Sunshine Blogger Award

I would like to say a huge thank you to Natasha over at Films And Things for awarding me the Sunshine Blogger Award. If you haven’t seen her blog, check it out now. It’s a great honour to receive this kind of award and know people enjoy reading my blog.

Here are the rules:

• Use the award logo in the post.
• Link to the person who nominated you.
• Write ten “pieces of information about myself”.
• Nominate ten fellow bloggers who ‘ positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere’.
• Leave a comment on the nominees blog informing them of the award.

Here are ten facts about myself:

1. If someone where to ask me what the most chilling movie I have ever watched was, I would sat The Innocents. Such an effective and psychological film.
2. If I were to live anywhere in the world, I would choose Rome.
3. I can quote most of The Godfather, word for word.
4. If I could talk to one director living or dead, I would speak to Alfred Hitchcock.
5. Whenever I buy an album, I have to listen to all of it before I make a judgement on it.
6. I can reel off the names of every James Bond movie and year of release at the drop of a hat.
7. My favourite time of day is the afternoon.
8. My favourite subject at school was English.
9. My least favourite subject was maths.
10. After watching Bond and Bourne, I wanted to become a spy.

It’s hard chosing ten nominees as I follow so many amazing blogs, but I have mentioned to whittle it down to ten.The following are the nominees for the award:

Fogs Movie Reviews

Terry Malloy’s Pigeon Coop

Dan The Man’s Movie Reviews

Marked Movies

Reviewed By Mark Leonard

Cinema Train

Mr Rumsey’s Film Related Musings

50 Year Project

Head In A Vice

Committed To Celluloid

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The Proposition

Tags

2000's, Australia, Danny Huston, Emily Watson, Guy Pearce, John Hillcoat, John Hurt, Nick Cave, Ray Winstone, Revenge Drama, The Proposition, Western

Film Title

The Proposition

Director

John Hillcoat

Cast

• Guy Pearce as Charlie Burns
• Ray Winstone as Captain Morris Stanley
• Emily Watson as Martha Stanley
• Danny Huston as Arthur Burns
• David Wenham as Eden Fletcher
• John Hurt as Jellon Lamb
• Richard Wilson as Mikey Burns

Brutal, blood-soaked but also thought-provoking and strangely poetic, The Proposition is an Australian western that delves deep into the minds of its characters. Scripted by Nick Cave, of the Bad Seeds fame, the film is visually exemplary and excellently performed. If it’s a western that focuses on the characters and the repercussions of their actions, then The Proposition is the film for you.

In 1880’s Australia, English lawman Captain Stanley captures two brothers, Charlie and Mikey, of a famous band of outlaws after a brutal shootout. They are accused of the heinous murder of a colonial family, including the woman of the house. Stanley, who has his own version of justice, gives Charlie the title proposition; either he hunts down and kills his psychotic older brother Arthur or his feeble-minded younger brother Mikey will hang in the number of weeks that precede Christmas. The laconic Charlie goes in search of his brother in the arid Australian outback whilst deliberating what he will do. Meanwhile Stanley’s superior Eden Fletcher has decided to make an example of the young prisoner, which disturbs Stanley as he tries to wrestle with his conscience. The eponymous proposition will have consequences for every character involved as the film moves towards a shocking climax.

Nick Cave, best known for brooding songs about death, violent, bloody revenge and choice, fashions many of these themes into his poetic screenplay. It is as if he had written a song and extended it into celluloid. Unlike some westerns that feature constant shoot-outs, The Proposition, although violent and bloody throughout, focuses more on the choices and actions of the characters to move the story along. This is more effective as it paints a bleak and haunting portrait of a lawless time in which there are no easily identifiable bad guys. Cave also provides an atmospheric music score that compliments the long-lasting consequences of fatal decisions and gives Charlie’s journey to track down Arthur an almost mystical edge. Cinematography is a key component, showing both the savage and unforgiving state of the town and the arid beauty of the outback, sometimes at the same time. A fine cast of actors flesh out Cave’s challenging characters, with Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone and Emily Watson making the biggest impacts. As Charlie, Pearce exudes weariness at his difficult proposition, although he doesn’t share much love for his older brother, he still struggles to decide whether to kill him or save his other sibling in a strange Cain and Abel way. As Stanley, the lawman who is by turns violent and kind, Ray Winstone reveals new-found depths as an actor that make his character interesting to watch. As one of the few women in the picture, Emily Watson is reliable as ever as Stanley’s wife Martha, who is delicate and haunted by the murder of her friend. It is she who brings out the kinder side to Stanley but also shocked and repulsed by the lawlessness surrounding her. Watson delivers a powerful monologue that speaks of her dreams of her dead friend that is so poignant and poetic, mainly because of her faultless phrasing and delivery. In supporting roles, Danny Huston as the psychopathic Arthur and John Hurt as a drunken bounty hunter, both imbue their characters with unstable menace that is very disquieting.

