Sofia Coppola Releases ‘The Virgin Suicides’ On-Set Photos for 25th Anniversary

Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides newly released collection of intimate and transporting on-set photographs by acclaimed British photographer Corinne Day. See rare behind-the-scenes glimpses of the iconic film.

To commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of her debut film, The Virgin Suicides (1999), Sofia Coppola has released a collection of intimate and transporting on-set photographs by British photographer Corinne Day. This early project by Day, commissioned by Coppola, shows the development of her candid visual style at the start of her career, and has been edited by Coppola from the original negatives held in her collection.

The film follows the tragic story of the Lisbon sisters, developed from Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel The Virgin Suicides. Set in a quiet 1970s suburban Michigan town, Sofia Coppola’s haunting and atmospheric film unfolds through the nostalgic and somewhat unreliable perspective of now-adult men reflecting on their teenage fascination with their enigmatic neighbors, the five beautiful and sheltered Lisbon sisters. The ethereal mood is underscored by the soundtrack performed by the French musical duo Air.

After the youngest sister’s initial suicide attempt and subsequent death, the Lisbon parents become increasingly strict and isolate their remaining daughters from the outside world. This only intensifies the boys’ obsession as they try to understand the inner lives of these mysterious girls. The film explores themes of adolescence, the male gaze, repression, the unattainable nature of idealized love, and the tragic consequences of isolation, culminating in a shocking and unforgettable ending. It’s less about the explicit reasons for the suicides and more about the lasting impact the Lisbon sisters had on the boys and their enduring fascination with the unknowable.

The primary inspiration for Eugenides’ debut novel, The Virgin Suicides, came from a seemingly casual yet deeply unsettling comment. His nephew’s teenage babysitter mentioned to him that she and her sisters had once planned to commit suicide, simply stating that they “were under a lot of pressure.” This brief, enigmatic explanation sparked Eugenides’ imagination and became the seed for the story of the Lisbon sisters.

Coppola commissioned British fashion photographer Corinne Day for her first feature film to join her on set. Renowned for her unadorned, grungy photographs of iconic models of the 1990s, Day’s representation of female beauty met its match in Coppola, whose debut marked the first of her unaffected, empathetic depictions of womanhood.

Edited from Day’s original negatives, this volume, which launches alongside The Virgin Suicides’ twenty-fifth anniversary, gives mesmerising and unprecedented insight into Coppola’s enigmatic staging of the Lisbon sisters and their suburban trappings. 

In Day’s photographs, the lush mystique of Coppola’s set runs through images of the young actors at work and between takes, their candid posturing and pensive expressions reflecting the intimate and collaborative environment of the shoot. Fragments of the set and costume design appear suggestively – crucifixes, pink lace bras, homecoming dresses, beauty products, and toffee apples – all playing their part in Coppola’s depiction of the yearning and repression of adolescence. 

Completed with new texts by Sofia Coppola and Jeffrey Eugenides, this volume opens a fascinating dialogue between Eugenides’s original text and Coppola’s cult adaptation.

Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides releases on 23 May, published by Important Flowers, an imprint of MACK.