'American Beauty' is a 1999 romantic drama directed by Sam Mendes, the film includes themes of love,family,freedom,identity and most importantly gives a very different perspective on American culture as appose to many over films which may portray the 'American dream' in an unrealistic light. The film revolves around our protagonist Lester Burnham, a sexually frustrated character who becomes involved in many not so perfect circumstances in his perfect stereotypical A merican neighbourhood. Many circumstances which are not usually dealt with in American films due to the truth within the illegal activities displayed through out the film shedding a negative representation upon American people. However the film was nevertheless very successful gaining 5 academy awards including best picture.
The film follows a linear narrative structure with the occasional flashback in order to allow exposition for the audience, many topics such as drugs,child abuse,adultery and the sexualisation of teenagers in the modern day is dealt with in a subtle manner, only emphasising the normality of many of these very relevant issues within American society. I personally think the combination of sound and performance is to credit for the particularly eery atmosphere provided for the audience while viewing the film, this experience constructed in this way using the obvious stereotypes alongside the controversial topics that are often not considered when attempting to portray American culture. Much of the film also centred around the insecurities of each individual characters within the Burnham family, I thought this was clear evidence that despite the large house and social class the family had achieved happiness was not evident in any of the characters, again supporting that materialism and 'stuff' is not as important as the bond between family , the lack of their family bond perfectly illustrated by the dinner table scene where they are all purposely quite clearly disconnected from each other emotionally.
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