American Beauty is a 1999 drama film, directed by Sam Mendes, based on the midlife crisis of forty-two-year-old advertising executive Lester Burnham after he develops an obsession with his teenage daughter's friend . The film plays on the ideas of the American dream, on the ideals and superficialities of the American middle class and on the subversion of this, culminating with Lester's death in the final scene when he is shot in the head by a neighbor, a retired army colonel who he harbored internalized homosexual feelings for Lester. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The scene I'm analyzing begins with a shot of the interior of a car, with the camera positioned behind the driver's seat, looking over the driver's shoulder. The windshield and rearview mirror are the main focus of the shot and through the reflection in the mirror it is clear to the audience that the driver of the car is Lester's wife, Carolyn. The shot is dark, the only light comes from a blue street lamp on the right of the car and the only diegetic noise is that of heavy rain on the windshield. A non-diegetic soundtrack of low orchestral music begins, almost confusing with that of the rain. The closeness of this shot combined with the smothering quality of the rain gives a feeling of containment and claustrophobia, with the blue light adding an almost supernatural aspect, a sense of something eerie or unsettling, perhaps foreshadowing Lester's impending murder. The shot then changes to one from Carolyn's point of view as she rolls down the window. It starts out of focus before slowly focusing to reveal a long shot of their red front door. The non-diegetic score then changes to the leitmotif used throughout the film, suggesting a connection to Lester and rooting this shot in the narrative of the film as a whole. The rain obscures everything on either side of the door, suggesting that Carolyn's primary attention is on it, its bright color making it stand out starkly against the darkness of the surrounding area. The scene then shifts to Angela, Lester's daughter, Jane's friend. She sits at the counter in Burnham's house and almost slept with Lester. She is shown in a medium shot, with dim lighting, emphasizing the white clinical tiles behind her. Hidden in the shadows is a vase of red roses, echoing the repeated motif of red rose petals throughout the film, representing Lester's sexual infatuation with Angela and often shown alongside her. She is wrapped in a blanket that, first, the audience sees Lester wrap around her and she has a plate of food and a bottle of Coke in front of her, the label visible. These highlight her youth and innocence as he cares for her, a far cry from the self-confident and confident woman she appeared to be at the beginning of the film. It also shows Lester's paternal instincts, something he noticeably lacked towards his daughter. The shot then cuts to one of Lester, matching Angela's gaze to show who he is addressing when he speaks. They continue to talk about their quasi-sexual encounter, with Angela saying she's still "a little weirded out." The camera cuts quickly between the two, still remaining on the 180 line, but moving to frame whoever is speaking at that moment. Lester asks how his daughter Jane is: "Is she unhappy?" – and when the camera returns to Angela for her response, the shot is now zoomed in more to a close-up, showing her up to the tops of her shoulders. This suggests further intimacy in their conversation as, when the camera returns to Lester a second later, he comes tooshown in an additional close-up. It also places emphasis on the characters' changing emotions as we are able to see more detail in their facial expressions, for example Lester's fond smile when Angela talks about Jane. Angela announces that she has to go to the bathroom and leaves. Lester remained alone in the kitchen, still smiling to himself. He repeats to himself the words he said to Angela earlier: “I'm fine.” For the first time in the film he appears genuinely happy. His gaze goes off-screen. The shot then cuts to a medium shot of Lester walking in the direction of his gaze. He is shot in the full environment of his kitchen as he walks to the right of the frame, out of the central light. He takes an object from the cupboard and the camera follows his movements as he moves further into the frame, stopping as he sits at the table. We are then shown via a perspective shot that the object he is looking at is a family photograph of him, Carolyn and Jane. The camera then cuts towards him from the back of the photo - the audience can see him smiling fondly. The use of the foreground here suggests the interruption of a private moment. The shot then cuts to his sinister profile in a close-up as he speaks to himself: "man oh man oh man." The barrel of a gun slowly emerges from the right side of the frame, pointing towards the back of his head. The camera then pans, showing her hands as she pans down the image once again to the vase of red roses before settling on the white tiles of the wall. There is a shot and the tiles are covered in blood. This is reminiscent of what happened at the beginning of the film, when Lester, enraged, throws a plate of asparagus against the wall and, once again, the bright red of the blood against the white wall is similar to that of red roses. If these symbolize the freedom Lester finds in his pleasure, this may suggest the freedom he also feels in death. We are then taken out of the kitchen setting as the shot switches to perspective, slowly moving down the stairs of Burnham's house. The shot then moves to the bottom of the stairs, showing that it is Jane and Ricky. The shot is low angle, tilted up towards the characters, giving it a voyeuristic quality. We then cut to an out of focus shot: it becomes clear that it is a door as it opens to reveal a pool of blood and Lester's head on the table. We see the two enter the room before the camera follows Ricky's movements as he approaches him. The shot then cuts to a close-up of Lester's head, out of focus, as Ricky moves into the frame. We are then shown what he is looking at as the shot cuts to his perspective of Lester's head, eyes still open, blood dripping from his forehead. Ricky cocks his head to the side and smiles briefly. The close-up of his face, framed by the blurry image of Lester's bloody head, makes this scene uncomfortable to watch. Also noteworthy is the length of the shot used and the frequent return to it. It is noticeably different from the quick cut used earlier in the conversation between Angela and Lester. Even the reason for his smile is ambiguous: is he happy because he can run away with Jane as he wanted or because he sees that Lester has finally achieved the freedom he longed for? The shot then returns to a close-up of Lester. He fades into a shot of a blue but cloudy sky as a non-diegetic narration begins, voiced by Lester. He claims to have once heard "your whole life flashes before your eyes when you die." This sequence echoes the film's opening sequence, in which Lester takes the audience through his.