The Color Red In The Film 'American Beauty'

American Beauty, is a film about a man going through a midlife crisis with a family who considers him to be a “chronic loser” (American Beauty Movie Review and File Summary). He finds himself growing a highschool crush on his daughters teammate/best friend, while his daughter starts falling in love with the new neighbors son. The central idea, or theme, that the director tried to portray, beauty can appear on the outside, but sometimes you need a closer look on the inside. Throughout the whole movie there were very important symbols, motifs and characters that displayed the directors overall message. The color red was very prominent in the film, probably one of the most important one is the red rose petals. The mother, Caroline, is all about image, she tends to her rose garden in the beginning of the movie with a smile on her face. It seemed as though everything was good in her life, but the first time you see what’s on the inside the house, it’s

Caroline is so fixed on keeping up a perfect image that she misses out on the other, beautiful, things in life. In the beginning and end of the movie, there are family pictures all throughout the home. The whole family seems to be so happy and simple. At the end of the movie Lester takes a minute to look at one, reflecting on how the past was so nice and how the present is the complete opposite. They took those good times for granted. Motifs played a strong role in the movie. The was a certain soundtrack, with bells, that would play every time two of the characters were together and intimate. When Lester was with Angela, or when he was daydreaming, along with Jane and Ricky. This refers to their interconnection with each other, could also be a symbol for sensuality and obsession/curiosity for the other