Referat A short analysis of th e film "A meric an Beaut y" with emphasis on the final scene and with regard to the conceptual presentation of the American Dream

A short analysis of th e film "A meric an Beauty" with emphasis on the final scene and with regard to the conceptual presentation of the American Dream

In the following essay I would like, at the beginning, to give very briefly a summary of the final scene of the film"American Beauty , firstly released in 1999 and which we saw recently, then to describe the cinematic devices used in this scene and explain their functions, and furthermore, to point out in how far the concept of the "American Dream" is presented in the film.

The final scene of the film"American Beauty" is the last minutes of the entire film with a full length of minutes. The final scene starts with the protagonist -the main character Lester Burnham, portrayed by Kevin Spacey, who is setting in the kitchen and was shot. Then, scenes before and after Lesterīs death are shown: Angela in the bathroom hearing the gunshot; Jane and Ricky find him dead in the kitchen; Frank was identified as the killer; Lesterīs wife Carolyn returns home and her desperate reaction to her husbandīs death. At the same time, Lesterīs narration begins, in particular stating that he died happily.

To be more detailed, I mixed the concise plot summary above together with part II on applied

cinematic devicesī description and functions which enables us to gain a deeper and broader understanding of the whole final scene.

First of all, one sees Lester sitting lonely in the kitchen of his house and smiling at a black-and- white and happy family photograph from Janeīs childhood showing him, his wife, Carolyn,

and his daughter Jane holding a teddy bear, being much younger than she today is. There are some red roses on the table, but the light is switched off, it is dark outside. Admiring the photograph, Lester whispers:"Man, oh man. Man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man", which are his last words because at this moment, one also sees a gun appearing and pointing at his back of the head. Without noticing that, Lester slowly turns the photograph down. The camera turns away via the photograph, the roses toward the white wall in front of Lesterīs head. A second later, a loud gunshot can be heard and one sees red blood spatters on the wall hesitantly flowing down. Still unknown right now is who the murderer was. Ricky and Jane walk down the stairs and enter the kitchen. Opened the door, a puddle of blood can be seen, dropping down from a white chair toward the bottom. Jane seems to be shocked commenting "Oh my God" and does not move while Ricky approaches the puddle of blood somehow

sneering contently. Lesterīs body lying on the ground with eyes opened and with blood coming

out of his forehead can be seen. In the background a piano playing a sad repetitive melody accompanies the scene.

Shortly after, Lester starting his closing narration: I d always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time. For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout Camp, watching falling stars. And yellow leaves from the maple trees that lined our street. Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper. And the first time I saw my cousin Tony s brand-new Firebird. And Janie. . and Janie. And .. Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's 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't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I m talking about, I m sure. But don't worry, you will someday.

Simultaneously, several scenes mentioned in his narration are running, supporting the viewerīs understanding. Apart from these scenes, moments such as Jane and Ricky lying together on the bed just right before Lester got shot, or Angela being in front of a mirror in the bright bathroom and hearing the gunshot, are involved there as well. Additionally, Frank returns home wearing a white t-shirt covered with blood, breathing heavily and a missing gun from his gun collection is shown which becomes clear that Frank kills Lester. Moreover, Carolyn returns home, too, and cries. She wanted to kill Lester, too, but she obviously arrives too late. The sequence with a plastic bag flying with the wind, dancing in the air, the most enchanting object Ricky has filmed was featured in the final scene as well, reinforcing the beauty. The whole film finishes with the suburban sequence where Lester lived and the story mainly took place which was already presented once at the very beginning of the film.

The final scene which fulfils Lesterīs introductory statement . . in less than a year I will be

dead" is dramatic making the film to a drama film. The Aristotelian theory of a tragedy - saying in a classical drama consisting of five acts, the first act used to be an exposition introducing the protagonists, where it take place, when does it take place, so the factor time and particularly

the conflict; the second used to be an augmentation of the conflict, adding more tension; the third, also called as peripety is climax-like and the conflict achieves at the highest level and prepares for falling again; the fourth act, a so called retardation, the conflict does not end rapidly, but hesitantly, the tension decreases and finally the fifth act used either to be a happy end or a catastrophe - is here fully applicable: the Burnhams and their neighbour the Fitts being the exposition; Angelaīs attractiveness for Lester, relationship between Ricky and Jane, and Ricky and Lester, Lesterīs change of a working place, Carolynīs affair with Buddy being the imaginary act two; the highlight could be both that Lester discovers his wifeīs affair and

Frank searches Ricky s room and after seeing a nude video of Lester filmed by Ricky wrongly concludes that his son is homosexual and beats him; the retardation consists of the meeting between Lester and Frank in the garage and Lesterīs attempt of making love with Angela.

