Sofia Coppola

The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides

With this debut feature, Sofia Coppola announced her singular vision, exploring the aesthetics of femininity while illuminating the interior lives of young women. An adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’s highly acclaimed first novel, The Virgin Suicides conjures the ineffable melancholy of teenage longing and ennui in its story of the suicides of the five Lisbon sisters, stifled by the rules of their overprotective religious parents—as told through the collective memory of a group of men who were boys at the time and still yearn to understand what happened. Evoking its 1970s suburban setting through ethereal cinematography by Ed Lachman and an atmospheric score by Air, and featuring a magnetic performance by Kirsten Dunst, the film secured a place for its director in the landscape of American independent cinema and has become a coming-of-age touchstone.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1999
  • 97 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.66:1
  • English
  • Spine #920

Director-Approved 4K UHD + Blu-ray Special Edition Features

  • 4K digital restoration, approved by director Sofia Coppola and supervised by cinematographer Ed Lachman, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • New interviews with Coppola, Lachman, actors Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett, novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, and writer and actor Tavi Gevinson
  • Making of “The Virgin Suicides,” a 1998 documentary directed by Eleanor Coppola and featuring Sofia Coppola; Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola; actors Dunst, Hartnett, Scott Glenn, Kathleen Turner, and James Woods; Eugenides; and more
  • Lick the Star, a 1998 short film by Sofia Coppola
  • Music video for Air’s soundtrack song “Playground Love,” directed by Coppola and her brother Roman Coppola
  • Trailers
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by novelist Megan Abbott

New cover by Naomi Hirabayashi

Purchase Options

Director-Approved 4K UHD + Blu-ray Special Edition Features

  • 4K digital restoration, approved by director Sofia Coppola and supervised by cinematographer Ed Lachman, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • New interviews with Coppola, Lachman, actors Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett, novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, and writer and actor Tavi Gevinson
  • Making of “The Virgin Suicides,” a 1998 documentary directed by Eleanor Coppola and featuring Sofia Coppola; Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola; actors Dunst, Hartnett, Scott Glenn, Kathleen Turner, and James Woods; Eugenides; and more
  • Lick the Star, a 1998 short film by Sofia Coppola
  • Music video for Air’s soundtrack song “Playground Love,” directed by Coppola and her brother Roman Coppola
  • Trailers
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by novelist Megan Abbott

New cover by Naomi Hirabayashi

The Virgin Suicides
Cast
James Woods
Mr. Lisbon
Kathleen Turner
Mrs. Lisbon
Kirsten Dunst
Lux Lisbon
Josh Hartnett
Trip Fontaine
Michael Paré
Adult Trip Fontaine
Scott Glenn
Father Moody
Danny DeVito
Dr. Horniker
Giovanni Ribisi
Narrator
A. J. Cook
Mary Lisbon
Hanna Hall
Cecilia Lisbon
Leslie Hayman
Therese Lisbon
Chelse Swain
Bonnie Lisbon
Anthony DeSimone
Chase Buell
Lee Kagan
David Barker
Robert Schwartzman
Paul Baldino
Noah Shebib
Parkie Denton
Jonathan Tucker
Tim Weiner
Joe Roncetti
Kevin Head
Hayden Christensen
Jake Hill Conley
Chris Hale
Peter Sisten
Joe Dinicol
Dominic Palazzolo
Suki Kaiser
Lydia Perl
Credits
Director
Sofia Coppola
Written by
Sofia Coppola
Based upon the novel by
Jeffrey Eugenides
Producers
Francis Ford Coppola
Julie Costanzo
Dan Halsted
Chris Hanley
Executive producers
Fred Fuchs
Willi Baer
Coproducers
Fred Roos
Gary Marcus
Cinematographer
Ed Lachman
Production design
Jasna Stefanovic
Editors
Melissa Kent
James Lyons
Costume designer
Nancy Steiner
Casting
Linda Phillips-Palo
Robert McGee
John Buchan
Sound design
Richard Beggs
Music composed by
Air
Second unit director
Roman Coppola
Acting/dialogue coach
Chris Neil
Music supervisor
Brian Reitzell
Sound recordists
Ethan Derner
Henry Embry
Pete Horner
Art direction
Jon Goulding
Set decoration
Megan Less
Makeup
Kathleen Graham
Hair
Gail “Freddie” Godden
Still photographers
Sofia Coppola
Corinne Day
Clayton Joye
Pierre Vinet

Current

This Kiss: Filming an Intimate Moment in The Virgin Suicides
This Kiss: Filming an Intimate Moment in The Virgin Suicides

What goes into staging the perfect on-screen kiss? Director Sofia Coppola and actors Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett look back on shooting a passionate make-out session in The Virgin Suicides.

The Virgin Suicides: “They Hadn’t Heard Us Calling”
The Virgin Suicides: “They Hadn’t Heard Us Calling”

Sofia Coppola lets us behind closed doors in ways that are beyond the imagining of the novel’s boy narrators.

By Megan Abbott

Intimate Apparel: A Conversation with Nancy Steiner
Intimate Apparel: A Conversation with Nancy Steiner

The veteran designer talks about her wide-ranging, three-decade career, which has included collaborations with rock icons like Nirvana and filmmakers like Sofia Coppola and David Lynch.

By Hillary Weston

Edson Oda’s Top 10
Edson Oda’s Top 10

The Sundance-award-winning director of Nine Days shares a selection of favorite films that range from lyrical masterpieces like Wings of Desire to rule-breaking mind-benders like Being John Malkovich.

Sofia Coppola Looks Back on Growing Up Cinephile
Sofia Coppola Looks Back on Growing Up Cinephile

The director of The Virgin Suicides remembers her movie-loving childhood and her formative early encounters with Godard, Resnais, and Prince.