Critical Analysis of Meyer's Book Entitled 'Literature to go' (Essay Sample)

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Critical Analysis of “The American Beauty” Movie
The "American Beauty" movie is one of the outstanding films written and directed by Alan Ball and Sam Mendes respectively way back in the 2000. The movie is all about a main character known as Lester Burnham. This is a mere character that seems to be in a constant search for happiness. He is an ordinary man who falls at the age group of forties. Lester Burnham is trapped in a loveless matrimony due to the fact that Carolyn Burnham, his wife, is marred with the ultimate thoughts that the most essential thing in life is success. She thus neglects him because of her absolute obsession towards her career. Here, Lester mentions often that Carolyn does not acknowledge him at all. On the other hand, his daughter known as Jane Burnham tends to elicit an emotional distance from him, and is fond of claiming that Lester was pathetic and wretched in nature. At the start of the movie, Lester was initially informed on the higher probability of losing his occupation. All these negative factors culminate dramatically into the ultimate feelings of vulnerability and desperation for him. Transformation and changes begins to be witnessed at the time when he was introduced to Angela Hayes, the daughter's friend. Lester overheard a chat between Angela and Jane, whereby Angela asserts that she can have sexual intimacy with him only if he begins building up and working-out his body. The ultimate thought of the teenage girl terming Lester as being "hot", excites him to a greater extent thus bringing out Lester's significant transformation throughout the film (Streisand & Barbra, 76).
The first analysis is on the scene whereby Lester initially spots Angela. It is a moment when Carolyn and Lester had decided offer greater support to Jane at school whereby she was involved in a dancing performance. The scene is more significant since it depicts how Lester starts rebelling against his usual nature, primarily due to Angela's sexuality. This scene kick starts at the moment when Carolyn and Lester arrive at the pitch right before their daughter’s performance. As the entire performance begun, Angela is almost immediately accorded an upward position within the camera framework. By giving her an essentially upward position in the frame, there is thus a suggestion that she is eventually noticed by Lester. Angela thus gets Lester’s attention as the entire scene continues.
The second analyzed scene is the one occurring towards the endpoint of the movie when Lester's dreams and fantasies are almost becoming a reality. The scene is essential due to the fact that it depicts the second turning point of events that essentially transforms Lester once again. The only variation is that this time round he transforms back to his original nature marred with the ultimate realization of the meaning of happiness.
The onset of the scene is characterized with the perspective whereby Lester moves closer towards Angela Hayes who is eventually lying down on a couch. Here, the camera pans towards the right position then down while following Lester’s actions. It actually builds up suspense towards what might occur next. The downward movement tends to imply a rather negative action. The negative act in this case is that of Lester's sexual propensity towards a teenager. The downward movement also implies that something was lost; in this ultimate case being the loss of Angela’s virginity.
The next significant shot is that of Angela’s appearance at an angle of 45 degrees within the frame. It is regarded as the Dutch-angle shot whereby a camera is essentially is tilted from the normal vertical and horizontal position. The Dutch-angle emphasizes on the unusual nature of the frame’s actions (Malone & Peter et.al, 87). For this case, it exemplifies Angela’s unnatural reaction due to the perspective of almost having a first sexual experience. As the entire scene progresses, the camera significantly pans from right to left and left to right because of Lester's hands going up and down the Angela's body. It actually intensifies greater erotic feeling within the scene.
In the other shot, the camera is moved towards a vibrant crane shot that shows Lester's hands unfastening Angela's shirt. A crane shot refers to a shot obtained from an ultimate camera that is mounted onto the elevating arm. This shot is thus followed by what is regarded as a shot-reverse shot involving Lester and Angela looking at each other (Malone & Peter et.al, 91). Angela was essentially given a lower angle shot while looking up towards Lester in this scene. The low-angle shot typically places an observer at the realm of a helpless feeling in presence of a more superior force. In short, it gives greater emphasis on the aspects of anxiety, vulnerability, and fear. On the other hand, the aspect of Angela looking up towards Lester implies on the heights of Lester’s control. However, Angela's position within the ultimate frame seems to ...