American Beauty is a film which has vast meaning and symbolism throughout and clearly conveys this through its beautiful lighting and brilliant writing. On every level, this movie flawlessly hits every aspect of film making and is sure to cause the viewer to partake in some serious introspection after a watch. American Beauty strives to construct a stereotypical, dysfunctional, upper middle class American family. The father, Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey, is a middle aged, depressed father who tells the viewer in the opening of the film: "In a way, I'm dead already." This statement truly allows the viewer some real insight into who Lester is and what he is feeling at this point in his life. Lester's wife, Carolyn Burnham, portrayed by Annette Bening, is a high strung Realtor. Carolyn constantly puts on a face of contentment when in reality she is just as empty and disappointing as her husband. Their daughter, Jane Burnham, played by Thora Birch, is an average teenager who resents her parents and is dissatisfied by her physical beauty. Throughout the film we are made aware that she has aspirations to pay for a breast augmentation, which further conveys her insecurities. Jane's friend, Angela Hayes, is a girl who has great self confidence and is understood to be somewhat open to sex. Angela becomes the center of focus when Lester is drug by his wife to Jane's cheer leading performance. Living next door to the Burnham's is the Fitts family. The Fitts consist of a father, mother, and son, similar to that of the Burnham's, though, the Fitts' residence very much differs from the Burnham's. The entire story unfolds around a very beautiful mise-en-scene and incredible shot composition. Additionally, the uniqueness of each character and his or her drive is very carefully crafted and flawlessly portrayed.
For example, all of the characters in this film appear to have a commonality: American desire. Lester has the urgency to seduce a real American beauty and this American beauty hopes to one day be a mother. Carolyn strives for perfection and seeks the thrill of adultery. Jane wants to create a better version of herself and wishes for a functional family. The father of an adolescent boy struggles with authority and wishes to express his repressed sexuality. The boy next door desires the girl next door. Every last character in this film possess a drive and is willing to go to great lengths to obtain their goals.These American desires outweigh consequence, even at the cost of family, friends, and life itself.
Another very unique theme in this film is the use of a recurring color motif. Red is a common theme that appears in many scenes. This color is prevalent in objects such as rose petals, the Burnham's front door, a sports car seen later in the movie, and in much of the lighting. In an earlier portion of the movie, Carolyn is seen trimming the red roses in her front lawn whilst speaking to her neighbors. She subsequently is asked how she keeps such perfect roses and she responds accordingly. Initially this exchange may be brushed of as character development or as a superfluous filler, though, when this scene is studied it takes on a much deeper meaning. This is one our first encounters with Carolyn and she comes off as a very pleasant person who has her life in order, though Lester's narration says otherwise. These perfect, beautiful, red roses are a symbol of Carolyn's personal drive on a much more broad level. Cut to a few scenes later, Carolyn is frantically preparing a house to be sold and is heard chronically repeating the words: "I will sell this house today, I will sell this house today." At first this is seen as perfectly reasonable, being that this may be one of her personal exercises. Though, after sifting through a handful of clients throughout the day, Carolyn comes up short and fails to sell the house. What proceeds is an incredible portrayal of the person Carolyn truly is. The lighting is dimmed and Carolyn begins to weep and hit herself in frustration. This is clearly meant to show the viewer Carolyn's extreme mental state. Similar to the roses and the scene in the unsold house is when Lester nearly spills beer on the living room sofa and Carolyn gets upset at this. In response, Lester makes a very true and insightful statement: "This isn't life! This is just stuff! And it's become more important to you than living." This broken woman is the essence of desire. She wants everything to be perfect from her roses to her couch fabric. Carolyn holds deep within her the need for control and without it she is lost.
On the other hand we have Lester. Lester appears to be a very sad, broken, melancholy men. He is resented by his family and is unnecessary at work. Unlike Carolyn, Lester refuses to hide his feelings. He holds very little remorse for his actions, and after reminiscing of his youth he quits his job, works at a burger joint, and begins to smoke cannabis. All of these things are part of Lester's character development which impacts the viewer's opinion of him. One day Lester is introduced to his daughter's friend Angela Hayes. A beautiful teenage girl with long blonde hair and a perfect figure. Angela captures the essence of the "Real American Beauty." She has now become Lester's American desire. He finds that all these years he has felt like he was in a coma and had just woken up. Lester lay awake at nights, motionless, imagining Angela gracefully laying naked atop a pile of perfect, red, rose petals panned across the ceiling. Again, these rose petals are part of the color motif and mise-en-scene this film strives to construct. The red is meant to portray Lester's Personal desires. This is the beginning of his obsession with not only Angela but to chase the feeling of his youth. These selfish acts of greed will lead to further resentment by his family, and to something much more dyer.
The constant, pestering, selfish desires found inside each character is a symbol of American society or developed society in general. People living out of poverty aren't forced to survive each day near death, because of starvation, dehydration, or sickness. This being the case an affluent culture can ask itself what he or she wants. What he or she wants is a question beautiful at its core. The fact that I live in a place where the only thing I must choose between is 7up or Sprite is truly incredible. Though when such a life is taken for granted it seems we lose sight of who we are and what we truly need. All of the people in American Beauty are corrupted by greed and resentment. There exists something in each person's life, such as Jane's disappointment with her physical beauty or Carolyn's need for control, that seems to hinder their happiness. It is happiness which is the true collective desire of all of the characters in the film and this is even true for me. The goal is to be happy. Red for what we could have, for the person we could be. Red is what we strive for and hope to become. Though it seems that often along our conquest to find our red we disregard those we love and our deepest moral principles to obtain momentary pleasure.
By the end of this film each character has gone to great lengths to get what he or she wants. Hoping to obtain respite from their dull lives. Subsequently, destroying the intrinsic elements which would make them truly happy and unable to obtain what they consciously wanted. Somewhere deeper in each character is the subconscious knowledge of how to discover their red. At this movie's resolution each person seems to realize what truly matters, but it is clearly too late to return from their actions.
This is a beautiful film that bares a striking resemblance to American society. Personally, I walked away from this movie with a refreshed sense of what matter in this world. All of the actors and especially the director, Sam Mendes, flawlessly creates a story that hits home with most everyone. Even if a viewer is far from the socio economic class of the characters, he or she can still understand the woes of human nature. Desire for more and contentment with less is relative to every culture and to every human being on earth. The conquest for our red is constant and may last until we die. Similar to the statement made by Lester in his final narration towards the the end of the movie. "I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time..." Following this Lester begins to list the events in his life that truly brought him happiness. These events are simple yet genuine, and beautiful at their core. The film cuts to a homemade video of a plastic bag blowing in the wind and Lester says "...it's hard to stay made when there is so much beauty in the world." This film is an incredible odyssey into the lives and desires of an American family, and is sure to cause the viewer to be grateful for what they have.
Works Cited
Photos:
"American Beauty." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm>.
Houst, Duncan. "High on Celluloid | From a Cinema Junkie: TOP 10 SHOTS from "American Beauty"" High on Celluloid | From a Cinema Junkie: TOP 10 SHOTS from "American Beauty" 17 June 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://highoncelluloid.blogspot.com/2012/06/top-10-shots-from-american-beauty.html>.
Movie:
Mendes, Sam, Alan Ball, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks, Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, and Chris Cooper. American Beauty. Universal City, CA: DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2000.
Book:
Barsam, Richard, and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.
Other:
Ebert, Roger. "American Beauty Movie Review & Film Summary (1999) | Roger Ebert." All Content. 24 Sept. 1999. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-beauty-1999>.
