Film often explores and critiques one of the most pervasive ideas in American culture: the American dream. Although decades apart, Seconds and American Beauty offer a critique of the idealistic American dream. The 1960’s were a time of political and cultural turmoil that led to an identity crisis of sorts. The schism between the conservative 1950’s American dream and the counterculture movement that challenged it created a divided national personality. Comparably, the 1990’s were also a time of general cultural unease and discontent with the archetypal suburban life. Seconds tells the story of Arthur, a discontent middle-aged banker who abandons his family and career to undergo a procedure that will give him a new and younger identity as Tony. With this new identity, he searches for fulfillment and passion in his second chance. Similarly, American Beauty depicts the life of Lester Burnham, a bored middle-class husband and father who reverts to a younger, carefree version of himself after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend. Lester’s sexual reawakening becomes a new identity in his pursuit of passion and happiness that his life lacked. Although the two films share a similar theme that critiques the American dream, they have vastly different stylistic choices in terms of editing, camera techniques, and use of sound.
The unsettling camera angles used in Seconds create a general sense of distortion and disorientation. From the opening title sequence, the distorted camera angles become a metaphor for the many ways in which society distorted Arthur, morphing him into an unhappy, unfulfilled man. The images of a mutated man not only foreshadow events to come in which Arthur’s physical appearance is altered, but also represent how the Company distorted his identity and inevitably set him up to face his demise by way of his own failures and insecurities. Such nightmarish imagery sets the surreal tone of the film and is reminiscent of a Frankenstein style transformation, one that is a crime against what is natural and inevitably a failure.
The scene in which Arthur arrives at a meat packing plant to meet with the Company also foreshadows Arthur’s reborn identity as Tony was premeditatedly created by the Company to serve their own insidious motivations. Rows of hanging animal carcasses are a parallel to countless people who will be killed and recycled as catalysts for other reborns. The film relies heavily on close-up camera angles to heighten the emotional effect. The use of close-up camera angles distorts Arthur and Tony’s physical features while also translating Arthur’s feeling of unnerving suffocation from the confinement of an inner identity he can’t escape. By placing the camera close to Arthur and Tony, it directs the attention to the visible emotion of their faces. Moreover, it gives a feeling of claustrophobia and disorients the audience’s sense of geography within the film by limiting what is seen of the location.
The choppy editing also creates a general sense of distortion and disorientation. The dissonant rhythm of sequences heightens the emotional effect. Jump cuts, which are naturally jarring, aid in translating Arthur’s disorientation in trying to navigate as his new identity, Tony. The party scene at Tony’s beach home is filled with jarring jump cuts as Arthur begins to unravel behind his identity as Tony. It makes the struggle and subsequent failure exhausting and heartbreaking to watch. The freedom Arthur anticipated having in his new life crumbles due to the inescapable confinement of his original self. A unique use of sound also aids in developing the theme of the film. Overall, the film is eerily quiet, which is no coincidence when Arthur’s wife describes her memory of their marriage as being mostly silent. The silence in the film becomes almost oppressive as it creates an overwhelming tension. Juxtaposed with silence is a nightmarish pipe organ score. The song plays in the opening title sequence, creating a sense of dread reminiscent of a horror film to match the mutated imagery. It plays again over Arthur’s hotel room nightmare, a false memory planted by the Company, to further reinforce the surreal and terrifying tone of the film.
Conversely, American Beauty takes a satirical, yet somber approach to a similar theme. In terms of camera angles, the film takes a subtler approach by translating Lester’s discontent through purposeful framing. Lester is often framed in ways that make him appear imprisoned in the context of his life. At home, he is framed looking out at his wife, Carolyn, meticulously pruning her rose bushes on the front lawn while he is trapped behind the window frame. At work, his reflection is framed in a computer screen, digital columns of numbers and figures acting as the prison bars. Lester’s physical imprisonment within the framing translates his feeling of emotional imprisonment. He is imprisoned by the idealistic American dream: a beautiful home, stable job, and family. Furthermore, he is confined by the identity his wife, daughter, and society have given him. Carolyn strives to project an identity that is successful and content while their angst-ridden daughter, Jane, wants Lester to be present yet distant.
The use of high-angle shots throughout the film make Lester appear physically small within the frame while also translating his feeling of weakness and defeat. When Lester is reprimanded by his supervisor, Brad, the wide angle shot from above makes him appear insignificant and dominated by the space of the room. In nearly every confrontation with his wife, Lester is shot from a high angle while Carolyn is shot from below. The effect not only makes her tower above him in the frame, but reveals the controlling dynamic of their relationship in which Lester is powerless. The power only begins to shift once Lester seeks to change his imposed identity by rejecting the American dream, recovering passion, and indulging in the counterculture. Similar to Arthur’s rebirth as a younger man, Lester attempts to revert to a younger, carefree version of himself. He begins exercising, gains employment at a fast food restaurant that has less responsibilities, and uses drugs. Once Lester becomes empowered, low angles are abandoned and he is framed as an equal in the shot.
American Beauty uses more subtle editing techniques to drive the narrative and develop the theme. Continuity editing is used to show a sequential timeline of events while reoccurring shots and slow motion is used to differentiate reality from Lester’s fantasies. This is aided by Lester’s disembodied voice over that invites the audience to observe this particular year of his life leading to his death. Repeated images of his Angela lying in a bed of roses and slow motion shots of her undressing signify a transition into his fantasy. In addition to the editing, music is used as a visual cue that aids in signaling Lester’s fantasy. For these fantasy scenes, a cacophonous experimental tune of gongs and drums enhance the feeling of primal desire. Montages of crystal, fine china, and family portraits that adorn the Burnham home portray a superficial image of success, stability, and happiness while the family dinner scenes contradict any illusion of happiness.
Lester and his family are often edited to be separate from one other to represent their combative relationship. Confrontation scenes cut back and forth from Lester to his wife rather than having them occupy the same space. Similarly, sound is purposefully used to differentiate the two characters. Lester sings to “American Woman” by The Guess Who while Carolyn sings to “Don’t Rain on My Parade” by Bobby Darin. Lester’s song reinforces his desire to rebel and indulge in the counterculture. However, Carolyn’s song is more fitting of her traditional, idealistic American dream. The juxtaposition of the two songs symbolize Lester and Carolyn’s adversarial relationship, one in which Lester rejects the American dream and Carolyn struggles to maintain it.
Although Seconds and American Beauty have vastly different stylistic techniques, they both explore and develop a common theme: critique of the American dream. Both films explore the role of identity in the context of the American dream and raise questions about its ability to ensure happiness. Seconds utilizes close-up camera angles to create an unsettling atmosphere that distorts Arthur and Tony’s physical features and epitomizes the feeling of confinement and claustrophobia that ails them. The overall eerie, oppressive silence of the film is contrasted by a nightmarish pipe organ score that creates a sense of dread and tension. By contrast, American Beauty uses low and high angles to demonstrate the power struggle between Lester and his oppressors while purposeful framing expresses Lester’s feelings of imprisonment. Repeated imagery paired with an experimental score signal Lester’s fantasies which offer temporary escape from imprisonment.