As I mentioned earlier, the film is quite violent in parts, especially when Mikey is brutally lashed,  so be warned if you are squeamish. But if you can handle it you shouldn’t miss this revenge riddled western that paints a brutal picture of crime and lawlessness and is scripted and acted to a high standard.

Spider

Tags

2000's, David Cronenberg, Gabriel Byrne, Lynn Redgrave, Miranda Richardson, Psychological Drama, Ralph Fiennes, Spider

Film Title

Spider

Director

David Cronenberg

Cast

• Ralph Fiennes as Dennis ‘Spider’ Cleg
• Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Cleg/Yvonne
• Gabriel Byrne as Bill Cleg
• Bradley Hall as Young Spider
• John Neville as Terrence
• Lynn Redgrave as Mrs. Wilkinson

With Spider, David Cronenberg takes the viewer on an intense and psychological journey through the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic as he begins to remember important events from his childhood. Deftly told and powerfully acted, Spider is a film that gets you tangled up in its web and just when you think you’ve figured it out, you see something unexpected and you’re left flawed.

The film begins with an excellent tracking shot through a London station as passengers disembark a train. When the camera finishes gliding through the crowd, we finally get our first glimpses of the title character. He is unkempt, often stoops, mutters to himself and has a haunted expression. In these opening moments, we get a distinct picture of Spider and how his behaviour that will influence the events of the film. He has just been released from an asylum after treatment for schizophrenia and now is to live in a dilapidated halfway way house in the East End. He arrives and is greeted with the cold, unfeeling Mrs. Wilkinson, but is helped by an old man called Terrence. It is here that Spider’s memory begins to unravel and he begins to literally relive his key ‘moments’ from his traumatic childhood whilst revisiting his childhood haunts. The most prominent events revolve around his caring mother and his drunken father, who seems to be having an affair with a local hooker. But as Spider descends deeper into these memories, his mental state begins to deteriorate, even as he begins to put the missing pieces together. Throughout the film, the audience is left with an interesting question, Are the memories that he is reliving real or the result of his paranoia? That is for the audience to decide as the film takes on numerous ambiguous meanings and connotations.

As the title character, Ralph Fiennes delivers a powerful and committed portrayal that lets the audience experience the living nightmare he endures. He lets his body do most of the talking, capturing the nervousness, jittery movements and awkward gestures that say so much more than speech can. It is through Spider’s eyes that we see the ‘events’ that befell him as a child and how the repercussions have deeply and emotionally scarred him. He is excellently portrayed as a child by Bradley Hall, who boasts an eerily resemblance to Fiennes. Miranda Richardson delivers knockout performances as two women who although they were at different ends of the moral spectrum, each had a huge impact on the boy’s psyche. She embodies both characters, Spider’s saintly mother and Yvonne, a vulgar, loose living prostitute, with a deft skill that is amazing to watch and remarkable in clearly showing the differences in the women. Gabriel Byrne exudes menace as Spider’s abusive father, whose dalliance with Yvonne led to terrifying consequences. And Lynn Redgrave is suitably chilly as the unfriendly and beady-eyed Mrs.Wilkinson.

Credit must go to the screenplay that blends the lines between past and present with a haunting skill. This use of narrative further challenges the audience to decide what is in fact real and imaginary. The set design impeccably displays the dark and dingy area in which Spider grew up and the various incidents that shaped his existence. As with most of Cronenberg’s films, Spider isn’t the most pleasant thing to watch but regardless of this, is an exceptionally evocative and chilling account of the repercussions of memory and the tenuous link between past and present as it overlaps. The film boasts many interpretations that rise from small events that you may have to view again to get a better understanding. If its psychological drama that you want, watch this underrated film that will leave you flawed by the time it ends and thinking about it for days after.

