American Beauty - Scene Analysis

Representation:

Within the scene, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is presented to us in a very negative way. He is seen to be a 'loser' that isn't able to stand up for himself and appears weak. This is seen when he is belittled by his wife but doesn't do anything about it. Lester appears disengaged from not only his family but also from himself. The relationship between him and his family seems nearly non-existent, as suggested when his daughter tells him that he hasn't spoken to her in months. Lester is also represented as depressed. His attitude and personality make it appear as though he has depression. Another way that Lester is presented is in a childish way. He acts submissively, like a child would, and excuses himself from diner, grumpily, by saying 'I'm going to get some ice cream'. This is a childish thing to do. 

Lester's wife, Carolyn, is represented as old-fashioned, powerful and dominant. She appears to be in charge of the household, but also holds old-fashioned values. She believes that things should be 'proper'. This is seen in the way that the table is laid out for a normal meal at dinner time. There is a table cloth, candlesticks and place mats, all of which are not associated with an average dinner. they are normally used for special occasions or when friends and family are coming over. Her dominance is displayed when she is belittling Lester, she appears to be the adult in the relationship, which is antithetical to his childish nature.

Jane is represented as a stereotypical teenager in many respects. She is moody which is a typical representation for teenagers. She doesn't engage in conversation with either of her parents and appears especially disengaged from her father. 

The boy seen videoing Jane and Lester is presented as creepy due to the fact that he is in the bushes at night filming a conversation between Jane and Lester. However, on a close up of his face he can be seen as feeling almost concerned with what he can see through the window. At this point the audience is unsure of who he is and the relationship he holds with either party involved.

Mise en scene:

The scene in which the Burnham's are having dinner is furnished very plainly and the colour scheme of the room is extremely bland. This may represent the life of the family as being boring and uninteresting. The clothes that Lester is wearing are very plain as well, it is almost as if he could disappear into the background and no one would know. Carolyn's costume is plain as well, but it does have slightly more colour. She is wearing a blue top. 

There is a motif throughout the film of red, white and blue. This is in place as the idea is that the family are supposed to be the perfect 'American dream' type of family. Another motif in the film is roses. There is a type of rose called 'American Beauty' and roses are seen everywhere. There are roses as the centrepiece at dinner and they are featured on Jane's jumper that she is wearing.

The lighting in the scenes very minimal and intimate. The parents, positioned on opposite ends of the table, are in darkness. Whereas Jane is well-lit. This may show that even though the parents are having difficulties, their main focus is their daughter and she is the most important thing to them.

The fact that the parents are positioned on opposite ends of the table is important. It shows that not only is their an emotional barrier between them within their relationship but there is also a physical one.

Family photos shown at the beginning and end of the scene show much happier times for the family. The emotions in these photos directly contradict the emotions that are shown by the family at the present time. 

Camerawork:

The first camera technique in the scene is an extremely slow zoom into the family having dinner, it is so slow at first that it is almost unnoticeable. This technique gives the audience a sense of intrusion. It makes them feel as though they are creeping into the room without the family being aware.

When the boy begins to film Lester and Jane there is a change of film stock. There is a shift from film to video which gives a point-of-view shot from the boy's perspective. This also gives the audience a sense of intrusion as we feel invasive of the privacy that Lester and Jane assume they have.

The framing of the scene is reminiscent of the Theatre. This influence has come from the director, who has a theatre background.

When the boy is filming there is a use of crosscutting between shot-reverse-shot inside the kitchen to close-ups of the boy outside, showing the simultaneity of the two events. 

Sound:

At the start of the scene there is diegetic sound. This is in the form of music the family are listening to. The song is 'Bali Hai' and is compared to, by the daughter, elevator music.  It is soft sounding and very melodic, juxtaposing Carolyn as she is harsh and dominant. The old-fashioned music may represent the fact that Carolyn is old-fashioned and perhaps misses the past and the way things used to be for the family. Such as when they were happy. It shows that she doesn't not like the new featured family dynamic of the Burnham's. 

There is also non-diegetic background music in the scene when the boy is filming Lester and Jane. the music used here is soft and melodic but also has an air of eeriness and creepiness to it. The music adds to the negative impressions we get of the boy.