A Timeless Masterpiece Disguised As a Simple Satire

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2001)

Since the 1980's American movie audience has been inundated with mindless movies in which macho stars blow up dozens of buildings and machine-gun down hundreds of villains and their underlings. However, I am glad to see that both critics and movie audience understood and greatly appreciated `American Beauty,' a recent movie which deeply explored the meaning of reality using methods employed by cinematic giants like Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa.
"American Beauty" innocently and rather deceptively starts with a satirical portrayal of an "average" American family (with commonplace problems like the parents' mid-life career frustrations and uneasy relationship with the rebellious teen-age daughter). However, soon after the movie begins, the viewer is faced with a foreshadowing and suspense of an impending disaster. As the movie progresses, the "average" family deteriorates into drug use, adultery and murder conspiracy, and the viewer begins to realize that the problem posed by this movie is not confined to the predicaments experienced by this "average" family. The real problem is with the fundamental flaw in the modern American value system--its social convention, morality and what is expected of an average member of the society. Moreover, through the use of Fellinesque fantasy sequences, rich use of cinematic symbolism and cinematic warping of time and space, this movie even questions our perception of reality. That is to say, the movie shows us alternative ways of perceiving reality and confronts us with the fact that reality (or the perception of reality) is wholly subservient to our psyche.

"American Beauty" is a rightful descendant of masterpieces like Kurosawa's `Rashomon' and Fellini's `8 ½,' which redefined the meaning of reality. This movie is a timeless masterpiece, and the critical and public acclaim showered on this movie is well-deserved.