Cinematographer Conrad Hall complemented Mendes' style with peaceful shot compositions to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events. Mendes' dominant directorial style was deliberate and composed he made extensive use of static shots and slow pans and zooms to generate tension. backlot in Burbank, California and on location in Los Angeles. Principal photography took place between December 1998 and February 1999 on sound stages at the Warner Bros. Similarly, the studio suggested several actresses for the role of Carolyn until Mendes offered the part to Bening without the studio's knowledge. Spacey was Mendes' first choice for the role of Lester, though DreamWorks urged him to consider better-known actors.
American Beauty marked acclaimed theater director Mendes' film debut courted after his successful productions of the musicals Oliver! and Cabaret, Mendes was nevertheless only given the job after twenty others were considered and several A-list directors reportedly turned down the opportunity. DreamWorks financed the $15-million production and served as its North American distributor. Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took the script for American Beauty to the fledgling DreamWorks studio, which bought it for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. The rewritten script had a cynical outlook influenced by Ball's frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms. After spending the next few years writing for television, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry. He shelved the play after deciding that the story would not work on stage.
Academics have described the film as satirizing how beauty and personal satisfaction are perceived by the American middle class further analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, materialism, self-liberation, and redemption.īall began writing American Beauty as a play in the early 1990s, partly inspired by the media circus that accompanied the Amy Fisher trial in 1992. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney also feature. Annette Bening stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, played by Mena Suvari. American Beauty is a 1999 American black comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes.