American Beauty
American Beauty used to be one of my favorite movies. From the very first time that I saw it, I was obsessed. Usually, I'm not into those big Hollywood blockbuster type of movies. This was something different, however. This movie had class and style in a way I hadn't seen in a long time. American beauty dealt with some very heavy and very serious topics. It tackled The spiritual poverty of contemporary suburban life in a kind of brutal manner. The next-door neighbor was a drug dealer, the father and mother had a failing marriage, the daughter had a best friend who bullied her, and the neighbors father was a closet homosexual with serious emotional issues.
This is not why I like American beauty, however. Don't get me wrong - I do like heavy, serious movies. What I liked about this movie, however, was that it didn't end up preaching. It really could have - and in some places it came close to it - but in the end, it wasn't about how problematic and awful our way of living is. It was about how, even amid the difficulties of contemporary living, there is this incredible beauty to life that all of us feel in some way. We can forget it and lose it for moments, but it is still there.
The scene from American beauty that everyone remembers best is the home film of the plastic trash bag floating in the breeze. The one who filmed it was the neighbor who the protagonist is falling in love with. He talks about how incredibly beautiful it was, how it was dancing with him as he found it. Here we see all the themes of the film. There is a barren street with garbage swirling around in the wind, and yet it is beautiful. Amidst the chaos of daily living, there is all this gorgeous life and light.
I read the American beauty script, and I was impressed with how the director really translated into a movie. A lot of the magic is lost if you don't see his vision.
Usually, the function of the director is to narrow down a writer's script to make it more fit for public consumption. In this case, however, the director took a decent script and made a wonderful film. The way it was interpreted was as much a part of the movie as the writing itself. I just wish there were more movies of that caliber being made in Hollywood.
