Skip to main content

The Unconventional Beauty of American Beauty



Unconventional Beauty


The film American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes starring Kevin Spacey is the film that deals with the perception of beauty and dives into the opposing idea of ‘Beauty is everything’ and ‘Everything is the beauty.’ The director uses many different aspects of spaces to support this theme as well as constructing an environment around each character to externalized their feelings and perspective on life and beauty.

Opening with a shallow bird’s eyes view of Lester in his bed. It makes Lester look like they are being crushed against the background. After having met Angela, we see Lester in bed with the same bird’s eyes view again. The director subtly creates the illusion of off-screen space, by having rose petals fall from above. The same flat space is now no longer as flat with the help of perpendicular visual movement. The sequence symbolizes how Angela has opened up a new door for him. To him, she is a light shining through a small hole in a dark cave. This marks the moment where we start to see his change of no longer conforming to the 2-dimensional world that Carolyn lives in. It also marks the moments where his perspective changes from ‘Beauty is everything’ to ‘Everything is beauty.’


One of the crucial scenes we keep revisiting are scenes at the dinner table, Those scenes make it seems like we are looking directly into a dollhouse, symbolizing how the family is forced into specific roles while trying to achieve the American dream, losing freedom and not seeing outside their own materialistic desires. The lack of strong visual movement creates a closed space. The symmetrical, picture-perfect dinner table scenes create a claustrophobic box. The second time we see them at dinner, Lester and Carolyn are fighting. Lester, now no longer conforming to the picture-perfect dollhouse, throws a plate which hits the wall behind them. This act of rebellion and the perpendicular movement of the plate literally breaks the illusion of flatness and deepens the space. This symbolizes the changes that Lester had learned that the pursuit of happiness is not as shallow and may be deeper and unconventional.


During the “I will sell this house today” sequence, we see numerous instances of shallow space as well as many frames within a frame. The shot with her against the stone wall or the leaf wall crushes her against her environment. The frames trap her in her job trying desperately to achieve shallow happiness. Most of the shots with her in it are very 2 dimensional, she is unable to look outside and see that joy is more than success. The curtain she closes behind her symbolizes a cell she has created for herself, masking her dissatisfaction with an image of normalcy. To her normalcy is beauty and therefore everything must be normal. This is one of many instances where Carolyn is shot against flat space as it happens throughout the movie.





Angela’s bedroom creates a very flat space. There is not much overlap in furniture meaning there is not much illusionary depth. However, the numerous cut-outs of pictures of models really flatten out her room; we almost can’t see where the corner of her room is. The cutouts themselves show her shallow view of outer beauty and thinking that appearance is everything. The lack of textural differences in her wallpaper consumes her visually, blending her in, ironically making her just like one of the cut-outs, in a way she is objectifying herself. Despite what she says, she is ordinary both inside and outside. Her fear of being ordinary is ordinary. Her visions and ambitions are also ordinary. Angela is a metaphor for conventional beauty, the “American Dream” girl, an object of perfection, something Lester sought for. Throughout the film, Lester has his own image of Angela, objectifying her. By the end, he learns that even she isn’t picture perfect. Her being a virgin breaks his illusions. She too becomes humanized and to his eyes is an unconventional beauty. She is just a lost child trying to shine in the world. From the wallpaper in her room, we see that nothing is holding her back other than herself. She puts up all the cut-outs; She blends herself into the image of conventional beauty. By opening up herself to others and revealing her insecurities, she becomes imperfect but unordinary.

The use of shallow space is used to symbolize the shallowness of perspective. In this film Shallow space in synonymous with conventional beauty and the idea of ‘beauty is everything.’ The flat environment around each character as well as surface division creates an entrapment which denies them of seeking happiness in unconventional ways. They are a metaphor for conventional beauty and normalness.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Limited and Flat Space in Rear Window

Limited and Flat Space in Rear Window By: Cassie Galonsky The film Rear Window , directed by Alfred Hitchcock, uses different types of space to convey the story that he is telling.  The film is shot with space in mind to create different feelings for the audience. Limited space and flat space are both used at different points, in order to portray different things.  The majority of the film is told through the eyes of L.B. Jeffries, or Jeff, a freelance photographer who has been confined to his apartment as his broken leg heals. Alfred Hitchcock uses the opportunity to demonstrate to the audience his confinement with the different types of space.   During the course of the story, Jeff observes the actions of his neighbors through his open window.  One day, he sees a series of events that leads him to believe that one of his neighbors, Thorwald, has murdered his wife after her unexplained disappearance.  He enlists in the help of his gir...

The Power of Lionel Dobie's Painting

In his short film, Life Lessons, Martin Scorsese shows off his directing skills and techniques in a variety of ways. Throughout the film, he utilizes stylized camera techniques to enhance the story and make it visually interesting. Those camera techniques combined with his direction produces a very compelling and entertaining film. One scene, in particular, stands out as a great example of the directing skills of Scorsese. In that scene, we see Paulette go from being determined to leave New York to her falling back under Dobie’s spell and deciding to stay. This scene stands out due to the fact that rather than dialog, it utilizes visuals and music to successfully convey Paulette’s decision to remain with Dobie in New York. Approximately halfway through the film, we are shown a conversation between Paulette and her mother. Paulette wants to come home because she feels that she has no future as a painter after Lionel cannot compliment her work. Towards the end of the conversation,...

Surface Division in Citizen Kane

Surface Division in Citizen Kane “Throw that junk in.” This is the last line of Citizen Kane and a summary of his life. Citizen Kane depicts the life of Charles “Charlie” Foster Kane. His story is told through a series of flashbacks presented by his friends and ex-family members; whom are being interviewed by a reporter Jerry Thompson. Thompson is trying to figure out what Kane’s last word “Rosebud” means in hopes that it will be the key to unlocking what his life meant. The movie ends with Thompson giving up and supposing (quite accurately) that a single word can’t describe a man’s life. As the various characters describe Kane’s life surface division is used to show how they saw him as an isolated man. In the first third of the film as Thompson reads Kane’s diary, we see a flashback of Charlie Kane as a child just before he is sent away by his mother and father. The surface division used visualizes how Thomson regards him as a lonely child. The scene is shot in two oners both cont...