Could you be more specific?

Posted by rhizomatic (A) on October 2, 2003 at 08:43:55

In Reply to: Virgin Suicides posted by Victor Khomenko on October 2, 2003 at 07:01:54:

How is it sugar coated? I don't really think of it as a film "about good people for good people" at all. I think the tone of the film was meant to achieve a rather simple aim, namely conveying the dreaminess and melancholy that hang around *those* girls in high school, in adolescence...the unattainable otherworldliness of pretty young girls when you're an awkward young boy. More broadly, I thought it was largely 'about' the feeling of adolescence in general, the sense of momentousness that accompanies everything, the strange distance between people who are filled with emotions but incapable of expressing them, and the tragedy of parents (understandably) attempting to thwart the inevitable maturation of their children.

Flaubert has some line about Madame Bovary being his attempt to convey a certain shade of yellow. I thought Virgin Suicides was just as much about colors and tones as it was about the story, these serving to lend exactly the right sense of softhued strangeness to things.

I guess I can see what you mean about a certain 'made for TV' flavor, but I don't think of this as a cautionary tale or melodrama at all. Allegory, maybe, but not melodrama. More a distillation of the mood of adolescence, which has the romance of suicide and the poignancy of sexual confusion and distance at its apogee.

And she was 28 when she directed Virgin Suicides. It's hard for anyone, even a Coppola, to get a feature film made at that early an age these days. The time of youthful heroism and unbridled experimentalism is over. If you get a movie made or a book published or a painting shown in a museum before you're 30, you're one of the very, very lucky ones. Trust me.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Follow Ups Full Thread

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)

Follow Ups

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)

You can not post to an archived thread.