yonemoto

Finally, tempered surrealism hits the screen. Unlike early works from the 30s, this film delivers a moderated flow of strangeness which is used to accentuate the director's vision-- While at times some events and characters may seem gratuitously inserted, almost without exception they resolve their merits.

There are some scenes which are beautiful in a more classic way, and the director's mastery of the film medium is very evident. The acting is very compelling, and at times, I felt a strong urge (or perhaps a connection) to act as did the protagonist, and I felt like something was pulling me into the film itself, feeling its emotions, and thinking as did its characters speak, which is very appropriate for this film.

I saw this film at the Chicago International Film festival, 2000. For those of us non-Spanish speakers, the subtitling there was done in chunks. At first, I found this to be distracting, and sometimes it ruined the punchline of the jokes (I wasn't laughing at the same time as the native or learned speakers), but it also allowed me to more appreciate the visual and literary mastery of the film.

American beauty-- a good film, yet perhaps not quite so deserving of deluge the critical acclaim it received.

Much of it was directed at the "originality" of its subject matter, that of a suburban dystopia. However, this theme is not quite as original or "ground-breaking" as it would seem. Films like The Ice Storm, or Blue Velvet also tackle this issue.

American beauty also won an award for cinematography, which while wonderful, can hardly be 'excellent', as it lacks a sense of originality, something seen in other films of the year, such as John Malkovitch, or Sixth Sense.

What american beauty has going for it is the combination of its parts. A well-done script, good acting, especially by Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning, and good cinematography. On those counts, it's a definite "recommend".

7/10