Analysis Of The Scene From American Beauty Film

American Beauty was directed by British director Sam Mendez in 1999. It Starred Kevin Spacey, and it was Sam Mendez’s Directorial debut as he only worked on successful theatre productions in England and America before the release of this film. American Beauty was a huge success with the Critics and Academy awards, but older religious people were mostly offended by its content but it seemed to be a hit with youngsters.

Just like Most of Sam Mendez’s future work, American Beauty represents his work surrounding themes of finding one’s self, true happiness and his continued exploration of the changing concept of home. Such as his later films Revolutionary Road and Away we go. In these films, the main characters are married and are either lost in life or in their relationships, and set on a path that changes their life. In Revolutionary Road, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s marriage is falling apart, and seems to have a destructive relationship, which is very similar to American Beauty. Both films explore the theme that maybe the perfect life style is not the answer to ones problems. Away We Go is also similar to American beauty, as in both main characters are trying to find their place in the world and achieve happiness through unconventional means.

American Beauty deals with mature themes/issues and sexual content and therefore is targeted for adults. Issues such as sexuality, adultery, divorce and self-worth are all addressed in this film. The Scene I have selected comes in the second act of the film and is the inciting incident where Lester the main character portrayed, by Kevin Spacey decides who he wants to be in life. The scene opens up with Lester in his bed, as he stares off into the distance for 4 seconds and then precedes to gets up, it cuts to handheld shot following Lester from behind from his bedroom to his hallway and then to the bathroom door. As he opens the door, steam pours out and Lester enters. And this is where the main Banjo theme that is played through the movie starts to play. It then cuts to a mid-shot of Lester standing in the bathroom and then to a close up of his face. There is a look of lust in his eyes. It cuts to a wide shot of Angela, who is Lester daughter’s friend, in the bathtub. The music stops here. The lighting is very low key and her face is obscured. There is a beam of light coming the windows that creates a feeling of angelic and heavenly qualities. She says her line: ‘’I’ve been waiting for you’’ in a very gentle tone. It then cuts back to themid shot of Lester as he starts walking towards the camera (Angela’s POV) and the music continues. He walks towards the bathtub and kneels down, it cuts to a high angle shot of Lester looking at Angela in the bathtub. This shot reveals that Angela is in a tub filled with red roses which is a re-accruing image throughout the film. This is heavily emphasised here. It then cuts to a two shot with Lester getting closer to Angela as the look of lust hasn’t changed. The music stops as Angela says “you’ve been working out, haven’t you…I can tell…I was hoping you could give me a bath, I’m very very dirty” there is a pause as Lester takes a look at the roses and the music continues. He slowly moves his hand towards her leg and it cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Angela. It then cuts to a close up of the hand and the legs, then a cut to Angela’s face. The 3 cuts of the Two shot and the two close up’s are repeated 3 times. It then makes a jump cut to Lester in his bed masturbating. The music slowly fades away. Lester’s wife Carolyn wakes up and they have an argument. She accuses Lester of masturbating but Lester denies but after a few more jabs from his wife, he admits. Carolyn leaves the bed in frustration but Lester remains, he just sits up right. They talk about how ‘’this isn’t a marriage’’ and this adds new characterisation, it reveals how they are ‘’sexually frustrated’’ and not happy. Carolyn is positioned higher in the frame where she is standing and this is used to show the power she has over Lester, as she has been represented as the stronger and more controlled adult in the relationship. But it is at this point in the movie where the power control flips in the movie. Lester lashes out at Carolyn stating how he hasn’t done anything wrong and how he feels “unnecessary” to Carolyn. She sits down after this line, and now she is position lower than Lester in the frame. He then follows up with another harsh line “I am entitled to half of what is yours” and Carolyn is left speechless. He then turns away from her and it cuts to a close up of him smiling. The music returns and it jumps cut to an establishing shot over the town as he narrates. What follows a bunch of smaller scenes of Lester running, buying weed and quitting his job to show how much his character has grown from the beginning of the film. He is more charismatic, confident and has and finally seems to be doing what makes him happy.

The non-diegetic sound that is used in the begging of the scene when he sees Angela creates sense of unease and uncomfortableness for the audience. As it plays every time Lester seems to be in control of a situation or achieving something he desires. The scene of Lester quitting his Job has a nice juxtaposition to the scene in the beginning where Lester is given informationabout how he needs to write a job description of why the company needs him, to save him from losing his job. In that scene he is positioned very small in the frame and his boss is positioned very largely in the frame, and also shot from a lower angle to show the power he has over Lester just like the rest of the people in his life (e. g. His wife) but after the scene of where he argues with his wife and he goes to work, it changes. Lester is positioned on the right side of the frame and he positioned larger and is more elevated than before. He has the same chilled expression and body language as the seen in the bedroom where he and Carolyn are arguing. Now, Lester has more power as he seems to be free. Speaking of freedom, besides roses there is a reoccurring image of bars and prisons in the film. Lester feels trapped in this façade of a happy life in the begging of the film. They can be seen in the shower where he is masturbating, the shot of him looking through the window, spying on his wife and in the office, in his computer screen the numbers and data shape out the image of a prison bars and Lester’s reflection is seen behind it. But after he quits his job and he leaves the office, the imagery of bars stops for Lester.