), the Lisbons reluctantly try to give the Lisbon girls a social life as they try to question about why she tried to commit suicide at 13. The neighbors think she was influenced by a young Italian immigrant who had a crush on an older woman, while the neighborhood boys talk to a young mob son named Paul Baldino (Robert Carmine) who saw Cecilia's suicide attempt through the tunnels of his house.

The Lisbons decides to throw a party for the girls with a lot of reluctance from Mrs. Lisbon, as Cecilia is feeling unhappy about the party while all the neighborhood boys attend and talk with the Lisbon girls. Things go fine until a mentally challenged kid named Joe (Paul Sybersma) comes to the party to bring laughs but Cecilia walks away from the party and something horrible happens. The result was Cecilia jumping off her bedroom window and landing on a steel fence.

Cecilia's death brought an awareness of suicide around the town and Mrs. Lisbon seeks the advice of priest, Father Moody (Scott Glenn) as the Lisbons try to move on life without Cecilia. The Lisbon girls would go to school as nothing really happened while their father moves on teaching math to students. There the second part of the film begins with a young, good-looking student named Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett) who seems to have everything his way as he loved by all the girls in school and seems to get away with everything including smoking marijuana. One day while sneaking into the wrong classroom, he falls for Lux who at first isn't really interested in him. There, Trip's story is told none other than the older Trip many years later (played by Michael Pare) who tells how he tries to pursue Lux but is scared at doing it.

He seeks the advice of his father as he finally gets a chance to impress Lux by calling her a Stone Fox and is invited to family dinner where there after, Lux kisses him and he is in heaven. With the prom approaching, Trip asks Mr. Lisbon if he and a few of his friends could take his daughters to the school dance and Mr. Lisbon says yes since he thinks Trip is a nice boy. With the girls already happy and buying prom dresses, Trip gets a few of his buddies (one of them is Hayden Christensen) as they accompany the girls to the prom but Lux is way into Trip's stoner activities of booze and dope.

As they arrive for the prom, Lux and Trip won the King & Queen of the school dance but things go wrong after an intimate encounter where Trip ditches Lux at the school football field leaving her late past curfew and costing her sister's chance of freedom. Trip meanwhile, never recovered from what he did to Lux as the older Trip is filled with many regrets.

The third part of the film begins where the Lisbon girls are now stuck at home, are banned from school, and Lux is forced to burn her own record collection. Lux however, decides to make out with boys at her roof late at night for a bit of freedom but immediately gets tired as she misses Trip. Mr. Lisbon however, is fired due to his inactivity and things gets worse when the Lisbon girls try to protect an old tree that was once loved by Cecilia but are whisked away when a news reporter comes.

The neighborhood boys meanwhile try to find ways to learn about the behavior of the Lisbon girls by ordering the same kind of catalogs they have along with tarot cards. They eventually communicate with the Lisbon girls through '45 singles as they finally get a chance to meet them but with dire consequences as the narrator remember that he and his friends aren't sure what really happened on that dreary night.

What makes The Virgin Suicides a very complex, breathtaking film is Sofia Coppola who manages to take the audience back in time to the childlike innocence of the 1970s away from Vietnam and Nixon. With cinematographer Edward Lachman, the authentic look of 70s suburbia is filled with majestic colors while on some scenes, there's colors of orange, blue, and dreary earth colors to encompass the mood of its characters and scenes.

Coppola's script adaptation is also strong with its many innocent and dark moments without being melodramatic or making things predictable. The film's ending though will be a problem for some since there is really no clear answer to the self-destructive behavior of the Lisbon girls other than the fact that they hated the strict household they lived.

Helping Coppola and Lachman capturing that vision is production designer Jasna Stefanovic and costume designer Nancy Steiner, who bring in a nice detail to the look of the 70s while using parts of Los Angeles and Toronto to capture the nice location setting of the film. With longtime Coppola associate Richard Beggs bringing in fine sound design work for the film's haunting quality, the film is nicely paced and stylized by editors James Lyon and Melissa Kent. Another great factor to the film is its use of music ranging from such 70s classic from acts like 10CC, Heart, Todd Rundgren, Styx, the Hollies, and the Bee Gees, to the haunting, electronic film score from the French electronic duo Air.

In the performance front, the best performance easily goes to Kirsten Dunst who stands out above all as the precocious, sexy Lux who is filled with mystique about her character as she plays the sex kitten. Dunst as Lux, remains her best film role to date as she has now become an ingénue on the Hollywood front with big roles in Bring It On and Spider-Man while recently gaining acclaim in Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow. Josh Hartnett even stands out as the hunky stoner Trip Fontaine as he brings a sheer cool to his character that makes him a heartthrob for all women while his ability as a serious actor, is still in question.

The roles of the Lisbon sisters including Hannah R. Hall as the doomed Cecilia stands out in a few film moments while the neighborhood boys that included Jonathan Tucker is filled with excellent performances with Tucker standing out the most, since he's been recognized for his breakthrough lead in 2001's 100 Girls.

The veteran performances of James Woods and Kathleen Turner are flawless and masterful as the strict, Lisbon parents. Especially Woods, who plays a different sort of character as a father and teacher who tries to show kids something but they easily become uninterested and he's still talking. The small roles of Danny Devito, Michael Pare, and Scott Glenn are very memorable, especially Glenn who plays against type from his usual, villain type of roles to play a man of guidance. Giovanni Ribisi as the narrator is another standout since he help makes the film come all together with his inspiring narration.

***Updated DVD Tidbits from 7/13/05***

The Regional 1 DVD from Paramount Classics and Zoetrope that is presented in its 16:9 widescreen format includes 5.1 English Surround sound and French language dubbing. The special features in the 2000 DVD edition include the theatrical trailer, a candid photo gallery shot in Polaroid. Plus a music video for Air's Playground Love that features Gordon Parks' vocals sung through a CGI-gum machine as the video is directed by Sofia and older brother Roman Coppola. The 20-minute making-of feature shows Sofia, her cast, and crew working with her parents and brother commenting on her while James Woods gives an opening speech on how comfortable he is in the making of the film.

***End of DVD Tidbits***

The Virgin Suicides is an excellent and majestic debut from Sofia Coppola, who can now be redeemed for her miscast performance in The Godfather Part III. Coppola's visuals and tranquil script brings strength to the film along with the performances of Dunst, Hartnett, Turner, and Woods. Though it's not exactly a perfect film, it will be for some if they can get past a few flaws and its obtuse ending. While it's a remarkable debut for Sofia Coppola, it's a great introduction to her work as a director as in 2003 (as I'm re-writing this review), she would shock the world with her sophomore masterpiece for the dreamy, romantic film Lost in Translation.

Sofia Coppola Films: Lost in Translation - Marie Antoinette - (Somewhere)

Sofia Coppola Film Soundtracks: Air-The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack - The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack - (Lost in Translation Soundtrack) - (Marie Antoinette Soundtrack) - (Somewhere Soundtrack)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age