Virgin Suicides - Victor Khomenko

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Virgin Suicides

Posted by Victor Khomenko (M) on October 2, 2003 at 07:01:54

With all the hoopla surrounding the Lost in Translation, I decided to bring home Sofia Coppola's earlier directing effort.

Partly because I felt a certain indebtedness to her - I thought her publicly trumpeted acting fiasco in her father's film was not too justified - for some reason she struck the right chord with me.

So I was completely predisposed to like her film. I remain sceptical regarding her choice of Murray for the lead role - I saw a few clips, and his "acting" there immediately reminded me why I hated him so much.

But be it as it may (and we all have seen what a good director could do with a bad actor... OK, OK, so Kubrick couldn't with Tom...), I wanted her to be a good director.

Maybe I expected another Liv Ullmann... who knows.

I made myself absorbed in the film from the getgo, and I kept swimming in it till the final notes of the reasonably good soundtrack faded away. And I enjoyed many moments of it.

Yet that fascination proved to be very short lived. It soon began to unravel, and I started seeing its weaknesses - too many, as it turned out.

Don't take me wrong - in the sea of garbage and prospering mediocrity that Hollywood gives us each year that film should rightly stand out. It shows enough good taste in many places that would carry it through. But it also has some of that "made for TV" flavor that I always find extremely objectionable in films.

Sofia made a film about good people for good people - but she coated it with too much sugar, so it quickly became too overweight to float.

The true merit of any good director is in knowing where to stop, and she failed there - she just kept adding things to the cake, and it became simply overpowering for its own good. Where Bergman would put just a subtle hint, Sofia had to give us the whole page, and that page, being about simple things we all already know, quickly became boring.

My wife disliked it from the first minutes, and she completely dismissed it after it was finished - I doubt she would give it any additional thoughts.

I didn't feel that way. I still believe Sofia has potential. A bit too late a bloomer - truly great directors show their "teeth" at much earlier age usually, but I still wish her best of luck. With so many directors doing what they are doing to trash our screens, she is indeed a small treasure.

So this film was overrated... whether or not the Lost in Translation is too I shall find in a couple of years, most likely.

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Topic - Virgin Suicides - Victor Khomenko 07:01:54 10/02/03 (14)

Victor, what did you mean by sugar coated, thanks (I prob agree with you, just curious)..nt.. - late 08:27:19 10/03/03 (1)

Re: Victor, what did you mean by sugar coated, thanks (I prob agree with you, just curious)..nt.. - Victor Khomenko 09:52:06 10/03/03 (0)

Haven't seen the flick yet, but AIR does the soundtrack and I've got a few of their pieces..... - Chris Garrett 21:28:40 10/02/03 (0)

Could you be more specific? - rhizomatic 08:43:55 10/02/03 (5)

I also disagree with the film being sugar coated - gware 23:46:48 10/02/03 (0)

Learning to walk at 28? - Victor Khomenko 08:52:06 10/02/03 (3)

Yes, exactly. - rhizomatic 09:02:56 10/02/03 (2)

Re: Yes, exactly. - Victor Khomenko 11:24:16 10/02/03 (1)

Teenagers, suicide, artistic integrity - rhizomatic 11:38:32 10/02/03 (0)

Re: Virgin Suicides - patrickU 07:52:13 10/02/03 (4)

How do you feel about Monica Bellucci? - Victor Khomenko 08:23:44 10/02/03 (3)

Re: How do you feel about Monica Bellucci? - patrickU 08:43:35 10/02/03 (2)

Welcome home, Monica! - Victor Khomenko 11:28:36 10/02/03 (1)

Re: Welcome home, Monica! - patrickU 13:49:01 10/02/03 (0)

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