Arthur Paul and His American Beauty - Movie Review Example

Journal Writing American Beauty (1999) 1. I was deeply intrigued and fascinated by the plastic bag scene. Ricky was showing Angela an old video he made where he was filming a piece of plastic bag being carried by the wind, as if it was dancing in the air. There was something poetic about how Ricky found something mystifyingly beautiful in an ordinary, everyday thing. I was amazed at how he described that one moment that a simple and usually taken for granted object such as a plastic bag can open one’s eyes and make him realize that there is something far beyond what the eyes can see. That one can open himself to the fact that there is something greater than what we are if only we choose to believe so. For me, the most intense line was delivered at the end of this scene when Ricky muttered, “Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world. I feel like I can’t take it and my heart is just going to cave in.” Here, it was stressed that there is still hope and a chance to see things in a brighter perspective. According to the director Sam Mendes, in an interview with TIME Asia, this scene provided “a kind of soul” to the movie. (TIMEasia.com, 2002) It also “turn[ed] what is essentially a black comedy into something much more strange and haunting and poetic.” (TIMEasia.com, 2002) This is basically true for me as I found that scene to be very haunting and enlightening at the same time. It showed that beyond all the gloom in this world you can still find something beautiful. Mendes went on to say that “if you find it (the plastic bag) as beautiful as the character does, then suddenly it becomes a different movie and so did he as a character. Because in many ways I think that Ricky is the soul of the movie.” (TIMEasia.com 2002) The part of the story I most disliked was when Carolyn finally learned the importance and true beauty of her relationship with Lester. Her realisation came a little too late as she only did so after Lester died. Before Lester’s death, Carolyn was seen camped in her car amidst the pouring rain and chanting “I will not be a victim.” All these while cradling a gun and with the intention of killing her husband, or so I suppose. In my opinion, Lester was more of the victim here than Carolyn. She was the victim of the need to be seen as a success and the desire to be accepted in the society of which she wished to belong. She wanted to be in the ‘inner circle’ of flourishing realtors, thus her sexual liaison with Buddy Kane, the so-called King of Realty. The scene itself was powerful. The only problem here for me was the weakness of Annette Bening’s character. 2. The film received critical acclaim after its 1999 release. Among the accolades it garnered were the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director for Sam Mendes, and Best Actor for Kevin Spacey. In my opinion, the award-winning screenplay itself made the movie a critical success. The way Alan Ball magnificently played with words is a gem on its own. Ball succeeded in integrating sex, angst, comedy, and tragedy in providing the audience a glimpse of the American suburban family life, albeit in a satirical way. The film was filled with instances of uncommon intelligence, honesty, sensitivity, and humour that made American Beauty an instant classic. It was able to tackle different societal issues and personal emotions that many of the audience could relate with the movie. American Beauty dealt with dysfunctional families, drug abuse, and illicit sexual desires including teenage sex, homophobia, depression, mid-life crisis, teenage rebellion and the overwhelming need to belong or to be accepted. It also dwelled on psychological concepts by encompassing the emotion of the main character in the movie. These were clinical depression, passive-aggressive personality disorder, and sexual dysfunctions. Director Sam Mendes was able to turn a great script into a classic film that undoubtedly will be mentioned in numerous greatest movie lists for years to come. The director navigated an artful route between passion and self-abhorrence, faced youth versus experience, male against female. Like Picasso, he was able to mesh all the important factors of film-making; specifically, costume, lighting, design, music, and performance into one magnificent masterpiece. Speaking of performance, Kevin Spacey delivered one of his best creations as an actor. Spacey, with his trademark deadpan but sarcastic manner, was perfect as the uptight, slightly psychotic Lester Burnham. The way his eyes and voice communicated his emotions was enough for him to win such a coveted award. Annette Bening, who was nominated for Best Actress, was very effective as Carolyn Burnham. The suburban wife hiding behind a façade of beauty and perfection but in truth was an empty vessel full of insecurities and lies. One of her more memorable and funnier performances in the film was the sex scene between her and Peter Gallagher. 3. Lester Burnham was the stereotypical middle-aged suburban family man who underwent a mid-life crisis. In the opening scenes, Lester was seen playing with himself in the shower which he stressed was the highlight of his day. This only described how lame and boring his life was, not to mention his sex life. The shower scene also signified how Lester was being imprisoned by the dreariness of the life he was living. He was shown in numerous settings that signified his being caged in by his lowly existence. Throughout the course of the film, he was shown enclosed in an office cubicle; he lived in a house surrounded by fences and his reflection framed by numbers on a computer screen, among others. Furthermore, the film portrayed a dark mood as evidenced by the dimly-lighted scenes, the greyness of the characters’ (specifically Lester’s) outfits, and the dullness of the setting. All these: the masturbation scenes, the dull clothes, gloomy colours of the set, dark lighting, caged scenes, and the narrator’s monotonous tone, described the life of a man trapped in his everyday routine of emptiness, uselessness