The film opens with a moving aerial shot that
establishes the classic suburban scene of tree-lined
streets in an upper-middle-class neighborhood.
Another overhead shot, this one inside Lester and
Carolyn’s bedroom, sets the scene of the Burn-
hams’ loveless marriage. We see Lester just before
the alarm clock awakens him, alone in a big bed,
flanked by two identical end tables. Next, we see
him masturbating in the shower (“This will be the
high point of my day. It’s all downhill from here”),
followed by a shot of a perfect rose growing outside
and then another of Carolyn cutting the rose from
its stem. Roses are traditionally symbols of love,
but Carolyn’s decisive use of the scissors pointedly
underscores her emasculating behavior toward
her husband.
The design creates a recognizable time and
place, but it is also highly symbolic in establishing
and developing the movie’s themes. The Burnham
and Fitts families live in what the movies have often
tried to make us believe is a “typical” neighbor-
hood. In keeping with this type of film—one that
explores bright domestic surfaces and murky
angst-filled depths and, in so doing, strips away
many aspects of the American dream—the exte-
rior shots are bathed in clear, abundant sunlight,
making everything look new, bright, and welcom-
ing. The interiors of both houses are frequently
dimly lit: at the Burnhams’ house, it’s likely by
design, but at the Fittses’, it underscores the
gloominess of their family life. Unlike the lighting in
Sleepy Hollow, however, this lighting does not call
attention to itself or have much effect on the com-
position of scenes.
The Burnhams live in a two-story white house,
surrounded by a white picket fence, with blue shut-
ters and a bright red door. Bright red is used
prominently throughout the movie: for that red
door, Carolyn’s red roses, Lester’s fantasies of his
daughter’s friend Angela (Mena Suvari) in a bath-
tub filled with red rose petals, his red car, and—
almost the last thing we see in the film—Lester’s
blood splattered on the white kitchen wall.
Inside, the house looks “perfect” in the choice
and maintenance of its decor. For example, the
kitchen, where Carolyn prepares “nutritious but
savory meals,” is immaculate. Everything has a
place, and Carolyn has no doubt placed everything
exactly where she wants it. Cooking pans hang over
the island work space, a bowl of ripe fruit provides
healthy snacks, small appliances are lined up
neatly on the counters, dish towels are folded and
hung, no dirty dishes linger in the sink, no mes-
sages are fastened with magnets to the refrigerator
door. Whereas Carolyn thinks it’s lovely to listen to
Frank Sinatra during dinner, Jane calls it “elevator
music,” and Lester calls it “Lawrence Welk shit.” In
fact, Carolyn is so much in control of her environ-
ment that, as Lester tells us, “the handle of her gar-
dening shears matches her gardening clogs—and
that’s no accident!”
The Fittses, who have recently moved in next
door, include Colonel Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper),
a marine obsessed with guns, discipline, and gay216 CHAPTER 5 MISE-EN-SCÈNE
12Details within a shot help to create mood in
American Beauty Lester and Carolyn Burnham’s
estrangement is established early in American Beautyby
simple shots such as these two images. [1] Lester (Kevin
Spacey), alone in bed and shot from above, is clearly wearied
by his life. [2] Carolyn (Annette Bening), meanwhile,
decisively snips a rose in bloom and eerily inspects it. Clearly,
these visual elements are important figuratively as well as
literally.