Heavenly Creatures

Tags

1990's, Based on a true story, Drama, Heavenly Creatures, Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey, Parker-Hulme murder case, Peter Jackson

Film Title

Heavenly Creatures

Director

Peter Jackson

Cast

• Melanie Lynskey as Pauline Parker
• Kate Winslet as Juliet Hulme
• Sarah Peirse as Honora Rieper
• Diane Kent as Hilda Hulme
• Clive Merrison as Henry Hulme
• Simon O’Connor as Herbert Rieper

In 1954 Christchurch, New Zealand, two schoolgirls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme shocked a nation when they murdered Pauline’s mother. The trial of the two girls became a sensational and notorious affair. From the diaries of Pauline, Peter Jackson fashions an imaginative, haunting and disturbing account of the effects of close friendship and the powers of the imagination when they become entwined with reality.

The film begins a year prior. Pauline Parker is an imaginative but shy young girl from a working-class background. Attending an all girls school, she meets Juliet Hulme, the more affluent of the two who is originally from England. The two girls soon become firm friends and bond over their imaginative thoughts, history of childhood illnesses and their love of tenor Mario Lanza. As time goes on, their friendship intensifies as they create a fantasy world, populated by their heroes from movies, literature and music. The world functions as an escape from the daily stresses of reality,:Pauline feels alienated from her family and Juliet resents her neglectful parents. The bond between the two becomes more inseparable, the first instance being when Juliet contracts tuberculosis. It is around this time that their parents begin to worry that the friendship between the two is becoming unwholesome and unhealthy. When Juliet’s parents insist on moving away, the two girls won’t listen and their plans to remain with each other result in fatal consequences.

The anchor of the film is the exemplary debut performances from Lynskey and Winslet. The two girls delightfully play off each other, Pauline scowling and silence counteracted by Juliet’s brash manner. The girls are never presented as villains, but as two girls intent on not being separated that they will go to the extreme to stop it. The supporting cast is equally as good, especially Sarah Peirse as the ill-fated mother. Through the use of Pauline’s narration from her diary, we get an insight into the minds of the girls and how the fantasy world they create becomes all to real for them. The kinetic camerawork used places us at the centre of the girls imaginative schemes, as we watch them laughing and skipping with abandon through a forest dressed in white or running to enter the gates of their fantasy world. The visual effects capture the childlike nature of the world, making their heroes into clay figures that talk to them. The use of the girls favourite tenor Mario Lanza helps creates a feeling of no cares or stress that the girls crave so much. Because of the excellent screenplay, the film effortlessly blends fantasy with reality to mirror the intense and complex relationship between Pauline and Juliet. Peter Jackson directs with a visual flair that never fails to surprise and helps fashion this dark and strange story of never-ending friendship and the fear of separation.

Dark, imaginative and at times bleak, Heavenly Creatures is a film that takes us into a fantasy world dreamt up by the girls, yet stays firmly rooted in the grim realities of life.  If you haven’t seen this film based on a case that still lingers in the memories of  many, I advise you to.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Tags

1960's, Drama, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal, Mike Nichols, Psychological Drama, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Film Title

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Director

Mike Nichols

Cast

• Elizabeth Taylor as Martha
• Richard Burton as George
• George Segal as Nick
• Sandy Dennis as Honey

One of the most emotionally fraught, honest and unremittingly uncomfortable looks at marital dysfunction ever to appear on the screen, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? still has the power to pack a punch with its acerbic dialogue and committed performances. If you’re looking for a successful translation of a famous play to the screen, then look no further than this drama.

Martha and George, a college history professor and his wife return home in the early hours of the morning. There marriage is by turns loving and savagely cruel. Martha, who drinks too much and roars like a harpy constantly berates George about everything, while George is equally adept at playing these childlike games with her. Martha announces that she has invited a biology teacher and his wife over for a nightcap. It is here that all the venom within each of them begins to surface. When Nick, the handsome teacher and his meek wife Honey arrive at the house, Martha and George immediately launch into one of their many games, that eerily mirrors their troubled marriage. Soon, the young and seemingly innocent couple are drawn into this verbal war zone, and as the drinks continue to pour and as the early hours wear on, the vicious words and psychological abuse take full effect on all of them. Secrets are unearthed and grievances aired as the young couple watch the effects of a damaging marriage, while showing that there’s isn’t exactly on solid ground either. As an audience, you will be paralysed with shock at the violent effects of words and the volatile relationship of the central couple. But, don’t let the grim premise put you off, because if you do you will miss the talented Mike Nichols crafting a startling and full-blooded vision of marital confusion that will never be forgotten once it has been.

