american beauty (1999): sound

Sam Mendes uses specific music to allude to traits of certain characters, as a recurring motif in their storyline. Lester's relationship to music is the most notable. During a scene where he buys drugs from his neighbor Ricky Fitts, Lester looks around the young Ricky's room and exclaims incrediulously, "You like Pink Floyd?" As he abandons his monotonous way of life in favor of a more reckless philosophy, music from his youth-- presumably the 1970s-- begins to feature heavily into scenes with Lester. During the pinnacle of Lester's journey back to youth, he smokes a joint while driving and singing along to the song "American Woman" by The Guess Who, echoing the sentiments he now feels about his straight-laced wife Carolyn-- "I got more important things to do/than spend my time growing old with you." During the climactic scenes of the film when Lester walks into the living room with the hope of seducing the young Angela, the lyrics to a Neil Young song (covered by Annie Lennox) that plays on the stereo begin to reflect his acceptance of his aging-- "Old man lying by the side of the road", "Don't let it bring you down/It's only castles burning... you will come around".

Mendes doesn't just use lyrical music to communicate meaning-- non-musical and instrumental sound is very important to Angela's character. Mena Suvari's acting style utilizes different voices to communicate with different characters-- Angela takes on a very casual tone to talk to Jane, but her voice rises in pitch and softens in
to a very sensual tone when she talks to and about Lester ("Have you been working out? You can really tell...") in order to portray the sexuality she wants to exude. When Lester fantasizes about Angela, the same music always plays-- a tense instrumental clash of symbols and drums combined with atonal bass sounds. This strange motif that follows the Angela fantasies throughout the film, from the high school gym to Lester's kitchen to the rosepetal-filled bathtub. This music not only signifies that the scene has transitioned from reality into a fantasy, it also serves to make the audience slightly uncomfortable with the odd, falling pitches and clashing tones. We can recognize from the music that Lester's thoughts are perverse, no matter how much new life he finds in his obsession.