Lester's Life

When I first knew the name of the movie, I thought that it would be a documentary about America. However, it is a black comedy with many social problems in the middle class. It is directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. It is amazing that American Beauty won five Academy awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Lester Burnham, the leading actor of this film, is an official worker, but he is not respected by his wife and daughter. They always think he is a loser. He becomes self-doubt. Everything changes after he is dragged along by his wife to see their daughter perform as a cheerleader. There he meets his angel: Angela, his daughter's classmate. He is impressed by Angela's beauty and naughty. He begins to have sexual fantasies about Angela and he starts to melt. He released the longing for life which has been bounded for 14 years like quitting his job and so on. In the end, he is killed by his neighbor because of misunderstanding. Lester's closing narration describes his meaningful experiences:" despite my death I am happy, as there's so much beauty in the world". Why does it call "American Beauty"? In my opinion, the most beautiful image in the movie is that Angela is covered by red rose petals gradually when Lester meets her at the first time. It is also the movie's poster. What do roses mean in the movie? Roses are beautiful but flowering is short. Their beauty is like beauty in our life. We always miss the beauty. Angela is young and beautiful. She is the beauty in Lester's life and Lester finds out the beauty. Then Lester's life becomes more exciting and more meaningful.