The Virgin Suicides Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Virgin Suicides Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 21, 2018

Sofia Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides" (1999) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French label Pathe. The supplemental features on the disc include music video by Air; archival footage from the making of the film; and original theatrical trailer. In English, with imposed French subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The empty cage

Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides, definitely feels like a distant relative of Peter Weir’s classic film Picnic at Hanging Rock. Most of the time it has the same airy, borderline surreal ambience that is present in Weir’s film that can just about trick your mind to register that you have fallen asleep but with your eyes wide open. Viewing it can be a very special experience.

The narrative is essentially one giant reconstruction of a series of tragic events, most described by a former high-school ‘star’ (Michael Pare) who is now enrolled in a recovery program of some sort in a secluded sanatorium. A few of his former buddies also add up to his recollections.

Back in the ‘70s, when he was the leader of the football team, Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett) was the kind of guy that every girl wanted to have as a boyfriend -- tall, athletic, charming and smooth. Basically, he was the ultimate heartthrob that could improve any girl’s image and make her stick out. Trip knew it and frequently took advantage of his admirers -- until one day he bumped into Lux Lisbon (Kirsten Dunst) and she rocked his world. Lux had four sisters, but by the time she started seeing Trip the youngest one, Cecilia (Hanna Hall), had already ended her life. Their relationship was a struggle because Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner) was incredibly protective of the girls and Mr. Lisbon (James Woods) very rarely had the courage to change her mind. Nevertheless, Trip did not give up on Lux and eventually even managed to convince Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon to let all of the sisters attend the hugely anticipated Homecoming Dance. That night, which was apparently the last time that Trip saw Lux, he got what he was after -- he made love to her and then walked away. Not long after that, after Mrs. Lisbon had withdrawn the sisters from the local school and made them prisoners in their own home, like Cecilia they ended their lives because they could no longer endure their misery.

The film is based on Jeffrey Eugenides’ excellent novel and while it remains very faithful to the original material it really feels like a unique Coppola project. The main reason for this is Coppola’s ability to successfully make the special ambience the center piece of the narrative. So even though the reconstruction of the tragic events and the evolution of the relationships between the main characters remain important, it is the ambience and the contrasts that emerge through it that end up producing all of the crucial themes about the dangerous cultural stereotypes that destroy the sisters.

It also helps tremendously that Coppola allows the beautiful and the ugly as well as the logical and the illogical to overlap as randomly as they actually do in the real world where teenagers and adults routinely misunderstand, misjudge, and mistreat each other. However, this is also the one aspect of the narrative that admittedly makes the entire film a rather easy target for critics who have never been experienced this type of awkward coexistence and therefore cannot rationalize it.

The film’s visual style is very sleek and elegant but not in a pretentious sort of way. It just feels absolutely perfect for the desired by Coppola and veteran cinematographer Ed Lachman surreal ambience.

The popular French duo Air recorded the original soundtrack for the film. Later on, Air released it as an album which also featured additional music that was inspired by the film.

The Virgin Suicides Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Pathe.

The release is sourced from a very old master that was almost certainly used for previous DVD releases of the film. Unsurprisingly, there is a wide range of limitations that affect many of the key characteristics that we address in our reviews, from delineation and depth to density and color balance. Depth and fluidity, in particular, are very inconsistent and there are actually large portions of the film that look incredibly flat (see screencapture #5). Shadow definition also isn't optimal and plenty of the indoor and nighttime footage loses native detail. Some of the biggest issues, however, are in the area of color reproduction. The primaries are not properly balanced and entire ranges of nuances are actually compromised. Additionally, there are very prominent blown out highlights that basically elevate the whites and at times drastically alter the film's native palette. On the new 4K remaster that was prepared for Criterion's upcoming release primaries and nuances are rebalanced. Unfortunately, on this release there are also many dirt specks and even minor stains and a few scratches. Grain exposure is very uneven and at times quite problematic, but considering the many limitations of the master that are detailed above this should not be surprising. My score is 2.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The disc that is reviewed here is included in this box set, which is now out of print.

The Virgin Suicides Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. French imposed subtitles are provided for the original audio. They cannot be turned off via the main menu or the remote control.

As I mentioned in our review of the upcoming Criterion release, I actually like the original English track on this release quite a lot. It has very nice depth, proper fluidity, and a good range of dynamics. It is possible that there are some improvements in terms of balance on the lossless track from the Criterion release, but overall it is a solid track.

The Virgin Suicides Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Film annonce -original trailer for The Virgin Suicides. In English, with imposed French subtitles. (3 min).

• Clip Air - presented here is the music video for Air's song "Playground Love", which is included in the original soundtrack that the duo created for The Virgin Suicides. The video was directed by Sofia Coppola and her brother, Roman. (4 min).

• Les coulisses du film -presented here is an archival program with footage that was shot by Sofia Coppola's mother, Eleanor, during the production of The Virgin Suicides. In addition to the raw footage, there are also numerous clips from statements and interviews with James Woods, Jeffrey Eugenides, Kathleen Turner, Scott Glenn, and Josh Hartnett, amogst others. In English, with imposed French subtitles. (23 min).

The Virgin Suicides Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I received a few messages from concerned readers after we published our review of Criterion's upcoming release of Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, which is sourced from a wonderful new 4K remaster, and one of them speculated that now the film does not look as it did in the past. I actually specifically addressed the color grading of the new remaster as well as the limitations of the old master, but decided to do a quick review of this French release which I used for my analysis. I like this film quite a lot and I've had the French release in my library for many years, so I think that I know the film rather well and for what it's worth I would like to once again endorse the upcoming release. It represents a dramatic upgrade in quality and finally makes it easy to experience the film as its creators intended.