American Beauty Director: Sam Mendes Screenplay: Alan Ball DreamWorks SKG, 1999 Video create using stills from http://screenmusings.org/index.html When I began this blog, I wanted to write about music, movies, and other things media. After writing about three musical acts, it is time for a bit about a movie. The difficult questions I had to face were how to present the movie (after all, I couldn’t simply post a streaming movie like I can songs) and which movie to start with. I decided that the best format would be to create a short video using Microsoft Photo Story 3 (if my students can do it, so can I!) and fill it with specific clips or stills I want to discuss. That leaves which movie. I decided upon American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead) because it was the first movie I can remember appreciating for its aesthetic values (not just the story or effects). One of the most impressive things about this movie (especially when viewed multiple times) is how Mendes introduces the main characters. For those unfamiliar with the movie, the plot centers upon the crumbling marriage between two seemingly perfect suburbanites, Lester and Carloyn Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey (Se7en, The Usual Suspects) and Annette Bening (The American President, Being Julia). However, more careful scrutiny can see how this couple is mismatched from the beginning. The first shot of Lester shows him face down in his bed in room filled with neutral, bland colors. The first time we see Carolyn, we see her in from of her house gazing inquisitively at a red rose, dressed in business attire and ready to take on the world. The colors red, white, and blue (the rose and the background of the house) dominate this frame and suggest that she represents a slice of Americana. From the first times we meet them, it is hard to believe that these two characters have anything to do with each other, let alone that they are married to each other. The other part of the film that immediately impressed me was how each shot was meticulously framed. This can most clearly be seen in the symmetry of a few specific shots. The symmetry seems to indicate a sense of balance (both of the composition and of the characters in the film). The unifying shot in the film, which begins each major section, is the overhead shot of the street on which the Burnham’s live. This shot provides an “eye-of-God” perspective and lends itself to the voyeuristic tendencies of many of the characters. Additionally, it creates the films first real sense of symmetry: street in the center, trees (and supposedly house) on either side. This symmetry is carried over into the family dinner scene (a scene repeated again later in the film). This shot could recall images of Norman Rockwell’s America with a nuclear family, perfect surrounding, and a nice centerpiece of red roses, if not for the dim lighting, which creates a sense of secrecy and mistrust. The symmetry and lighting in this shot, then, work against each other making contradictory statements. The symmetry suggests that everything is right and organized while the lighting suggests that there are problems lurking in its shadows. Another example of how symmetry is used to suggest “disorder in the house” (thanks, Warren Zevon) is the sequence of shots of the Burnhams’ new neighbors. In the scene, the domineering retired Marine Colonel Frank Fitts played by Chris Cooper (The Bourne Supremacy, Syriana) watches television with his seemingly catatonic wife played by Allison Janney (The Hours, Juno). The first thing the viewer should notice is that he sits in the center of the couch with his wife to our left while the spot to the right remains empty, as if something is missing. Ordinarily (I have found from human behavior) people will use the space available and spread out in a fairly uniform way (unless being romantic, which these two clearly are not). Later in the scene, their son Ricky, played by Wes Bentley comes in to complete the symmetry. While this should make everything in the family fine (the last piece is placed) the symmetry against suggests the opposite because it remains fractured for most of the scene. The final shot (or sequence of shots) to look involves the scene where Ricky and Lester first meet.  Shot in the back of a banquet hall where Ricky works (and Lester is forced to attend a Real Estate industry dinner by his wife), we see a long, somewhat unbalanced shot with Ricky and Lester on the right and a light door on the left. Since the entire scene is very dark, the door and the people almost blend in to the wall. Our attention is naturally drawn to the two characters who are talking to each other and smoking pot. Eventually, the door opens and Ricky’s boss appears in the doorway surrounded by yellow light.  Visually, this completes the composition and relieves the tension created by the unbalanced symmetry and symbolized by the

• published: 10 Jul 2009
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