The use of black and white in the film exceptionally conveys the stark situations that the characters are stuck in. The editing style, mainly close-up’s and cuts to long shots help back up the verbal volleys that the feuding couple inflict on each other throughout the film. Above all, it is the acting the lingers longest in the memory. Elizabeth Taylor sheds her glamorous image to deliver an electrifying Oscar-winning performance as the monstrous and abusive Martha. But instead of creating an evil caricature, she imbues the character with a strange sort of sympathy and sadness that makes us realise the internal anger and pain that lie inside of her. Equally matching her is Richard Burton’s portrayal of the weary George, who although he tolerates Martha’s abuse, the audience comes to see that he is the one who has the upper hand as the games get evermore personal. Sterling support is added by George Segal and especially Oscar winner Sandy Dennis, who gives a performance full of neurotic tics that reveal her uncomfortable feelings with the situation unfolding before her eyes. The script is one of the most scathing , honest and corrosive things I think I’ve ever heard, the cast delivers the lacerating words with conviction, emotion and above all, power. One needs to remember how controversial the film was upon release, mainly because of the language used. And even though the years may have lessened some of the impact, the bruising words still have a raw and intense power that is hard to escape.

Mike Nichols delivered an auspicious debut with this film that surely ranks as one of his best, along with The Graduate. If you can handle the arguing and emotional impact of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, then I advise you to see it as it is uncomfortable and unflinching in its view of a broken marriage, but rewarding because of the excellent performances captured.

The Age Of Innocence

Tags

1990's, Daniel Day-Lewis, Drama, Edith Wharton, Joanne Woodward, Martin Scorsese, Michelle Pfeiffer, Period Drama, Romance, The Age of Innocence, Winona Ryder

Film Title

The Age Of Innocence

Director

Martin Scorsese

Cast

• Daniel Day-Lewis as Newland Archer
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Countess Ellen Olenska
• Winona Ryder as May Welland
• Richard E. Grant as Larry Lefferts
• Miriam Margoyles as Mrs. Mingott
• Joanne Woodward as Narrator

Martin Scorsese once described his adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence as the most violent film he has made. When I read about this and viewed the film, I was unsure of what he meant. But then I realised, he didn’t mean actual violence but internal violence arising from conflicting emotions. Bringing this to the period romance, Scorsese succeeds in showing the arcane machinations of higher class society, the rigorous attempts to uphold tradition and the consequences of trying to challenge it as the main love story is played out. Sumptuous, acute and scathing in equal measure, The Age of Innocence is a welcome departure for Scorsese that emphasises his versatility.

In 1870’s New York, Newland Archer is a respected lawyer.He is engaged to May Welland, the seemingly naive and innocent daughter of a prominent family. The marriage is socially acceptable as it joins two of the most prominent families in New York. Although he obeys the many rules of this close society, Newland secretly resents the pressure and many social standards that have to be obeyed.As there engagement is announced, May’s cousin Countess Ellen Olenska arrives from Europe. She is unconventional and independent for a woman of her time, and the society immediately takes a dislike towards her. Her reputation isn’t helped when it is announced that she is planning to divorce her husband after an unhappy courtship. Although shunned by many, Newland becomes enchanted by her as she lives by her own rules and doesn’t conform to the oppressive demands of society. The two eventually fall in love, but can this relationship last against the iron will of rules and regulations enforced upon them?

