Three adult dramas offer varying perspectives on the societal challenges faced by women. Only one of these films is directed by a man. Guess which one fails miserably?
The Virgin Suicides
Rated R 2000, Paramount
Her movie director father should be proud. Sofia Coppola's filmmaking debut is a poignant story about the five beautiful Lisbon sisters and the tragedy in their family that changes an affluent community's lives. Based on Jeffrey Eugenides' 1993 novel, everything begins to unravel when 13-year-old Cecilia Lisbon throws herself out the window of their suburban home.
For Coppola, a working photographer and fashion designer, The Virgin Suicides heralds the arrival of a promising, new director.
Teen-age lust and teen-age suicide drive the story. Still, the Lisbon girls are anything but wild things. Their sex lives mostly revolve around clumsy groping. These are not juvenile delinquents and their upper-middleclass enclave of big homes, debutante balls and country clubs is perfectly safe. The Lisbon sisters are doomed from a lack of freedom and social interaction. Their family's denial confirms that dark forces also lurk below the manicured lawns of suburbia.
With her flaxen blonde hair and cherubic face, Kirsten Dunst shines as the flirty Lux Lisbon. Dunst is often cast in wholesome nymphet roles. We can be thankful that The Virgin Suicides offers Dunst something more complex and thoughtful than a rehashed Lolita.
The retro details of 1975 suburbia are comically accurate. Balloons and streamers fill a gymnasium for a homecoming ball. "Come Sail Away" by ELO blasts on the gymnasium sound system. But The Virgin Suicides goes beyond its Brady Bunch setting to remind us that kids have always had their share of problems. Coppola doesn't have her father's technical flash yet, but she has a knack for storytelling. Her triumph is conveying a universal wave of emotion out of a retro drama about teen-age girls. -- SR (Grade: A)
Claire Dolan
Unrated 1998, New Yorker
For the follow-up to his debut film, Clean, Shaven, writer/director Lodge Kerrigan tells the story of Claire Dolan (Katrin Cartlidge), an Irish immigrant working as a high-class prostitute in order to pay off a debt to her pimp (Colm Meaney). Surprisingly, Kerrigan's tale of male cruelty is understated to the point of non-existence.
Cartlidge's (Breaking the Waves, Career Girls) icy performance matches the film's stark, urban landscape. The hardships of her working life are made clear as she conducts her business over a payphone.
"I want you inside of me," Dolan says dispassionately to her client. "I don't want to wait any longer."
I enjoy films that tell their stories deliberately. But Kerrigan's sluggish storytelling makes Claire Dolan unfocused and uneventful. As a result, Claire's struggle to escape from prostitution never becomes compelling.
Vincent D'Onofrio wanders aimlessly in and out of the film as a kind cab driver who befriends Claire. Only Colm Meaney (The Snapper, The Commitments) makes an impact as Claire's cruel pimp.
It's hard not to be haunted by Cartlidge's impassive face and downtrodden demeanor as she shuffles from one hotel room to another. But Claire Dolan's failure lies in its inability to build a story as subtle and dramatic as Cartlidge's sad expression. -- SR (Grade: D)
Video Flashback
Children of a Lesser God
Rated R 1986, Paramount
In director Randa Haines' adult drama, Marlee Matlin's Oscar-winning performance as a stubborn deaf girl named Sarah still makes a powerful impact. It's Matlin's emotional honesty that makes the taboo love story between Sarah and John Leeds (William Hurt), her teacher at a school for the deaf, both credible and heartwarming. -- SR (Grade: B)
