Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The trees, like lungs, filling with air. My sister - the mean one - pulling my hair.

When I watch a movie, and if it's good, it tends to live inside my head for a long period after I see it. This may sound silly, but it's like I see the world through a different filter after watching an affecting movie. It may not always be permanent, but for a short while there is a shift in my mood and perception.

Recently, I have been re-watching a lot of movies that I saw when they first came out, but I was younger and didn't fully grasp their beauty. I saw the Virgin Suicides in 2000, (at the tender age of 14), and while I remember liking it, I also remember not getting it. I watched it again a few weeks ago, and still today, I feel its presence haunting me like a misty dream or a flickering candle in my periphery.The Virigin Suicides, narrated by a gravelly Giovanni Ribisi, is a story about 5 enigmatic sisters, and while it's about them, it's not about them-you never learn anything about them from themselves, only from the perspective of their teenage boy fans. They are beautiful objects to adore and fantasize about and nothing more.

Anyway, set in the '70s, I find the whole film inspirational in its clothing (perfect high waisted wide leg jeans), its film sets (Cecelia's bedroom, in all its femininity and naivety, is beautiful) and its music (the scene where the girls and the boys have a conversation over the phone by playing records is magic). Moreover it is inspirational in its tone and mood. Hazy and nostalgic--like a memory. If only I could capture that in clothing.










1 comment:

I Like You said...

I'm reading the book this very second and I love it. But I love Eugenides. Middlesex was so excellent.
I'll have to watch the movie now. Thanks for bringing it to my attention- I didn't even know there was a movie.