Analyzing the american beauty movie - Essay Example

American Beauty Film Several symbols have been used in the movie ‘American Beauty’; the screenwriter utilizes color red throughout the film. For instance the first appearance of Annette Bening, reveals her love for roses where she’s shown cutting red roses. Allan Ball the script writer uses color red in this movie to represent the concept of life force. The concept is used symbolically since by nature, it responds towards defying revealing nature of suppressive sub-urban life. This can be seen of first appearance of Annette Bening, where she’s cutting red roses.

The activity is symbolic of cutting life force after which she reveals her emotional and spiritual control, during painfully stilted family dinner. The music background used in the scene where rose petals are seen floating everywhere assist in the creation of mood on the fact that the scenes are dream sequences, hence fantasy involved. However, American dream is represented through beautiful roses as well as luxurious furniture. Lighting variations utilized is considered excellent, since there are no sign of major distractions from actions or conversations within various scenes.

Green and somber soft light is utilized in the scene where Ricky’s father beat him up on the face. Afterwards, Ricky is seen wiping blood from his face with reflection through the mirror (“American Beauty”). . On the issue of life force, Kevin Spacey is revealed as incapable of repressing sex as part of his sub-urban life force. This is revealed through his fantasies, where the object of his lust, Mena Suvari, is shown floating on bed of red rose petals, and in some instances soaking in tub covered with roses.

In "visual pleasure and narrative cinema" Laura Mulvey presents interesting facts regarding sexual imagery on both men and women. A good example is on page 837 under the header, “Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look”, where the concept as represented on this film is achieved. Elaboration on this aspect is found on the final encounter between Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari where they are almost involved in sexual encounter; there is vase of red roses shown. Further, Mulvey uses a critic’s opinion of women in cinema through summary on the facts, ‘women only matter in film because of what they mean to the hero i.e. the man’ (Mulvey 837).

On the same note, Peter Gallagher depicts Annette Bening’s pent-up sexuality through bus stop posters having red background. Spacey uses red for the purposes of depicting rebellion based on individuality representing uncivilized impulse. The hot-rod of Spacey’s boyhood dreams is also represented by bright red color. Red is further used by Chris Cooper, the psycho ex-Marine to represent sexuality and assertion of individuality, the event on kissing between her and Kevin Spacey is crowned by bright red car in the background.

Assertion of individual’s uniqueness in this film is represented in numerous ways making only few overcome the quest for freedom from control (“American Beauty”). Red is used as symbol of individualism