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American Beauty tells the story of one man's search for happiness. The
film introduces the audience to Lester Burnham, an ordinary-looking
married man and father in his forties. Lester is in a loveless
marriage. Lester's wife, Carolyn, is so wrapped-up in her real estate
career that Lester often claims that Carolyn doesn't even acknowledge
him. Furthermore, Lester's daughter, Jane, is completely distant, often
claiming how "pathetic" she thinks her father is. Moreover, Lester has
dedicated fourteen years to his occupation, and suddenly, he is in
danger of losing his job due to downsizing.
All of these factors
dramatically effect Lester and culminate into feelings of desperation
and vulnerability for him. Lester is therefore in search of an escape
and a rebirth. He is seeking the slightest possibility of happiness.
Throughout the story Lester is consistently reminiscing on his past;
wishing he could have it back. In the beginning portions of the story,
Lester, as the narrator, states that "it is never too late to regain
your past."
The catalyst to this frame of thought is Jane's friend,
Angela. Lester feels excited by the thought that a teen-age girl thinks
he is "hot." Lester overhears Angela state that she would have sex with
him if Lester would start working-out and build-up his body. This
drives Lester to change himself completely. Lester, in desperate search
of happiness , finds an escape in Angela. Much like a hormone-driven
teenage boy, Lester thinks that if he can "score" with a "bombshell"
like Angela, then he will be reborn.
Lester's mission for happiness and
escape is further perpetuated by his eighteen year old neighbor, Ricky.
In Ricky, Lester sees his model for rebirth. Lester calls Ricky his
"hero" and is in awe of Ricky's confidence. Lester, then begins a
transformation back to his stereotypical understanding of what a
teenager is. Lester begins to work-out, smoke pot, and drink beer. Much
like a teen, he rebels against responsibility by quitting his job and;
therefore, bypassing his duties as a provider to his daughter and wife.
Furthermore, Lester spontaneously, trades in his Mercedes automobile
for a 1970's cherry-red Trans Am sports car. In addition, Lester
pursues a job with the least amount of responsibility. He finds that
job in a fast food restaurant. All of these actions are deemed
necessary to Lester because this is the way to escape and thus
achieving happiness. The first scene where the audience is introduced
to Lester's transformation process is when he first spots Angela.
Lester and Carolyn decided to come and support Jane at a school
basketball game where she is to perform a dance at half-time. This
scene is significant because it shows how Angela's sexuality motivated
Lester to rebel against who he is. Furthermore, this scene exemplifies
Lester's characteristics as a hormone-crazed male in search of sex.
This frame of thought is associated more with teens than with men in
their forties.
The first two technical elements used to exemplify this
scene are composition and camera movement. The scene begins with Lester
and Carolyn already in the stands with the crowd. Angela, Jane, and the
other cheerleaders enter the picture with right to left movement
assisted by a panning camera shot of right to left. This foreshadows
the unordinary actions that are about to occur. Almost immediately,
into the dance routine, Angela is given an upward position in the frame
elevated with dynamic composition. It is dynamic composition because
there is movement (Angela dancing) within a fixed frame. By giving
Angela an upward position within the frame this suggest Lester is first
noticing her.
As the scene continues, and Angela has Lester's full
attention, Angela is shown moving towards the camera in another dynamic
composition shot complemented by the camera zooming in on her. This
gives the audience an idea as to the degree of attention that Lester is
giving to Angela due to her sexuality. It also enhances her presence.
The scene continues with a static composition shot of Lester. It is
static composition because there is no movement within the frame. The
camera then begins to zoom in on Lester. As the camera zooms, the crowd
is eliminated and only Lester is shown in the frame. Furthermore, the
camera focuses on Lester's eyes and makes them appear bigger than they
actually are. This makes Lester look like an animal drooling at the
mouth over something he desires. At this point, the camera performs a
point of view shot showing what Lester's eyes are fixated on, and
focuses on Angela. This, once again, displays the degree of enchantment
that Angela has placed over Lester. Angela is also shown alone in the
frame. This shows that in Lester's mind, only Angela and himself exist
at this moment. Not even his daughter is of any relevance.
The scene
concludes with the camera then performing a shot-reverse-shot of Angela
then Lester. This allows the audience to see that in Lester's fantasy,
Angela is dancing erotically just for him and is paying as much
attention to him as he is paying to her. It is important to note that
Angela and Lester are never shown in the same frame in this scene. This
suggest that there is some barrier that is between them such as the
fact that Lester is desiring a girl that is his daughter's age.
Lighting is another technical element that adds to the effectiveness of
this scene. When the camera performs a point of view shot from Lester's
perspective to show the audience that he is fixated on Angela; Angela
is shown by herself in the frame. As stated above, this is to show that
Angela is the only object of Lester's attention. Lighting adds to this
effect. Lighting is used to focus the audience on Lester's eyes and to
show that he is being enchanted by what he sees. As Angela is shown
alone in the frame, the background in the shot becomes completely
black. There is a bright light shining on Angela. The source of the
light is not clear, and is coming from above Angela.
