FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

 How does the mise-en-scene and camera angle/composition within the poster communicate concepts and connotations to the audience?

American Beauty, a black comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and released in 1999, follows the story of Lester Burnham: a depressed, sexually frustrated, middle aged father whose life externally appears to be ‘perfect’ when in reality it is far from it. He longs to break free from the lack of respect that he receives from his family and along the way, he develops a deep infatuation with his daughter’s friend, Angela Hayes. Though the narrative is heavily revolved around him, we also learn more about the other people in his life and their psychological issues, as well as their relationships with one another.

Almost instantaneously, the poster establishes the dramatic yet thriller-like undertones and plot of the piece through mise-en-scene; black is used as the predominant background colour, connoting that there is a sense of emotional darkness (Mental illness or depression more specifically) to the film - perhaps even connoting a sense of unknowingness or obscurity to the characters. As Lester Burnham is positioned in an intimate close up angle and as the centre of the frame in the poster, an illustration of how he is the protagonist, and how he is the individual who is experiencing these emotions is crafted well. This is then paired with a faded white and blood red hue; the white could be interpreted as representing the occurrence of a moral tainting, or spoiled purity, whilst the red could be seen as a statement for the strong themes of desire, lust and violence in the film. All of these colours and their shades are extremely bold and do not have positive connotations, further emphasising that this is an emotionally heavy drama. More specifically, the white in the poster is used for Lester’s ‘domestic’ costume of a work button up - interestingly, a white picket fence acts as half of his torso below the collar, symbolising the image of the facade of the perfect, American suburban family. This is heavily juxtaposed on the other half of him, where there appears to be the drippings of blood. The use of symmetry in the composition here crafts an uncomfortably false sense of security and forced ‘beauty’, as though attempting to be pleasing to the common eye, when in reality, the contents of what is within the frame implies that behind the ideal, suburbian family, a masked truth of something far, far darker, corrupted, and impure exists. 

It can also be seen at the top of Lester’s head that a young, fair-haired woman is ripping through his skull as if she is tearing open her own blouse to expose her breasts; this in itself is an extremely sexually aggressive and violent image, succeeding in the presentation of the sexual undertones of the film. She also has a smirk on her lips as a facial expression, suggesting that she is knowingly attempting to seduce Lester. Her eyes cannot be seen, thus depersonalizing the woman; one can argue that she has been depicted in Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, in Lester’s ‘gaze’ here specifically, as one can deem that she has been posed in an overly provocative manner to the extent where her physicality almost comes off as non-naturalistic, hinting at the fact that perhaps Lester’s perception of her is somewhat unhealthily obsessive and sex-glutted. Additionally, the use of roses (a motif in the film) spilling out of her chest strongly emphasises and further supports the idea that she is a character of desire, lust and romance to Lester. On a more connotative note, the fact that his head has been illustrated as paper and held together by a few pieces of string portrays that he is a mentally weak character, and that this woman, presumably Angela, takes over his every waking thought and is highly destructive psychologically to him as an individual. Right below Lester, a red suburban window can be seen with the silhouette of a woman, her breasts defined, hinting at the idea that there is an essence of voyeurism in the film, even though the individual appears to be entertaining the viewer as she is staring directly back. Lastly, regarding mise-en-scene, Lester’s expression reveals that of distraught and realisation, as his eyebrows are slightly furrowed and raised, whilst his lips are parted in a frown. To the audience, this conveys that he is doomed for an inevitable tragic ending or downfall, and that he is a character who experiences a great deal of emotional stress. Even the lines (wrinkles) on his face underline this about him, and also depict to the audience the age difference between him and Angela.

In summary, mise-en-scene and camera have been used in order to paint the themes of the film, these themes predominantly being but not limited to: desire, obsession, psychological violence, and lust.