Movie Blog

About the original version of the script…

— In the original version of the script, there was a separate story that included Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper) having a gay lover who dies in Vietnam.

— Another version of the script involved Ricky and Jane being arrested and convicted for the murder of Lester. The main evidence is the video Ricky made of Jane offering him $3,000 to kill her father, which we, the viewers, find out was a joke immediately after Ricki turns off the camera, one second too late for the defense. It also involves Mrs. Fitts finding her husband’s bloody clothes, and hiding them immediately after.

— In the script, Lester was supposed to go ahead and have sex with Angela, but it was decided that it would be better to have him stop just short of doing so - in spite of the filmmakers’ concerns that they might be making the change out of uneasiness with having the main character actually go that far.

And at last …

— According to his Oscar speech, Alan Ball was sitting at the World Trade Center plaza when he saw a paper bag floating in the wind and was inspired by it to write the film.

— Wes Bentley was the first actor to read for the part of Ricky, and was asked to do the scene where he describes his reaction to the plastic bag; the casting director felt that although she had read that scene numerous times, his reading was the first time she felt she understood the meaning of it.

<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

—- According to http://imdb.com/

About phone numbers in the film…

— Lester gives his work phone number as 555-0199. This was also the phone number Al Pacino leaves on Russell Crowe’s answering machine in the beginning of The Insider (1999), released the same year. This was also Agent Fox Mulder’s phone number during the third season of the X-files.

— The area codes in Jane’s phone book are 312, which is the area code for Chicago. The paper in the Burnham’s kitchen appears to be the Chicago Sun-Times. Also, the lawn signs for both Carolyn and Buddy have phone numbers with an (847) area code. The (847) area code serves the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. However, the license plates in the film are not Illinois plates, and the filmmakers made an effort to avoid any specificity in the locale, in favor of a more generic setting.

About shooting…

— Near the end of the film, when Ricky opens the kitchen door to discover Lester, the hand opening the door (to reveal the blood on the table) is that of director Sam Mendes.

— Director Sam Mendes personally filmed the pivotal POV shot of Ricky’s camera when he zooms past the figure of Angela to “look closer” at Jane’s smiling reflection in the mirror.

— The high school campus scenes, including the Spartanette dance sequence in the gymnasium, were shot at South High School in Torrance, California.

— The shot where Annette Bening screams after her failure to sell the house was done in one take.

About music in the film…

— The tagline and important theme of the film - “Look closer” - can be seen in Lester’s cubicle at work. It was simply something a set dresser had put in, and director Sam Mendes noticed it while editing and suggested it be used for the poster.

— The video for “Cancer For The Cure” by Eels can be seen on a television Jane and Angela are watching.

— There is a poster for metal band Orgy’s first album “Candyass” on the wall in Jane’s bedroom.

<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra
—-
According to http://imdb.com/

About roles and actors…

— Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening were both the first choices of Sam Mendes for the roles of Lester and Carolyn although the role of Lester Burnham was originally offered to Chevy Chase and Tom Hanks (who later starred in Mendes’s follow-up project Road to Perdition (2002))

— Thora Birch was only 17, so filming her brief nude scene required permission from her parents, who were both on the set during the filming along with child labor representatives

— The role of Angela Hayes was offered to Kirsten Dunst, who turned it down

About characters…

— Sam Mendes designed the two girls’ look to change over the course of the film, with Thora Birch gradually using less makeup and Mena Suvari gradually using more, to emphasize his view of their shifting perceptions of themselves.

About parallels…

— The last name of Mena Suvari’s character, Angela Hayes, is probably a reference to the last name of Lolita Haze, from the Vladimir Nabokov novel “Lolita”

—- Also I have mention that the name Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey’s character) is the anagram of the phrase “Humbert learns”

— Like his earlier film, The Usual Suspects (1995), this film ends with a ‘Kevin Spacey’ voice-over, with the screen fading to black before he speaks the final words. (”You will someday” in this film; “He’s gone” in The Usual Suspects (1995)).

— The self-help tapes that Carolyn listens to are made by a “Dr. Alan Ball.” Alan Ball is the film’s screenwriter.
— In Lester’s cubicle we see a small movie poster for The Usual Suspects (1995).

<:3  )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

—-
According to http://imdb.com/

This film has a lot of awards (and it seems to me that it quite worth it): 5 Oscars, and moreover 82 wins and 66 nominations!!!

I don’t think that it’s necessary to tell you about all of them, that is why I will mention only the most important (from my point of view):

ACADEMY AWARDS 2000

Won!!!

Oscar Best Actor in a Leading Role — Kevin Spacey

Best Cinematography — Conrad L. Hall

Best Director — Sam Mendes

Best Picture — Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen — Alan Ball

Nominated!!!

Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role — Annette Bening

Best Editing — Tariq Anwar

Best Music, Original Score — Thomas Newman
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GOLDEN GLOBES (USA)

Won!!!

Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture — Sam Mendes

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture — Alan Ball

Nominated!!!

Golden Globe Best Original Score - Motion Picture — Thomas Newman

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama — Kevin Spacey

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama — Annette Bening
———————————————-
GRAMMY AWARDS 2000

Nominated!!!

Grammy Best Soundtrack Album
———————————————-
GRAMMY AWARDS 2001

Won!!!

Grammy Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Media — Thomas Newman
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MTV MOVIE AWARDS 2000

Nominated!!!

MTV Movie Award Best Movie

Breakthrough Male Performance — Wes Bentley

But I believe that the best award for this film is your acknowledgement

<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra
—-
According to http://imdb.com/

So, I would like to tell you about one of the most interesting, unusual and beautiful films I have ever seen…

American Beauty (1999)

Producing country (s): USA

Genre: drama

Type: full-length film, 122 min.

Premiere: 09/08, 1999

Director: Sam Mendes

Cast: Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham), Annette Bening (Carolyn Burnham), Thora Birch (Jane Burnham), Wes Bentley (Ricky Fitts), Mena Suvari (Angela Hayes), Chris Cooper (Col. Frank Fitts, USMC), Peter Gallagher (Buddy Kane)

My rank: ********** (10)

Plot: Lester and Carolyn Burnham are on the outside, a perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. But inside, Lester is slipping deeper and deeper into a hopeless depression. He finally snaps when he becomes infatuated with one of his daughters friends. Meanwhile, his daughter Jane is developing a happy friendship with a shy boy-next-door named Ricky who lives with a homophobic father.

<:3 )~~~~~~
Yours sincerely,
AlexSandra

—- According to http://imdb.com/