The lighting in
the scene is high contrast and low key. It is high contrast because the
difference between light and darkness is clear. It is low key lighting
because Angela's shadow can be seen behind her and shadows can be seen
on the rest of Lester's face, excluding his eyes.. The contributions
that the lighting effect has in this scene are many. First of all, the
light shining solely on Angela adds to the audience understanding that
Angela is the object of Lester's attention. Secondly, light is usually
affiliated with good and darkness with bad. The light compliments
Angela's characteristics because she is a virgin. Since the source of
the light cannot be seen, there can be speculation that the light is
one from Heaven, shining down on her to show her innocence.
At the same
time, Angela is trying to be somebody that she is not. She consistently
claims throughout the movie that she is sexually experienced. The
darkness in the background of the shot can be the foreshadowing of
things to come if she continues on this path of lies. Even though she
may be a virgin, unknowingly to Lester; Lester views her and is
thinking bad thoughts. He is fixated with her sexuality, as shown
through the dance routine his fantasy has Angela perform. Lester's
thoughts which represent darkness, are shown as surrounding Angela and
her innocence.
Editing complements this scene by adding more definition
to the "relationship-to-be" between Angela and Lester. The entire scene
uses decoupage. It is decoupage because the cutting is fast paced which
suggests an almost chaotic and imbalance perspective to the audience
and at the same time it shows that the thoughts that are going through
Lester's head are not ordinary, instead they are chaotic. Also,
decoupage has a tendency to use close-ups. This scene has plenty of
zoom shots of Angela and Lester. Furthermore, it is important to note
that Angela and Lester are never shot together in the scene. They are
individually shot in a shot-reverse-shot fashion. This suggest a
disunity between the both of them. Again, something is separating the
both of them, such as the age gap. Not including the absence of
decoupage and ellipsis is important in this scene. Absence of decoupage
requires a decelerated pace. A slower pace would take away from the
chaotic sensation that decoupage brings and; therefore, would not
reflect well on the relationship-to-be between Angela and Lester. Using
ellipsis would require fast-paced cutting that would compare and
contrast the actions occurring in this scene with another scene. This
would disturb the scene and take away its effectiveness.
By showing the
degree of passion between Angela and Lester in his fantasy; the
audience learns much about Lester's intentions and transformation. The
usage of sound adds to the effectiveness of both Angela's moves and
Lester's thoughts in this scene. The scene begins with Jane, Angela,
and the other cheerleaders dancing to a wordless version of "On
Broadway." This is parallel diegetic sound because it relates to what
can be seen on screen. The usage of this song is important to the theme
of this movie. Lester is about to embark on a mission to be free.
Lester is going to pursue happiness. In the same way, "On Broadway" is
about pursuing a new experience. "On Broadway" speaks about coming to
New York and being taken aback by all the lights and attractiveness of
the city. In the same manner, Lester is about to be taken aback by an
"American beauty", Angela.
Further in the scene, through
shot-reverse-shot fashion, only Angela and Lester are in the frame
(they are shown separately); the song "On Broadway" and the crowd
cannot be heard. This is an example of contrapuntal sound. Contrapuntal
sound involves muting sound beyond what one would normally hear if
he/she were in that scene. Using this devise adds to the audience
understanding the amount of attention that Lester is giving Angela.
Lester, in his fantasy, is so infatuated with Angela that it appears
that he can "zone-out" all the other tremendous noise occurring during
a basketball game.
During Lester's fantasy, as Angela is dancing in an
extremely erotic manner, touching her body all over, a slow and erotic
song begins to play. The song has a romantic and Latin beat to it that
intensifies the mood from the audience's perspective; providing clues
as to what Lester's intentions are with Angela. This is an example of
non-diegetic sound. It is sound that does not have its source in the
image. The second scene of interest occurs when Lester's erotic dreams
are about to become reality. Lester and Angela are in his house. Lester
has confessed to Angela that "he wanted her since the first time he
laid eyes upon her." The scene begins with Lester laying Angela down on
a couch so he could have sex with her. This scene is essential because
Angela and her virginity is for the taking, but Lester comes to a
realization and refuses to have sex. Lester transforms once again, from
the teenage rebel he had become, back to the man he was. He came to
understand, as most boys do when they become mature men, that sex is
not the key element to happiness. Lester did want his past back.
However, he wanted back the past that included the family he had lost.
Composition and camera movement are used in this scene. As the scene
begins, Lester has Angela and is laying her down on the couch. This is
a dynamic shot with downward movement. It is dynamic because there is
movement within a fixed frame. The downward movement implies an action
that is not positive, such as Lester having sex with a teenager.