So, the function of the final scene serves the role of the fifth act according to Aristotle. As the

description of the final scene above, the beginning piece of the final scene shows the pretended "healthy relationship", as Lester once told, between Lester and Carolyn is broken due to affairs and their infidelities. We learned this since Lester is sitting totally in solitude and is somehow in agony in the kitchen in the night, because his wife does not return home yet. The switched off light and rain - some lighting and visual effects- may also have a function of providing a negative presentiment, for instance, somebody is crying and the raindrops symbolize the tears falling and the darkness leads we to imagine that something fatal or catastrophic could

happen. Nonetheless, those family photograph demonstrates a positive feeling of being

together and united and thus symbolizes a great reminiscence from the earlier time -in particular by analysing photographīs colour, which is monochrome symbolizing that the time, beauty and happiness are ephemeral - making Lester to displace his anxiety since we see him smiling. "Man, oh man. Man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man" as Lesterīs last exclamation shows something not completely negative but something Lester is missing or so, which is in fact his family and he is missing the good old merry time they enjoyed. He died contently, not extremely painfully, - but brutally- which he ensures later in his narration by saying that he

can hardly "to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world " It is in so far brutal and

violent by shooting in his head, but camera turns away exactly at the moment where Lester was being shot making this short scene more acceptable to the viewer. Horrible is also the scene where Lester was lying afterward on the ground and blood coming out of his forehead. This is

in so far necessary to make the viewer believe that Lester is really dead, a sort of convincing

functions. However, Lester died smiling and the scene Ricky looking sneering at Lesterīs body where firstly can be interpreted in a very negative manner now can be understood positively as that Ricky noticed Lesterīs happiness from Lesterīs inner world and respectfully smiles back at Lester, also a kind of beauty in the world . If we will have a closer look, a tiny trace of smile can be realized on Lesterīs face. Besides, the red roses on the table should not to be ignored.

Immediately, the viewer might remember the scenes of Lesterīs hallucination on Angela where

rose petals float everywhere. Here by seeing that family photograph, Lester may realized the importance of his family and similar to the roses - the symbol of love - as a whole on the table staying close together, so should the family and not like some single petals splitting up in every possible direction and the family is ruined when both Lester and Carolyn are having affairs respectively. Because Lester will be killed anyway, by his wife which we know already before, it is also useful just to show a part of the gun pointing at Lesterīs head and make the murderer unknown which might have the function to increase the tension, otherwise it would be boring

if one knows the killer and therefore no attention more could be paid for the subsequent

scenes.

A further cinematic device may also be the scenes with blood counting together three times: Firstly on the white wall; then falling from white chairs; lastly on Frankīs white t-shirt. This might be by chance or might not. Anyway, the effect produced here is a high contrast: white being bright, blood being dark. A sign can be interpreted since we may affiliate here white with innocence, clarity, beauty while dark with sin, complexity and so on. The camera performs a point of view shot showing us the reality - so blood on various objects-, but beyond that, there is more to be discover as stated above.

After got shot, many nice events of his life Lester still remembers, as shown in the next part of the final scene. Lester starts a kind of flashback containing a lot of retrospective elements, e.g. Janeīs childhood where Jane was wonderfully dressed like a princess and playing a sparkler or where the young Carolyn enjoyed sitting in a carousel and laughing incredibly sincerely where possibly Lester met her for the first time which is certainly an unforgettable event in Lesterīs life. In parallel, the moments before and after Lesterīs death of the persons, with whom Lester mainly dealt with during the whole film, appear and by doing so, one probably can learn who is eligible for killing Lester and who not, also a kind of constructing tensions. Those mentioned melancholic repetitive quiet piano melody in the background to be found throughout the final scene may have the function of reinforcing the sadness and representing the feeling of Lester. Generally, music is certainly an expression of beauty as well.

Lesterīs closing narration mirrors the title of the film by explaining what beauty is for him.

Not unlike at the beginning where Lester starts introducing "My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighbourhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year I will be dead. Of course I don't know that yet, and in a way, I am dead already. , the final scene also contains a such narration teaching us to appreciate the life lasting relatively long to sum up, being a kind of check points during a marathon route, can possibly be interpreted that at the one end is the start symbolizing the birth and at the other end the end being the death. As mentioned, at the very beginning of the film, a birdīs eye view of a suburb was shown and where the stories unfold. The last bird s eye view of the suburb is shown by zooming out whereas in comparison at the beginning the camera zoomed in. This zooming away might

cause a feeling of, on the one hand of course, that the stories are finished and imagine reading

a book, if you are finished, you close it, and on the other hand, that Lester is dead and religiously speaking, he flies toward the heaven and will rest in peace. In addition, the majority of the trees grown in the suburb do not possess any leaves indicating it is most likely winter there and greatly creating a dull ambience. Thinking about the winter, we usually associate with a lifeless, cold, depressing period of time and so does Carolyn feel after the loss of Lester despite an unsatisfactory marriage, also expressed by the scene where Carolyn despairingly grabs Lesterīs clothes after she finds him dead. With winter coming, thick jackets let the

beauty hidden, but winter is also challenging to survive and there are still opportunities to be happy and optimistic, namely by celebrating Christmas and expecting a new year to arrive, to unfold.

The last 3 seconds of the film consists of a black display, an exceptionally clear sign of the end. However, one hears Lesterīs voice saying continuously " ..(You have no idea what I m talking about, I m sure.) But don't worry, you will someday". Hence, one shall really focus on what he

is saying and reflect it well even when the film is over. " .. you will" sounds like a kind of appeal

to you very personally and the viewer may also feel somehow get targeted and interacted. The function here may be also that we shall bear in mind what happened in the film and we shall try to figure out whether there are some messages sent by the film. It is an ease to do so if we

had paid attention while watching it and this may lead the film worth watching again and again

^{which absolutely corresponds to film s " look closer", making the filmīs content}

^{second to none .}

Throughout the entire film, there are a plenty of deep symbolism as shown above and characteristics referring to the ideal of the American Dream standing for, very shortly in some words summarized, fundamental rights granting 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of

Happiness Thus, by working hard, you can achieve great goals you once set, you are able to become very happy, rich, famous etc.

The Burnhams live in a suburb where there are sole mansions, along with the 4 0 dollar silk sofa in Lesterīs house, these are evidently to demonstrate prosperity. The costs of living in such a neighbourhood are supposed not to be inexpensive. Since suburbs used to be far away 0 km or more) from the down town or even a greater distance to the place where you work, it is very useful to own a car. Especially regarding to the bad public transport where bus lines, tramlines, underground lines are hardly so well-built like in Germany and where only in the biggest cities such as New York, Chicago, L.A. etc. where predominantly tourists use the public transport, do have a good one. Surely it is also unusual to cycle -like in China or in the Netherlands- in America. Therefore it is even essential to own cars. This may commonly be regarded as typical of America since the air pollution caused by car reflects it so. So the Burnhams live in a suburb, have a child, own at least one car and this lets me deduce their position in the society could be upper middle class. Hence, the money matters for the Burnhams seem hardly to be a crucial part of everydayīs lifeīs concern when seeing that

Lester quit his previous, probably monotonous, employment in a big company for a job with

lower pressure and "the least amount of responsibility , analogue with lower wages, in a fast food restaurant, again something iconic for America. With regard to the American Dream, one may freely make an individual choice where to work and where the work does not only mean money in order to survive, but also personal satisfaction, the pursuit of Happiness. Indeed, in

order to live happily, Lester also purchases his dream car, making him know how to enjoy life. As Lester said:"The car I've always wanted and now I have it. I rule!

The pursuit of Happiness in the film, furthermore, consists of Lesterīs masturbation scene whilst having a shower - a compensation for the lack of his sexual life-, and the affairs between Buddy and Carolyn, Lester - who is sexually obsessed with Angela - and Angela, and the relationship between Ricky and Jane although the affair between Buddy and Carolyn may end elsewhere with a sentence like "stoned to death" for Carolyn. The pursuit of Happiness is, as well, the tolerance of homosexuality, where Frank mistakenly believe that his son and Lester are engaged in a gay relationship, or drugs - in Rickyīs case- whereas those activities may lead in some extremely conservative countries to death sentence instead of the comparatively soft punishment by being beaten by his homophobic father. Carolynīs attempt to sell the house for gaining money also reflects that man and woman are equal showing that she is capable doing business as well whereas this, which seems really normal to us, in some other places is not possible. Equality and liberty is also Carolynīs pursuit of her real estate career.

A truly country specific idiosyncrasy of America is the legal possession of guns, as observed at the Fitts. Colonel Frank Fitts from the US Marine Corp has a huge gun collection in his house. Even without such a good link like Frank, Carolyn also owns a gun. In both cases, the legal gun possession at Germanyīs households would be actually uncommon. Apparently, one of the reasons of allowing gun possession is more like to defend the point "Life" according to the ideal of the American Dream rather than like what Frank did, to kill persons or so.

In my view, Angela -a friend of Janeīs - herself incarnated the American Dream, too. Since Lester became infatuated with the hot Angela, he starts lifting weight, begins running for shaping a sexier figure because Lester supposes that Angela thinks Lester would be more attractive with muscles which drives Lester to work hard. Finally, Lester succeeds in seducing her. Last but not least, everything turns around at the filmīs end when Angela told Lester her story leading Lester to decide not to make love with her. At this point, Lester may have realized the truth that sex is not the main key to open the door of happiness. Here a sort of "anti- happiness" is being presented.

In another word, the plot of the film "American Beauty" can simply be summed up as Lester constantly in search of happiness. The pursuit of Happiness is hereby remarkably strong outlined.

All in all, the film is genuinely outstanding and unique.

References:

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO9-qI-dAxc

[2] http:/ www imdb.com/title/tt0169 47/

[3] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/American_Beauty

[4] http://www.dreamworks.com/ab/flash.html

[5] https://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm

The film

Discussions in class

http:/ www.dreamworks.com/ab/