Edward Norton and Kevin Spacey are without a doubt two of my favourite actors. So, I thought it might be interesting to pit their films against each other and see who really is the king of the silver screen. I'll be doing a part by part series of either a Norton or Spacey film for the next few weeks starting this week with Academy Award winning American Beauty.
This film came out in 1999 when I was all of about five years old. I remember seeing it at the video store and in my little five year old brain thinking that it was some documentary about beauty pageants or something. Well...it wasn't. I watched it for the first time twelve years later in 2011 when I selected it to be one of my film studies for my English scholarship exam. Needless to say, I was completely blown away by the complexity of it, the social commentary, the phenomenal camera work and of course, the stellar performances by Annette Benning, Thora Birch, Meena Suvari, Wes Bentley and most of all, Kevin Spacey.
This film came out in 1999 when I was all of about five years old. I remember seeing it at the video store and in my little five year old brain thinking that it was some documentary about beauty pageants or something. Well...it wasn't. I watched it for the first time twelve years later in 2011 when I selected it to be one of my film studies for my English scholarship exam. Needless to say, I was completely blown away by the complexity of it, the social commentary, the phenomenal camera work and of course, the stellar performances by Annette Benning, Thora Birch, Meena Suvari, Wes Bentley and most of all, Kevin Spacey.
WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!
The film, directed by Sam Mendes (also known as Kate Winslet's ex), is set in the heart of suburbia with a magnifying glass on the truth about life in a suburban home, the roles we play to get by in life and the discourse regarding what beauty really is. Lester Burnham, played by Spacey, is a father and husband who has entered into a midlife crisis. His real estate agent wife, Carolyn, who is obsessed with perfection and order is having an affair with "The King", a real estate competitor while his daughter makes no secret of her hatred and disgust at her father.
Feeling imprisoned in his life and his job, Lester experience a slight ray of hope when, while eavesdropping on his daughter (Thora Birch) and her friend Angela (Meena Suvari), Angela mentions that she would find Lester sexually attractive if he worked out a bit. He quits his job with a nice $60,000 settlement after he blackmails his boss and begins working at a fast food restaurant. He makes friends with his next door neighbour's son, Ricky Fitts, who, as well as showing an interest in his daughter, also deals Lester marijuana on the side. Lester begins to work out, dead set on impressing Angela. He also frequently fantasises about her, always involving the motif of rose petals. Ricky's father, Colonel Fitts is a harsh man and an aggressive homophobe. He keeps his son on a tight leash, even doing frequent urine tests to make sure his son isn't taking drugs. His wife is completely introverted and takes on a semblance to a lobotomised patient. Ricky's go-to is his camera which he takes everywhere in his search for beauty, his most beautiful work being a plastic bag dancing in the wind.
Lester's daughter Jane becomes infatuated with Ricky who sees the unconventional beauty in her and past the conventional beauty that is Angela. While Angela mopes after being called "ordinary" by Ricky, Lester comforts her and is about to engage in some...activity when Angela reveals that she's actually a virgin despite her boasts about all the men she's been with. Lester, finally seeing her as the child she is, reflects on her life. Meanwhile, a very angry Carolyn, who's quite pissed off that Lester discovered her affair and didn't care in the least, approaches the house armed with a gun. Ricky's father, who violently beats his son after he suspects a homosexual relationship between Lester and Ricky after he finds Ricky's chance video of Lester working out nude, finds Lester in the garage and kisses him. Lester politely rejects his advances but the Colonel is vulnerable and insulted. While Lester is looking at a photo of his family and finally appreciating their importance, we see a blood splatter on the wall and a very dead Lester Burnham. We then see a bloodied Colonel Fitts re-enter his house, a gun missing from his wall.
The success of this film is not only in it's multidimensional plot-lines but also in it's character development, cinematography, effective use of symbolism and it's exploration of the nature of beauty. It also examines the idea of fantasy as escapism and it's effects on reality. The film was actually the proud winner of a total of 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography all of which I think it thoroughly deserved.
In terms of character development, we see a growing empowerment of Lester. He starts off as completely emasculated by his job and his wife but once he starts taking charge of his own life he's able to move past his wife's infidelity and his daughter's rejection. Albeit this is due mostly to his infatuation with Angela, which I admit is not the healthiest way to go about changing your life, but it no doubt shows a development and change in the character. We see similar developments in Jane, who upon meeting Ricky gains more confidence and a sense self-acceptance. She starts off completely in the shadow of Angela and very self conscious about her body. Ricky's affection for her and his ability to see beyond conventional beauty allows her to develop independently from Angela. We see this particularly in the scene where Ricky is filming through his window and Angela is giving him a show but Ricky zooms up on a mirror that is showing a reflection of Jane's face. It is also quite apparent when, as Jane reveals herself to Ricky through her window, he chooses to zoom up onto her face instead of her exposed body. Angela has a different kind of development. Having gotten by on her looks for almost everything, especially gaining particular joy from Lester's obsession with her, Angela is crushed by the thought of being ordinary. Her revelation to Lester that she's a virgin shows that her confidence was a facade and that it took this situation to bring some honesty out of her.
The use of cinematography in this film is fantastic. Mendes craftily uses different angles and sequences to allow the physical film to tell it's own story. Perhaps most impactful is the use of vertical bars of numbers on Lester's computer screen at work where his reflection appears to be imprisoned. We also see the shift from high angle to low angle shots on Lester to show his increasing masculinity and confidence. There are also some creative cinematography such as the rotating camera as Lester kisses Angela in one of his fantasies. The film also has a somewhat meta effect through Ricky's constant use of his camera as a means of capturing unconventional beauty which is what the film itself aims to do.
Perhaps the most obvious symbol in the film is the rose and rose petal. According to the director, you can find a rose or rose petal in every single scene in the movie (à la Fight Club and the Starbucks cup). The rose is a symbol of beauty and perfection but is also used to signify the shift from reality to fantasy. The rose petals are constant in all of Lester's fantasies about Angela whether it's her bathing in bath tub full of rose petals or him finding a rose petal in his mouth after kissing her. The appearance of roses in the Burnham household is a symbol of the "perfection" Carolyn is aiming for but also symbolises the irony that her home is anything but perfect. The irony translates to the rose petal's importance in the fantasy scenes as it is revealed that Angela is not the personification of beauty. Instead, like Ricky, we begin to see beauty in the unconventional such as Lester's death.
In a film titled American Beauty it's not surprising that beauty would be a key theme here. The film tackles the idea of conventional versus unconventional beauty. Angela represents conventional beauty. She has a pretty face, good body and Lester is willing to better himself just to be worthy of her. Jane, however, is your plain wall flower who is often overlooked. However, through the eyes of Ricky's camera, we are encouraged to see beauty in a different way. Jane's purity and innocence makes her beautiful in an unconventional way whereas Angela's self-obsession makes her ugly. There is beauty in the simplicity of a plastic bag dancing in the wind and in the death of Lester as he lies facedown in a pool of his own blood. It shows that beauty is in the unassuming and the unexpected.
Spacey's contribution to this film is phenomenal. He does an excellent job portraying the many layers of Lester's character. The dialogue is sharp and insightful and leaves us pondering about our ideas of beauty, life and our roles and purposes. Lester sheds his role as father and husband in his pursuit of Angela but in his last moments realises the importance of his role.
If you're into reading films this is definitely one to watch. There are so many incredible layers that I could go on and on (which I'm sure I already have!). It is thoroughly deserving of its many awards and, in my opinion, will remain a classic for many years to come. You just need to Look Closer...
KEEP
8.5/10
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