The Virgin Suicides
The opening of Coppola's Virgin Suicides introduces one of the main characters Lux, eating a lollipop on the street on the right hand side of the screen, she stands around for a moment and then disappears walking of the screen. The following shots are simple and peaceful as the camera sets onto the neighbourhood watering plants, taking dogs for walks and children playing. Its summertime and heavily reflected with warm tones almost turning sepia. The sound of birds increase and soft music begins to play with a sound of an ambulance getting louder in the background. The music then stops to drips of water with a shot of cold blues contrasting to the heavenly warmth shown outside.
The contrast represents the darkness within what seems to be a paradise of a happy neighbourhood. Its almost an illusion as the four girls are really suppressed with rules, religion and purity by their parents, unable to grow and experience. This is a piece of detail carried throughout the film through characteristics, mise-ene-scene and cinematography as they are forever innocent and young, failing adolescence.
There is a narrator talking about the family (main characters) from an outside perspective of his memories, which goes with the footage as the camera surrounds rather than following with an inside perspective. The audience and camera are treated as a neighbour, not really knowing their thoughts but hearing from others. The film almost acts as a documentary to the neighbourhood, focusing on one family. What is noticeable is that it is narrated in past tense, equally showing the past in a dreamscape style.
The ending of The Virgin Suicides is in opposition to the opening with colours de-saturated and lifeless, showing more of a realistic colourisation. Empty rooms and its left over neighbourhood in silence. The narrator comes back the same age as when the Lisbon girls died which then establishes the present tense.
=inspiration for my short film
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