Let me begin by saying this: it's physically impossible for me to pick a favorite movie. There are large sets of films by my favorite directors that I could chose from, however that wouldn't be much fun, and because I have already spoken of Wes Anderson so highly here, I've chosen this film as something that I believe can stand alone and represents a lot of what I enjoy about cinema as a whole.
It thrills me to share with you the wonderful work of art that is American Beauty. This iconic American drama was written by Allen Ball over the course of the 90's and was directed brilliantly by Sam Mendes. In total, the film earned five Academy Awards that year and received great praise from both critics and audiences, specifically in regards to the production, writing, directing, and Kevin Spacey's performance. The plot centers around the life of a suburban family that includes Lester Burnham, a man experiencing a midlife crisis as he becomes obsessed with his teenage daughter's friend, his overbearing, materialistic wife, and their insecure daughter that falls in love with the boy next door.
I'm going to break this down into my favorite parts of, one, the substance of the narrative part of the film, and two, the captivating visual aspect, both things that I find are the most exciting parts of what make up the movie. Warning: some small spoilers and half-assed film analysis may follow.
I'm going to break this down into my favorite parts of, one, the substance of the narrative part of the film, and two, the captivating visual aspect, both things that I find are the most exciting parts of what make up the movie. Warning: some small spoilers and half-assed film analysis may follow.
Overall, American Beauty's drama captures a lot of the same themes expressed in similar mainstream movies within the same time period (Fight Club (1999), Magnolia (1999), American Psycho (2000), etc.). In this particular film, the concepts of beauty and conformity/imprisonment are powerful entities in the film that creep through in many ways, most notably in how the characters Lester (Spacey) and Ricky (Bentley) experience life. Ricky is the one that captures what is a metaphor for the world's beauty and truth on film, otherwise identified as the plastic bag in the wind. This bag is a piece of wonder and elegance that simply embodies what he believes to be the great beauty in the seemingly mundane things in life. Ricky feels that "sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it... and my heart is going to cave in."
This is in sharp contrast to Lester's character as for the majority of the movie he is miserably trapped in his seemingly perfect job, marriage, and stereotypical American suburban life, only has this epiphany at the film's end.
This comes as he stops himself from having sex with Angela, as he realizes her vulnerability and compares it to that of his daughter and his family, seeing the world for what it is. He is filled with "wonder, joy, and soul-shaking gratitude," as final, short-lived knowledge of how there is so much to be grateful for and so much beauty in this world. To me more than anything else, this film urges us to live meaningful lives.
The second most praised part of this movie was the cinematography. Just watching the visuals in this film, each shot looks like it's own piece of art. The classicism and simplicity of both the set and the way shots are framed is the perfect contrast to the actual havoc that increases in each progressing scene, leading up to the shocking ending.
The color red is clearly used repeatedly throughout as another thematic tool to drive Lester's story. As he increasingly gains independence and we come closer to the climax of the story, there is an increasing amount of red that surrounds him. The roses also hold similar sinister symbolism and show up throughout the movie and in their house.
As Lester begins to take control of his life, the camera angles change in his scenes throughout the course of the film. They begin at high angles that show him looking smaller and inferior...
...To low angles that show him stronger and more dominant.
This film has so many cool things going for it from the actors to the script to the directing, this is one of those movies that I watched for the first time and immediately after said THIS is why I love film. This is it right here this is what I want all movies I watch to be like. One of my all-time favorites.
Thanks if you stuck around to the end of my ramblings and let me know if you love/hate this movie and if I'm totally on point or completely insane and have terrible taste in films.