American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a middle-aged crisis when he falls in love with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays her insecure daughter, Jane.
Launched in the United States on September 17, 1999, American Beauty received a positive review and raised more than $ 356 million worldwide. The reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with special emphasis on Mendes, Spacey and Ball; critique focused on the familiarity of the characters and the environment. DreamWorks launched a major campaign to increase the film's chances of winning the Academy Award; In the 72nd edition of the Academy Awards the following year, the film won the category of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (for Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Photography.
The Lester's crisis
The story will focus on Lester Burnham, a middle-aged family father who goes through an existential crisis where he finds no satisfaction in his life and lives with an emptyness.
It will also focus on Ricky Fitts, who exhibits the appreciation of beauty as a psychological strength in his life from the beginning of the film. None of the characters is perfect, they do not even manage to grow or completely transform their lives, but their ability to transcend and grow is clear.
We start the Film with an aerial shot of an American neighborhood where you could say that the people down there live a quiet and happy life, but when the camera comes closer we see that it is not in the case of Lester, in the background we heard the theme "Dead Already" which describes the situation of Lester.
In his narrative Lester recognizes that he has lost something in his life, that he does not know what it is but that it is never too late to recover it. Lester will soon be shaken by something that will change his life. He is suddenly perplexed and amazed by his attraction to his daughter's friend Angela. Lester describes this experience as having left the coma after 20 years and defines this experience of awe in one word ... spectacular.
This experience will make Lester change his life drastically and he will feel better about himself, gaining self-esteem and moving forward, break the bonds of his job and quit, start a diet and start to get fit. Lester changes his attitude and begins to see meaning in the smaller things, Lester after leaving his job starts a new one as a fast food worker.
All the changes in Lester's life reveal a movement towards the superficial pleasures of his life that until then he had repressed such as buying a car, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana or being fit. Learn to enjoy everyday aspects and break with their social ties. Lester is aware that you do not need to have thousands of things to be happy, expresses this in a comment that makes his wife who is upset with him for almost spilling beer on the couch: "This isn't life! This is just stuff! And it's become more important to you than living!".
At one point Lester will have the opportunity to hace sex with Angela and decide not to. He has gained in depth and perspective and is now aware of Angela's vulnerable and insecure innocence. Lester now feels a being strengthened mentally and emotionally, he did not need to have sex with Angela all that time, he just needed to find happiness in his day to day.
And all his happiness will end in the blink of an eye, previously Ricky's father discovers that his son sells marijuana to Lester and observing through his window he sees that he is with Lester in his garage. In a misunderstanding due to lack of vision in what happens Ricky's father believes that his son is making oral sex to Lester, which makes him feel upset and disappointed.
Ricky's father, emotionally broken, goes to Lester's garage and hugs him, tries to kiss him demonstrating his sexual tendencies but Lester rejects him making his emotional state completely fall.
In his last minutes Lester sits down to see a photo of his family happily without knowing that he has a gun in the neck, Ricky's father decided to kill him. The film ends with a description of Lester's life in pictures before his eyes, interspersed with scenes of his family and others up to the moment of the shot; the reactions of Ricky, Angela and Jane to the shot, his wife crying just as she entered the house repentant for having wanted the death of her husband and Ricky's father returning to his with his clothes completely bloodied and a gun in his hand, Lester died happy.
Ricky's perception
On the other hand, for Ricky, the appreciation of beauty is a great psychological strength that has made him "survive" in his family environment. When he does not sell marijuana he records his surroundings, capturing beautiful moments, relationships between people, and scenes that would bore many people. He records dead pigeons, his mother sitting in a chair staring at the horizon or her neighbor lifting weights in his garage. The zoom of his camera helps him to get closer and feel close to what he record. Ricky uses the camera to transcend the beauty inherent in what surrounds us and to experience a connection with something bigger than oneself.
Ricky has a tape showing a plastic bag being carried by the wind. Most people would see a plastic bag flying with the wind, but Ricky discovers a deep connection and experiences the psychological sensation of rising. He is filled with tears and her voice trembles, a sensation so deep that it immediately impacts the listener, Jane, who, touched by these feelings, kisses him for the first time.
"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me. But it's hard o stay mad when there is so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I am seeing it all at once, and it is too much. My heart fills up like a ballon that is about to burst. And then I remember to relax. And stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain. And I can feel anything but gratitude for every moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about do you? But don't worry you will someday".