Cinema is truth at twenty-four frames a second.
- Jean-Luc Godard
They say some films have the power change lives. I always found that to be a highly exaggerated romantic notion until I saw American Beauty. Ever since I saw it for the first time (and several times after that), it has left a deep impression on my psyche forcing me self-reflect and take stock of my life. Don’t get me wrong, its not one of those dark and depressing films which just stress on what all is wrong with the world and the people that inhabit it etc. Instead its more along the lines of a black comedy/drama which interlaces the somber points with humour and the most basic human idiosyncrasies.
The film centers around Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) who is suffering a mid-life crisis that affects the lives of his family, which is made up of his super bitch of a wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and rebelling daughter Jane (Thora Birch), who hates him. By the time American Beauty begins, the happy days are already over. Dad is cynical and depressed. Mom is burning herself out in her quest to be a professional success. And their daughter is lost, lonely, neglected, and she knows it. “I need a father that’s a role model,” she complains to her boyfriend Ricky (Peter Gallagher). She’s right. Her father, Lester Burnham, is a bitter jerk, hardened by days at the office, embittered by a marriage gone sour, and lusting after high school girls. The fantastic thing about the film is even though all the characters so far from each other are on a common conquest. They all are in search of some or the other form of beauty and that is the central theme of the film. That beauty is to be found literally everywhere, even amidst immorality and deep suffering. The film is an artwork that invite you to see the whole world as art and grounds this aesthetic perspective in a dysfunctional American family set-up. American Beauty, like all great art, is a teacher. It teaches that moral ugliness can be part of something that is beautiful on the whole.
The real genius of the enterprise lies in looking beyond the very obvious flaws of human nature and delving deep into their concealed fears, insecurities, hopes, dreams and aspirations. It doesn’t portray its characters as some bullshitty imaginary people who are perfect in every sense and lead immaculate lives. Instead it revels in their imperfections because that’s how people are in real life. When an audience can relate to something, it is more likely to effect them. So realism, for me, has always meant something I could envision happening in the 'real' world. Movies are there to play on our emotions, and thus all tools with be used to achieve this task. We are meant to feel happy with the central character when he gets the girl, glad when he kills the villain, and sad when the villain comes back. The more real it seems, the more effective it is.
All the characters though haunted by their own personal demons are looking for happiness and the the definition of what it means to them is vastly different from each other. Happiness is slamming a plate of asparagus against the wall. It's telling your boss to shove it and making a vow to set to improving the way you look naked. Happiness, as illustrated by Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, is submitting to even the most trivial of your urges, if only for a little while. It's about lifting a middle finger to an all-too-oppressive society and smashing the prisons we build for ourselves.
Above all, American Beauty is about finding peace and a sense of wonder in the least likely of places, such as your inner torment or, failing, or perhaps even a floating plastic bag!
Happy Viewing!