and hopelessness. The turning point for Spacey’s character was when he encountered Angela, played perfectly by Mena Suvari, her daughter’s supposed best friend. This meeting symbolised a sexual awakening in Lester which led him to believe that there was more to his life than what was. Another turning point for Lester was when he met Ricky Fitts, the mysterious son of their new neighbours. After being ridiculed by his wife and her colleagues, Lester chanced upon Ricky who was about to smoke a joint. This may have reminded Lester of his former free-spirited self and which led him to rebel against everything that had imprisoned him for so long and to finally speak up against his wife. In some way, Angela and Ricky became catalysts for Lester’s freedom and awakening. By the end of the story, Lester underwent a final changing of the guard. Instead of fulfilling her desire for Angela, he stopped dead in his tracks, embraced the teenager and even covered her up. This scene symbolized the end of Lester’s voyage through middle-aged angst and his return to his senses. It gave him the opportunity to act his age and be the father he could not be with his own daughter. Roses also played a pivotal role in the film. Set against the greyness of the setting, these roses became a symbol of what is beautiful to most of us. While Lester was fantasising about Angela, he pictured her lying naked and being showered with rose petals. This obviously represented his desire for physical beauty. With Carolyn, the roses symbolised her need to mask what is real. The Burnham residence was riddled with red roses that almost successfully hid the torment within the family. The rose used by Lester in seducing Carolyn could signify what was once beautiful between them. And the importance of the sofa over sex, I presume, just showed what they really were in the present. In the final scenes leading to Lester’s death, the movements of the camera and the actors themselves played a great role in conveying the emotions. After the aborted sex scene with Angela, Lester was seen walking from the kitchen and through a hallway where he stopped. The camera closed in on Lester during this scene and helped build up the moment. Then he proceeded as if to signify walking to his death just like the scenes when a sentenced prisoner walks his last mile leading to his death. A little later, Lester was admiring a photograph of him and his family during happier times. As the camera moved gradually away from Lester, a gunshot could be heard and then blood could be seen on the wall. This slow movement of the camera signified the peacefulness of Lester’s death. More so, the actions of the actors conveyed the purpose of the film. When Lester’s lifeless body was discovered, Ricky stared admiringly at the dead man’s eyes as if saying there is something beautiful to see where you least expect it to be; which, ultimately is the theme of the story. 4. All the characters portrayed a mix of stereotypical personalities: Lester Burnham, the bored-out-of-his-wits middle-aged family man; Carolyn, the ‘successful’ career-woman who hid her imperfections and went out of her way to achieve success; Jane was the rebellious, insecure angst-filled teenager; Angela Hayes was the perfect-outside-miserable-inside nymphet who used her sexuality to gain popularity; Ricky Fitts, the hauntingly mysterious but enlightened drug-using weirdo and Colonel Frank was the hard-as-nails disciplinarian father and repressed homosexual. All these roles, including Buddy, Mrs. Fitts and the two Jims, were significant in parading different societal issues which were mentioned above. According to Roger Ebert, the noted film critic, American Beauty is about the yearning after youth, respect, power, and beauty .(rogerebert.com) For Toby Klein Greenwald, American Beauty explains that family life is a growing, breathing organism, like a rose garden, to be appreciated, nurtured and watered (wholefamily.com). Critic Paul Arthur expresses that the film shows how America is obsessed with materialism and the image of being successful (fredonia.edu/department/english/shokoff/AmerBeauty.htm). Literary critic Wayne C. Booth argues that American Beauty “cannot be adequately summarized as "here is a satire on what's wrong with American life"; that plays down the celebration of beauty. It is more tempting to summarize it as "a portrait of the beauty underlying American miseries and misdeeds" but that plays down the scenes of cruelty and horror, and Ball's disgust with our mores. It cannot be summarized with either Lester's and Ricky's philosophical statements about what life is or how one should live. (wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(film))” For me, the ultimate message here is that we need to look deep within us and discover or rediscover for ourselves what truly is important. To know what is really beautiful. It may be in things that we dream of and aspire for. It may be in things that already are in our grasp but fail to hold on to or take for granted. We have to know what will make us truly happy. It is easier than we think. We just need to LOOK CLOSER. References: Arthur, Paul, “American Beauty,” Cineaste 25, Retrieved from http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/shokoff/AmerBeauty.htm on 9 January 2010. Booth, Wayne C., “American Beauty (Film),” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(film) on 9 January 2010. Ebert, Roger, “American Beauty,” rogerebert.com, Retrieved from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990924/REVIEWS/909240301/1023 on 9 January 2010. Greenwald, Toby Klein, “American Beauty,” Whole Family Room, WholeFamily.com,, Retrieved from http://www.wholefamily.com/family_room/aboutyourfamily/film_reviews/american_beauty.html on 9 January 2010. Short, Stephen, “A Private, Interior Film,” TIMEAsia.com, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/asia/features/reviews/cinema.mendes.html on 9 January 2010. Wikipedia, “American Beauty (Film),” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(film) on 9 January 2010. Read More