A Riveting Exploration of Suburban Despair
The film American Beauty is centered on Lester Burnham, a disillusioned middle-aged man dreams of an affair with his daughter’s friend. There are elements of midlife crisis, lust, and even the unhappiness of the American dream life in the suburbs. It contains elements of black comedy along with more serious dramatic story telling and often blurs the themes of normalcy.
Kevin Spacey gives strong portrayal of Lester Burnham, portraying his character in realistic and profound manner. Annette Bening’s performance as Carolyn Clair, and that of Thora Birch as Jane Clair demonstrates the struggle of each member of a broken family.
The directing by Sam Mendes for this movie is magnificent, he is uncomplicated in his approach but keen at the same time. There are special merits in his ability of making emotions come from the ordinary life.
Thomas Newman’s use of music well interprets the contemplative mood of the movie and underlines the show’s tension and beauty.
Conrad L. Hall: the contrast in the splendid visualization of the American success story of suburbia and Lester’s tortuous life. That is why, such hallmarks of the movie as the image of a plastic bag floating in the wind look like poetry verses.
Production design brilliantly invokes the atmosphere of clean, shinny and all the same empty surroundings of the American Houses and Zones, contrasting with the internal decay taking place behind their facades. Some filming features such as the careful setting make the picture look realistic.
Even though the action does not contain many hyped scenes, some elements represent symbols that draw attention to particular topics, making the picture’s visuals complement the plot well.
The film’s organisation of the diverse plots is smooth and without disruptions. It increases the tension constantly and at the same time, gradually leads the viewer into the intricacies of the plot. It also does not get too quickly to the human drama and provides layers that creates an emotionally satisfied audience.
It also has good dialogue that provides motives of the characters and societal issues in a subtly humorous manner. It deploys humor in the form of satire and sarcasm in making comments for deeper philosophical observations.
Ultimately and according to critics, the film has presented some of the social issues in a manner that feels somewhat outdated. Still, its essential theme is timelessly Human Issue oriented, which does not make a single film’s message less modern. STORYTELLING AND EMOTIONS: It is worth mentioning that the film does all that well and is one of the most emotionally engaging films that I have seen in theaters.
