Since I had read the book and still remembered the feeling of desolation it left me with for weeks, I was very reluctant to see this film. But then, I thought, can any movie ever mirror the deep emotions the book holds, and translate them truthfully into images? In this case, the answer is: yes.
The atmosphere is artfully set from the very beginning; a heartbreaking sense of mystery shrouds the Lisbon household in silence and elevates the girls to neighbourhood Virgin Marys. To the boys who speculate and dream about them, they are angels, not quite human. And this is what they become to the viewer, too; idolised creatures of light, since we only ever get to know them through the eyes of those teenage boys. And this is what makes both the novel and the perfect film adaptation so memorable, so beautiful and so sad; we never learn what finally pushed them so far as to end their lives, all in one single night (except Cecilia, who "has gone before", as Poe would have said). We never see their perspective, never hear their thoughts, and thus they retain their mystery and die the saintly death of martyrs.
The film is brilliantly handled, with impressive colours and music. The actors put in high quality performances in giving life to incredibly complex characters. Kirsten Dunst deserves a special mention for her portrayal of the most visible Lisbon sister, Lux, with which she stands head and shoulders above an already formidable cast. This is a rare gem of a film, a timeless story on the beauty in the eye of the beholder. Never since Romeo and Juliet has death seemed such a tragedy.
The atmosphere is artfully set from the very beginning; a heartbreaking sense of mystery shrouds the Lisbon household in silence and elevates the girls to neighbourhood Virgin Marys. To the boys who speculate and dream about them, they are angels, not quite human. And this is what they become to the viewer, too; idolised creatures of light, since we only ever get to know them through the eyes of those teenage boys. And this is what makes both the novel and the perfect film adaptation so memorable, so beautiful and so sad; we never learn what finally pushed them so far as to end their lives, all in one single night (except Cecilia, who "has gone before", as Poe would have said). We never see their perspective, never hear their thoughts, and thus they retain their mystery and die the saintly death of martyrs.
The film is brilliantly handled, with impressive colours and music. The actors put in high quality performances in giving life to incredibly complex characters. Kirsten Dunst deserves a special mention for her portrayal of the most visible Lisbon sister, Lux, with which she stands head and shoulders above an already formidable cast. This is a rare gem of a film, a timeless story on the beauty in the eye of the beholder. Never since Romeo and Juliet has death seemed such a tragedy.