American Beauty (1999) – Sam Mendes (Friday’s Finest)

Ricky Fitts: It was one of those days when it’s a minute away from snowing and there’s this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. Right? And this bag was just dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That’s the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember… I need to remember… Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.

– American Beauty – Plastic Bag scene (see at the end of this post)

I remember reading parts of the script of American Beauty before the film was even released which heightening my anticipation of seeing it. Then I saw it repeatedly after it came out because I was so enamoured by the movie experience. American Beauty currently sits at No 42 on my Favourite Movies List, but having revisited it just two weeks ago with my kids after a long spell, I realised I should have had American Beauty in my top 30. My top 100 movie list requires an overhaul and that’s putting it mildly.

Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend. Academics have described the film as satirizing how beauty and personal satisfaction are perceived by the American middle class; further analysis has focused on the film’s explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, materialism, self-liberation, and sexual grooming.
After being filmed in California from December 1998 to February 1999, American Beauty was released in North America on September 17, 1999, receiving widespread critical and popular acclaim. It was the second-best-reviewed American film of the year behind Being John Malkovich (which I reviewed at Friday’s Finest in 2021) and grossed over $350 million worldwide against its $15-million budget. At the 72nd Academy Awards, the film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, along with Best Director for Mendes, Best Actor for Spacey, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. 

To me American Beauty is as close to perfection as movie-making gets. It’s strongest attribute is that there isn’t a dull moment. Everything is so well honed. Every scene, look and line in the movie is ‘cool’ and necessary. It’s hugely entertaining and humorous despite it being a dark and occult depiction of suburban life. It leaves the viewer to think long and hard about their own life as well as the lives of people around them. The movie spells out the social disillusionment phenomenon everyone experiences but can’t really grasp.

American Beauty reminds us that, like Lester, we really have no idea what we really want. We’re not rational creatures as economists assume we are. Our instinct might lead us to perform one action, yet our brains might tell us to perform the complete opposite. We may lust after material belongings, yet how do we know we will still treasure those material belongings once we obtain them? Lester may lust after Angela, yet once he feels her in his hands and finds out the truth about her sexuality, an entirely different feeling comes over him. In relation to this, I would like to recall an AnkDroid addition I published in 2022:

How Freud viewed the Main Conflicts of Man

He viewed the primary conflicts in mental-life as the Ego tortured by the ‘Id’ – underlying biological forces such as impulsive actions and urges, but also severely limited and repressed by the Super-Ego (Civilization and Society). Neurotic people (people who are more susceptible to psychological challenges) are more likely to see the Social World versus them and the harsh repressive as the Super-Ego.

We are embedded in our animal-selves and there’s a strong connection between his theories and that of evolutionist’s ‘natural selection’. We are driven more by our innate and natural aggression instincts and sexual urges. The rationalist conscious over-pinning barely just tinkers.

IMDB Trivia:

• When Lester throws the asparagus, he was supposed to throw it on the floor. The reactions of Annette Bening and Thora Birch are genuine.
• According to his Oscar speech, screenwriter Alan Ball was sitting at the World Trade Center plaza when he saw a paper bag floating in the wind and was inspired by it to write the film, which was originally conceived as a stage play.

References:
1. American Beauty (1999 film) – Wikipedia
2. American Beauty – IMDB

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“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand