Look Closer
American Beauty By Sam Mendes
Close Viewing Analysis AS 91480
There are certain scenes in films where the director is able to bring out the true character of an individual. In American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes, the director places two scenes in the film which are shown to have a contrasting effect. Lester Burnham (played by Kevin Spacey) shows a marvellous act through these two scenes where his attitudes are different in each one, due to the life changing events he comes across, altering his attitude. In this essay, four elements will be analysed to compare the first dinner scene to the second. Between these two scenes, we identify a change to one individual who allows us to see change within the family.
Mise-en-scene- From the first few shots of the family portraits to the family in the present day, we see that their connection with each other has diminished. The director uses muted colours as his way of displaying the tediousness of the family themselves and we also observe the characters within the Burnham family not making eye contact with each other. This is related to an average American family, where a family tends to grow apart as they grow up. You have an adolescent teen, Jane, compared to the portraits in the first few shots, showing that she was happy and cheerful as a child. But as she grew up, the bond between her and the father (Lester) became weaker as Lester would have had to focus more on his job. Lester makes an attempt to reconnect with Jane after months of barely speaking to each other. There are also hints of a dysfunctional relationship between the two parents demonstrated prior to this dinner scene. As the audience sees the first shot of the portraits of Jane alone, we see a vase of roses (American Beauty) next to her portraits. We also see another vase directly in front of her on the dinner table as well as two candles on either side of the vase. It is clear that the director’s purpose with this prop in connection to Jane is to
Close Viewing Analysis AS 91480
There are certain scenes in films where the director is able to bring out the true character of an individual. In American Beauty, directed by Sam Mendes, the director places two scenes in the film which are shown to have a contrasting effect. Lester Burnham (played by Kevin Spacey) shows a marvellous act through these two scenes where his attitudes are different in each one, due to the life changing events he comes across, altering his attitude. In this essay, four elements will be analysed to compare the first dinner scene to the second. Between these two scenes, we identify a change to one individual who allows us to see change within the family.
Mise-en-scene- From the first few shots of the family portraits to the family in the present day, we see that their connection with each other has diminished. The director uses muted colours as his way of displaying the tediousness of the family themselves and we also observe the characters within the Burnham family not making eye contact with each other. This is related to an average American family, where a family tends to grow apart as they grow up. You have an adolescent teen, Jane, compared to the portraits in the first few shots, showing that she was happy and cheerful as a child. But as she grew up, the bond between her and the father (Lester) became weaker as Lester would have had to focus more on his job. Lester makes an attempt to reconnect with Jane after months of barely speaking to each other. There are also hints of a dysfunctional relationship between the two parents demonstrated prior to this dinner scene. As the audience sees the first shot of the portraits of Jane alone, we see a vase of roses (American Beauty) next to her portraits. We also see another vase directly in front of her on the dinner table as well as two candles on either side of the vase. It is clear that the director’s purpose with this prop in connection to Jane is to