Furthermore, the downward movement implies something lost, such as
Angela's virginity and innocence. If they have sex, both of those will
be lost forever. This shot is also a canted shot. It is a canted shot
because Angela appears at a 45 degree angle in the frame. This suggest
that things are bizarre and that Angela's point of view is slanted. A
bizarre sex act is about to occur, and Angela is inexperienced, and
doesn't know the first thing about why she should be having sex.
As the
scene continues, the camera pans from left to right and right to left
following Lester's hands as they go up and down Angela's body. The
camera movement intensifies the erotic feeling in the audience. The
camera then moves to a dynamic crane shot , showing Lester's hands
unbuttoning Angela's blouse. That shot is then followed by shot-reverse
shot of Angela and Lester looking at one another. Angela, is given the
low angle, looking-up at Lester, which implies that Lester is in
control. This complements the idea that society considers it a "macho"
action for the man to be in control. Still thinking under the mentality
of a hormone-crazed teen, Lester feels good. It is important to note
that Lester and Angela are not shown in the same shot during these
actions. This implies disunity and an ironic separation because they
are about to engage in the most intimate activity two humans can share
with one another. It is also important to note, that during the crane
shots, Angela is consistently given the higher position in the frame.
This implies that she is pure and innocent because usually good
elements are given the higher position over bad elements (such as
heaven being in the sky and hell down under). As Lester is prepared to
begin the sex act, Angela reveals that she is a virgin. It is at this
point that Lester realizes what he is doing and stops.
This shot is a
dynamic shot with a crane. It is as if, by some divine intervention,
Lester came to realize the error of his ways before it was too late.
The scene concludes with a dynamic shot of Lester apologizing to Angela
and, for the first time in this scene, they are scene in the same
frame. This time, Lester is given the higher position in the frame.
This symbolizes that he has come to a realization and is wise. The
usage of lighting in this scene implies many symbolic meanings.
Throughout the entire scene Angela is shot with light. For example,
when the scene begins, Angela is laid down by Lester on a couch. Angela
is wearing a white blouse, the couch she is lying on is white, and the
light from outside is dimly shining on her, emphasizing the fact that
she is wearing white. The light and the color white represent purity:
Angela is a virgin. On the other hand, Lester is shown with even less
light. As the camera follows his hands erotically going up and down
Angela's body; Lester's hands are given the least amount light possible
in order to emphasize the impurity aspect of what he is doing. The
lighting in this scene is low contrast and low key. It is low contrast
because the light used was dim and was rather gray. This implies a
sense of mystery because the audience knows that Carolyn is on the way
to the house to kill Lester. Also, the audience is unsure if Lester is
going to go through with having sex with Angela. It is low key because
both Angela's and Lester's shadows can be seen.
Editing is very
significant in this scene. Decoupage is used throughout this scene.
Decoupage implies that there will be fast-paced cutting. This is
absolutely necessary in this scene in order to add to the excitement of
the scene. Angela and Lester are at the point of no return. It is not
clear what is going to happen. Fast paced cutting accelerates the speed
of the scene, as almost to provide the audience with excitement. In
this case, the kind of excitement that a teenage boy, or Lester, in
this case, would feel before having sex. However, unlike the previous
scene, this scene uses an ellipsis. This takes place when Lester is
rubbing his hands around Angela's thighs. The scene cuts to Jane and
Ricky. Both of them are about to run away to New York. The ellipsis
occurs to show the audience what has caused Jane to do this. Lester
never paid attention to Jane. Instead, he focused on her friend. All
Jane wanted was attention from her dad, but Lester was preoccupied with
being irresponsible and chasing a girl.
The scene then switches back to
Angela and Lester. It is important to note that Angela and Lester are
never shot in the same frame while sex is still a possibility between
the both of them. Instead, they are shot in a shot-reverse-shot
fashion. When Lester realizes the error he has made, both of them are
shot in the same frame as a two-shot showing unity and resolution over
the dilemma. Sound is used heavily in this scene. As the scene begins
non-diegetic sound is used. This sound has no source in the image. The
sound is music played by a piano and chimes. The music gives the
audience a sense of the erotica that is occurring on the screen between
Angela and Lester. It also serves a connector to Lester's fantasies.
Whenever, Lester fantasizes, an erotic song is used. This time, his
fantasy is about to come true. The music comes to an abrupt end when
Angela reveals that she is a virgin. Suddenly, Lester realizes that he
cannot have sex with a teenager. The ending of the music symbolized the
conclusion of that fantasy as well as marked his return to manhood.
Throughout this scene, it was raining outside. If you were in the scene
you would be able to hear raindrops. But not in this case. This
exemplifies the usage of contrapuntal sound. The raindrops were not
heard during this scene. This gives the audience an idea of the amount
of concentration that Lester was, once again, giving Angela. While
Angela was around, nothing else mattered to Lester. Lester's inability
to deal with difficult situations, combined with his need for freedom
and lack for responsibility, appear to have been too much.
Unfortunately, he realized that too late.
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