American Beauty

This is a bleak and revealing tragedy exploring the darker side of human nature, and more specifically the dysfunction and downfall of a suburban American family. I get the feeling it was trying very hard to give some message of hope – the ending voice over is a dead man declaring that “there’s so much beauty in the world” – but just didn’t quite merit it... Our protagonist is an anti-hero but, unlike the great Shakespearean tragic heroes, I didn’t like him at the start and I was no fonder of him by the end. And yes, death is sad but using it as the only factor evoking sympathy for a character is either morbidity or bad writing. Let me be clear, American Beauty is a well-written and well-made film but I did not enjoy it, and I do not think it is particularly good cinema.

This type of social drama is almost always trying to hold up a mirror to society and say, “Look, this is what we are like”. Yet I did not see myself reflected, the mirror missed me, and the reason is simple; I’m not American. Now, in all fairness, there is a clue in the title as to which society is being reflected, so it’s not too surprising if I find it hard to relate to. However, really good cinema should have universal appeal.

Interestingly the writer, Alan Ball, first considered writing it as a play. In my opinion, he should have done. Theatre is a far better arena than cinema for the portrayal of intimate truths of humanity and it is better at, and more suited to, holding up that mirror and saying, “Look, this is what we are like”. Theatre is pure drama whereas cinema often has other factors added that distract from that. At its core American Beauty is a piece of theatre. Recurring imagery, visual motifs and stylistic cinematography have all been packed round it to make it look like a film but the same story could be told just as well from the stage. As it happens this made it the perfect film directing debut for stage director Sam Mendes and clearly his transition was smoothly achieved since he won the Oscar for Best Director.

So, American Beauty; a film that says, “Look, this is what we are like”. My response; “I don’t think we all are… but even if that is the case, so what?” My final grumble is that it’s not enough to simply reflect society. One has to then comment on society and at least highlight the problems, if not suggest some solutions.