Between activism and egoism

American Beauty is a 1999 American black comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature directorial debut. Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter’s attractive friend.

“There is a sudden slew of it,” says the filmmaker. “And any film you make is revealing on some level, whether it’s directly autobiographical or not. For me, American Beauty was very personal even though I didn’t write it and I don’t live in American suburbia, I felt like my heart was in that film.”

Sam Mendes

About movie

USA, 1999, 122 minutes

Writer /Alan Ball
Director / Sam Mendes
DOP / Conrad L. Hall
Editor / Tariq Anwar
Music / Thomas Newman

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