It's not just about physical death. Themes of metaphorical death run
throughout American Beauty in one form or another. Some subtle,
others not. We see the death of Lester's advertising career as he
burns bridges at work and the death of his marriage along with his
safe suburban lifestyle. In general, with many of the characters we
witness the breakdown of habitual ways of responding to common
situations. So this film is also about, metaphorically speaking,
being asleep and waking up.

The character of Ricky Fitz is an interesting one. He holds a primary
key for handling the passage of death or what we might call successful
bardo voyaging. It's a key Lester realizes at the moment of his
death and we are given this information as much through visual imagery
as through anything that's explicitly said. I won't say what that key
is, that would spoil the fun, but I will say that it's symbolically
reinforced several times through the course of the film. To a
Qabalist, American Beauty says it all in the title. The scene that
clued me in to Ricky is the "dancing paper bag" one.

Ricky likes to videotape. It helps him to remember. He often tapes
seemingly ordinary, everyday events. One of his favorite subjects to
videotape is death. After telling his new girfriend, Jane =96Lester's
daughter about recording a homeless person who had just died she asks,
"Why would you film that?

"Because it was amazing."

"What is amazing about it?"

"When you see something like that it's like God is looking right at
you just for a second and if you're careful, you can look right back."

"And what do you see?"

"Beauty."

American Beauty has fun playing with the audiences' assumptions by
presenting things out of context. The most obvious example is the
opening scene. I found myself, more than once, expecting one thing to
happen only to discover that I was making a habitual assumption. This
told me something about my psychology and how strongly I filter the
world through conditioning and beliefs. American Beauty underscores
and dramatizes the illusory nature of appearances.

This happens not only to viewers but also to the character of Colonel
Frank Fitz, Ricky's father, in a pivotal scene that ultimately holds
grave consequences. The lesson here is that jumping to conclusions
and acting upon them can be dangerous to oneself and others.

Another recurring thematic image is roses. The tape I rented has a
close-up of a rose being held against someone's solar plexus. An
example of how this powerful symbol is subtly presented is given in a
bit of apparently extraneous dialogue:
"I just love your roses. How do you get them to flourish like this?"

"Well, I tell you, egg shells and miracle growth."

While some themes are understated others are explicitly given such as
when Ricky comments, "Never underestimate the power of denial." Many
of the characters are in denial in American Beauty and much of the
conflict has to do with this symptom of denial being confronted with
reality.

The acting, all around, is exceptionally fresh and real. It seems
like circumstances conspired to somehow induce this cast outside of
standard acting postures. It appears that there was strong contact
between the actors and their invocational characters. The soundtrack
is also top-notch. Both the songs they chose and the haunting piano
music that recurs throughout help to create a potent and resonant mood
that underlines the story-line.

To this reporter, American Beauty and the American Book of the Dead go
hand in hand. Because of the valuable key to bardo spaces it contains
but also for other reasons less easy to verbalize and explain. It
helps if you see this film more than once. This is one picture where
knowing the ending can enrich and unravel meaning earlier on.

American Beauty hits very close to home. The epiphany that Ricky
expresses in the "dancing paper bag" scene happened to me when I
simultaneously discovered the music of John Cage (when you discover
his music you realize that it's not really his but belongs to
everyone) and Dada art. I've never been able to communicate it well
but some sense of it is given in Lester's closing remarks. I'll quote
the words here but the delivery, mood and atmosphere surrounding them
are just as important to the communication. For that, you'll have to
see it for yourself.

He says this moments after his death:
"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me but
it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world.

Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and there's too much.

My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst and then I
remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it and then it flows
through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every
single moment of my stupid little life."

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure.

But don't worry, you will . . . someday."

Lester Burnham has this realization as a result of his death. Ricky
Fitz, who sees beauty in death had this realization in life but has to
work to remember. The choice is ours to make.

Reviewed by Mickey Fritz