Firstly, the camerawork used in the film is absolutely marvellous in the way it shows the minute details of decor and finery, whilst emphasising the struggle to survive in a world of tradition. Costume design is stunning, really capturing the sumptuous and prosperous attitudes and styles of the 1870’s. The evocative screenplay delves deep into conflicted emotions and reflects on the state of affairs apparent. The use of Joanne Woodward as the narrator is a stroke of genius, her voice filled with reflection, humour and pathos as she tells the story of Newland and Ellen. The main reason for the movie’s success is the three central performances by Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. As the confused and troubled Newland, Day-Lewis exudes a weariness and desire to escape from social standards and cantankerous rules imposed on him. Michelle Pfeiffer adds luminous poignancy as the scandalous Ellen, showing her unconventional behaviour as an act of defiance but subtly revealing the melancholy inflicted on her by her marriage. It is Ellen who drives the story along, awakening a hidden fire that burns within Newland, with the desire to escape and live free of controlling influences. Unlike many period romances that feature copious amounts of bodice-ripping, The Age of Innocence instead focuses on the passion between the two in an emotionally restrained and tender way. When Newland slowly removes Ellen’s glove and gently caresses her face, there is more passion in that moment than in any of the explicit bedroom antics of the usual period drama. Rounding out the excellent troika is Winona Ryder as Newland’s wife May Welland. At first glance she appears to be naive, clueless and unsuspecting, but as the story moves on and because of Ryder’s subtly expressive face, we begin to see a young woman who isn’t as lily-white and innocent as her outward exterior would have use believe. This in turn makes her an interesting character to observe as the film goes on.

The only gripe I can think of that may put off some audience members is the slow and reflective pace at which the film runs. But in actual fact, it is more effective as it satirically observes hypocrisy and the cloistered attempts to uphold tradition with a scathing eye. Whether viewing it as a scathing account of society or a romance doomed by conflicting attitudes, The Age of Innocence is excellent either way, filled with pathos, reflection and a unscrupulous melancholy that haunts the mind.

The Orphanage

Tags

2000's, Belen Rueda, Foreign Language Film, Geraldine Chaplin, Horror, Juan Antonio Bayona, Psychological Horror, The Orphanage

Film Title

The Orphanage

Director

Juan Antonio Bayona

Cast

• Belen Rueda as Laura
• Fernando Cayo as Carlos
• Roger Princep as Simon
• Mabel Rivera as Pilar
• Montserrat Carulla as Benigna
• Geraldine Chaplin as Aurora

A chilling, emotionally involving and nerve-shredding Spanish horror film , The Orphanage will have you on the edge of your seat as you try to piece it together. Yet unlike some horror films that don’t focus on character development, The Orphanage furthers our feelings towards the characters because of the performances, especially from Belen Rueda. This adds to the emotional engagement the audience feels as we watch a mother desperately trying to cling to her sanity whist attempting to find her missing child. Also, it doesn’t rely on gratuitous gore to create scares, it instead uses moments of foreboding silence and exemplary lighting to generate effective chills. Anyway back to my review of it.

37-year-old Laura grew up in an orphanage that overlooked the sea along with five other children and a carer. Years later, she returns to the orphanage with her husband Carlos and young son Simon. Her plans are to open it as a facility for disabled children. Her son Simon has recently claimed to have imaginary friends, Laura thinks nothing of it only that Simon is just lonely and has created them as a distraction for his boredom. Not long after arriving Simon claims to have made a new friend called Tomas while he was exploring a nearby cave, Tomas is shown to be a boy with a patterned sack covering his face. These events coincide with the arrival of a creepy “social worker” named Benigna. She questions Laura about Simon being adopted and how unbeknownst to the sweet child he is HIV positive. Incensed she sends the creepy old woman away. This is when events begin to take a sinister tone around the old orphanage. After an argument with Simon and an “encounter” with his imaginary friend, Laura and Carlos discover that he has gone missing. And so begins a frantic search that leads to dark secrets hidden in the eponymous orphanage and shocks a plenty. Despite people’s insistence that Simon is dead, the determined Laura refuses to believe it and delves deep into the murky history surrounding her former experiences at the place. Are the imaginary friends that Simon spoke of real? Or is it something more plausible than that? Is the threat supernatural or physical? Prepare for scares as The Orphanage takes you on a fright-filled trip that will leave you flawed and reeling by the end.

Juan Antonio Bayona conjures up a shadowy and malevolent atmosphere through the use of music and the seemingly ordinary appearing very different. He excellently blends the line between supposedly innocent children’s stories and reality to create a deeply chilling film. The main reason the film is so effective is the powerful performance of Belen Rueda, who embodies the undying love and of a mother desperately looking for her child. In a small role, Geraldine Chaplin stars as a medium called in when the police can’t find the young boy. It is through the medium that secrets are unearthed as Laura refuses to give up on hope. The atmosphere created is palpable and chilling, making excellent use of long corridors, never-ending staircases and slamming doors in nods to The Innocents and The Others . What is also surprising is how relatable the material is and the way in which the audience responds emotionally to it. Most of the horror in the film is because of Laura’s never-ending search for her son and the pain it causes her, this is supremely staged and shows how a story can get deep under your skin without gore and excessive violence.

