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insignificant your life is. It is a moral which could sound depressing; yes, you do have an ordinary, average, unexciting life compared to some people, but the important thing is to remember that this does not mean you cannot appreciate everything that you have. It is very difficult to write about this film without sounding life one big clich; it is ironic that this is the way the film could have been as well. But instead of being maudlin and sentimental the film is "at once cynical, hysterical, and, eventually, tragically uplifting" (celebrity-wonder.com).

The cinematography of American Beauty is stunning. An American Beauty is actually a type of rose and this is a motif throughout the film. There appears to be a rose in nearly every scene whether it is wallpaper, curtains or an actual vase of flowers. The roses represent the front' of suburban life. At the beginning of the film Carolyn is pruning her roses, keeping her garden in pristine condition for everyone to see. The roses represent everything I have been discussing, they are perfectly formed flowers and beautiful to look at but they are being used to represent Carolyn's phantom perfect' lifestyle. The rose also features in perhaps the most infamous scene in the film when Lester fantasizes about Angela. She is seen naked in a bed of rose petals tempting Lester. The juxtaposition of the petals used seductively against Carolyn's carefully obsessive devotion to her roses is what makes this symbolism so intriguing. Indeed Thorn (plume-noire.com) agrees:

"The young girl incarnates this American beauty symbolized by fresh rose petals (in Spacey's fantasies) contrasted with the planted rosebushes in his wife's garden whose rigid beauty testifies to an absence of sexual desire for his wife".

The red theme of the roses is continued throughout the film, such as a stunning shot of the red front door in the grey rain, and links in at the end. Than see Lester be shot we see the immaculately clean white wall which is suddenly splattered with vivid red blood. The beauty of this shot, of the red blood splashed onto the white wall, signifies the very meanings that I have discussed. The beauty of the frame surpasses the tragedy of Lester's death and of the fantastically clean walls. Indeed when Ricky looks at Lester's body he sees beyond the death and fear. Lester's final moment was not of sadness or fear, or hatred for his life, it was of realization that he is happy after all with what he has:

"And then I remember to relax,

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