Who Is The Antagonist In American Beauty

Mike Nichols, the director of The Graduate and Sam Mendes, the director of American Beauty both do a great job of including specific framing shots. They also character proxemics to showcase the relationships between the characters. Both directors also use the dominant and subsidiary contrasts very effectively in their respective movies. These mise en scene film elements are vital to a good movie and these directors perfected them.
The directors in these two films use character proximity very cleverly to show the viewer how close the characters actually are. For example, in American Beauty the beginning scene focuses on Lester and his job. He is sitting in the middle of the room next to nothing, while his boss is far away behind a desk full of paper, and pictures. During this specific scene, he is getting his job reviewed for his work performance. Another example of the proximity is the way the family sits at the table during their dinner, specifically the location of the husband and the wife. Both are on opposite sides of the table, symbolizing their shaky relationship. While in The Graduate, the farther apart Ben and Mrs. Robinson got from each other, the less feeling the two have for another. Specifically when the two are in the bed arguing, Ben is facing one way, while Mrs. Robinson
In American Beauty, there is a distinct attempt to utilize the windows to symbolize relationships, specifically the relationship between Lester and his daughter. In one specific scene, there is a frame that has Lester and his daughter on the inside of the house, and the frame shows them from the outside looking into the house. The window’s lines symbolize their messy relationship. This window had a long line in between the two characters. In The Graduate, there are multiple camera angles that show Ben inside a fish tank. Being in the fishtank symbolizes that Ben is trapped inside a certain situation, and is unable to get