Chilling, nail-biting and surprisingly poignant, The Orphanage is a must see for fans of psychological horror and ghost stories in the gothic horror mould. Believe me you won’t be sitting comfortably once the film has finished.

8 Women

Tags

2000's, 8 Women, Catherine Deneuve, Comedy, Danielle Darrieux, Drama, Emmanuelle Beart, Fanny Ardant, Firmine Richard, Foreign Language Film, Francois Ozon, Isabelle Huppert, Ludivine Sagnier, Murder Mystery, Musical, Mystery, Virginie Ledoyen

Film Title

8 Women

Director

François Ozon

Cast

• Danielle Darrieux as Mamy
• Catherine Deneuve as Gaby
• Isabelle Huppert as Augustine
• Emmanuelle Béart as Louise
• Fanny Ardant as Pierrette
• Virginie Ledoyen as Suzon
• Ludivine Sagnier as Catherine
• Firmine Richard as Madame Chanel

A deliciously mounted film featuring a once in a lifetime cast of French actresses, 8 Women is part comedy, murder mystery and musical. With the skill at directing females of George Cukor, the melodramatic colours of Douglas Sirk and the cat and mouse mystery of Agatha Christie, François Ozon has crafted a highly enjoyable film that is a funny, homage laden and joyous tribute to those films that people say  “They just don’t make them like this anymore”.

The setting is a wealthy country estate in the 1950’s. It is the middle of winter and the film begins upon the arrival of the sweet-natured Suzon. She is the daughter of the owner, the glamorous Gaby and her husband Marcel. Also occupying the house are the elderly grandmother Mamy, Gaby’s waspish sister Augustine, Suzon’s bookish sister Catherine, the pouting maid Louise and loyal cook Madame Chanel. All is well until Marcel is discovered murdered in his bed, a knife in his back. Sending shock waves though the house, each woman tries to figure out who committed the murder. The group becomes bigger by the mysterious arrival of Pierrette, the dead man’s sister and rumoured lady of the night. To make matters worst the weather halts any attempt at leaving the estate and the phone lines are cut so there is no contact with the outside world, it is soon deduced that the murderer is amongst the women. As the film progresses, skeletons begin to rattle in each character’s closet as the truth is neared. Who murdered the rich man? You’ll have to view the film to see the answer to that. What ensures is a fun-filled extravaganza of a film, that gives the eight talented actresses chances to flex both their comedic and dramatic muscles.

Francois Ozon firstly captures the decor and costume of the era, with lavish colour symbolising the hidden desires beneath alleged respectability. When the actresses burst into song it seems natural and free, not manufactured or tailored. Each actress is given a time to shine with the musical numbers, the highlights being Ardant’s sexy number in which she invokes Rita Hayworth glamour and Denueve’s slinky but mournful rendition. Even if the mystery angle doesn’t engross you in this pastiche, it is hard to fault the octet of talented women, who all turn in performances of great quality. Stealing the show is Isabelle Huppert as the highly strung and jealous matron Augustine, her presence reminds one of an angry wasp who instead of stinging attacks with vicious, acidic comments. This shows a funny side to Huppert and her unacknowledged gift for comedy. The grand dame of French Cinema, Danielle Darrieux adds class and humour as the secretive grandmother with a taste for drink and a penchant for lying. Catherine Deneuve gleefully sends up her ice maiden image as the glamorous mother Gaby, her catfight with Ardant a delightfully, melodramatic moment. Fanny Ardant sizzles across the screen as the unpopular Pierrette, who just can’t help but shake up things for the women during the investigation. The stunning Emmanuelle Béart has fun as the seductive chambermaid Louise, who resents her position within the house but is secretly guarding the nature of her relationship with the deceased. Virginie Ledoyen and Ludivine Sagnier impress amongst prestigious company as the daughters of the murdered man, Ledoyen showing a sweetness that masks an inner turmoil and Sagnier conjuring up the frivolous and boundless energy of her young murder obsessed character. Rounding out the cast is Firmine Richard as the loyal cook Chanel, bringing a dignity to her loving character.

Despite referencing many other genres and filmmakers, Ozon’s film retains originality in the execution of it. It is very hard to think of a recent film that balances a multitude of themes, stars and genres and emerge so successfully in the process.If you haven’t viewed this frothy pastiche to the 50’s and sleuthing crime novels, I advise you to as there isn’t in a film in my memory that is like it.

The Virgin Suicides

Tags

1990's, Drama, James Woods, Josh Hartnett, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Suicides

Film Title

The Virgin Suicides

Director

Sofia Coppola

Cast

• James Woods as Ronald Lisbon
• Kathleen Turner as Sara Lisbon
• Kirsten Dunst as Lux Lisbon
• Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine
• A.J. Cook as Mary Lisbon
• Hanna R. Hall as Cecilia Lisbon
• Leslie Hayman as Therese Lisbon
• Chelse Swain as Bonnie Lisbon
• Jonathan Tucker as Tim Winer
• Noah Shebib as Parkie Denton
• Anthony DeSimone as Chase Buell
• Lee Kagan as David Barker
• Giovanni Ribisi as Narrator

The Virgin Suicides marks the directorial debut of Sofia Coppola. Based on the acclaimed novel, it is a poignant, lyrical and mysterious tale of teenage awkwardness and the effects that mystery has on the mind for years. Featuring a haunting score by Air and evocative cinematography, it perfectly captures the conflicted feelings of blossoming sexual attraction and the alienation of teenage years.

Set in a 1970’s  Michigan suburb, the plot focuses on a group of boys who are entranced by the five beautiful Lisbon sisters; Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Therese and Mary . Although they don’t physically know any of them, the boys dream up fantasies about them because of the mystery surrounding them. Presided over by strict, suffocating parents, the girls are the intangible desire of the boys who can’t seem to fathom them. The film is narrated in flashback by one of the boys who is still plagued by memories of the sisters and still looking for answers as to why each of them took their own lives. After the youngest daughter, Cecilia finally succeeds in killing herself by impaling herself on the railings outside, the mother and father of the girls begin to shelter their daughters from the outside world, further enhancing the enigmatic air that hangs over them. Complications arise when the school heart-throb Trip Fontaine falls for the sexually precocious Lux and the girls are allowed to attend the usually forbidden homecoming dance. The actions of their over-protective parents leads the girls into isolation and desperation, yet they still are in the thoughts of the boys who the spell has been cast on.  What emerges is a bittersweet examination of girls growing up into women and the mystique surrounding the seemingly untouchable.

Sofia Coppola perfectly conjures up the mystical tale, showing how much the tragic, flaxen-haired beauties had an effect on the boys. As the narrator tells us, they are still looking for an answer after almost 20 years. Through the use of dream sequences, stunningly shot and evocatively scored, the sisters become ethereal beings presiding over the burgeoning attraction of these boys. Coppola’s script pierces to the heart of teenage angst with a reflective eye and also manages to examine the difficult theme of suicide in an effective way, rather than sugar-coating it. Music plays an integral part in the film, especially adding to the emotional impact is a stunning score by Air. The scene in which the isolated sisters communicate with the boys by playing records over the phone is moving in its look at the power of unspoken words and how music is an almost universal language. Out of the sisters, Lux is the most interesting, mainly because of Kirsten Dunst’s portrayal of a young sexually precocious girl who rebels against her overbearing parents, She excellently conveys the pained expression of a pressured girl approaching womanhood, yet trapped in a cage intent on preserving her innocence. Turner and Woods turn in great performances as the parents who take strict to a whole new level. Josh Hartnett also stars as the popular guy who in adulthood regrets his treatment of the beautiful Lux.

Interestingly, we are never told the reason as to why the girls took their own lives, Coppola lets the audience decide this outcome. A reflective melancholy hangs over the film, heightened by the narrator’s voice that combines a wide-eyed youthful quality but a pensive and mature sadness. Because of these ambiguities, The Virgin Suicides makes for a starting but dreamlike watch as we watch the sister’s influence on the boys and how to the day they still haunt them like muses from myth.

Evocative, intense and profound, The Virgin Suicides is a true testament to Coppola’s sensitive direction that lets the audience follow the lives of these mysterious girls and the boys forever plagued by their memory with a childlike wonder but a certain amount of time for rumination.