x did you understand the philosophical concept of American Beauty?

I think that such a commercial application of the modernized Heidegger's theories is simply wonderful.

Anyway I might had overexstimated it because those theories were precisely the same that my philosophical root had brought to me, and upon wich I would still agree if I would be agnostic again.

So if -as I think- you have watched it paying attention, why didn't you like it?

1) Did you disagree with the philosophy of it?

or

2) Didn't you like something technical of the movie itself (Screenplay, actors, photography, eccetera.)

Since you seem a culturally valid guy, I am very interested in reading your answer=)

It is funny how many theories you could put into this movie. I would not go for Heidegger, primarily because most of his works are borderline impossible to interpret (Heidegger's language is impossible to decipher without a decent background in philosophy), so you'd have to tell us which specific dissertation/theory you have in mind. I always thought of American Beauty as modern reflection on philosophy of esthetics wrapped in a critique of modern model of family/social life.

1)Equilibrium
2)District 9
3)The Departed
4)Ben Hur
5)Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
6)I can't choose a movie for 6

Actually number 6 should be the Island.

(Don't look at the link or at the post at all, if you don't want to see American Beauty ruined before of having seen it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGiI-MuTWf0

I just pick up one of my favourite scene of the movie in order to make you see my point.

About Heidegger of course his theories are too various and too difficult to understand for how he wrote them that probably that mention needs to be specificated:

(I know that it is absolutely incomplete, but right now I don't have the time to summarize properly all his thinking)

1) The fact that nothing is objectively right or wrong leads to a world in wich humans are gods (Nietzche's theory that Heidegger has made perfect)

2) Not only super humans can give Sense and Significance to things and to their lifes, but this process is made by every person, even if they don't know it.

3) But with the aknowledge of it, tasting the Happiness is truly possible, because we realize that every istant of our life is incredibly important, because whatever we will do, it will have Sense and Significance.

When he died he realizes and makes explicit this very last concept.

By the way this idea is far too complex to explain it in English so I don't think of being able to give further explanations of it:(

Jaws.
and then Im stuck,

That interpretation is definitely going very far... In my opinion the ending monologue has nothing in common with ideas of Nietzsche, a far more suitable interpretation would be either pantheism or a counter of modern philosophy of esthetics, which most of the time leaves little room for the concept of beauty itself (it is especially easy to see from 2:07 to 2:46). In any case what we do now is only our own interpretation, since I read a few interviews with the writer, I know he never consciously intended to implement specific philosophical theories into it.

The first 2 points are only introductions that Heidegger made in order to lead to the 3 conclusion, that once again it is the same things that he affirms in the monologue.
That kind of esthetics it is something that trascend only esthetics, and touches the whole concept of life itself.
I don't doubt that the director didn't want to put those philosophical contents referred to the Heidegger's thought (since Heidegger is basically unknown) but in the end it is what he did.

Space Balls, and then I'm stuck.

stopped reading at 'mounty python' and 'marcs brothers'

Wow. So that's what I sounded like in college.

Trollusa, it'd be a lot easier to talk about movies with you if you didn't make all your arguments around obscure philosopher's theories while using every SAT you know, misspelling every fourth word you type and failing at grammar to boot.

I think American Beauty is an amazing movie. But I don't think you need to be a philosophy student to appreciate it. I do think you have to be a philosophy student to have any idea what point or points you boys are trying to make. Maybe try talking about the movie itself instead of your favorite philosophers and how it fits in with their theories? Then maybe other people can be included in your conversation.

JR's Path to Enlightenment:
1 Ignorance: limited intelligence based on subjective experiences
2 University: learns a little and is pretentious about it
3 Post-Graduation: knows limitations and attacks those who don't
4 Middle Age: ?
5 Old Age: ?

Gui you suck. You are just jealous of J Russell's great writing ability and charming looks. You are probably unemployed and live at home with your parents still. You probably have a fat pizza face and can't kiss a girl without giving her money. Your life is probably so sad and pathetic and warlight is all you have, so you come here all negative. Get a life.

How do I know all this? I don't. But making assumptions about people I don't know anything about is what I do best.

Huhuhuhahaha!

Well about my grammar skills I apologize, but since I don't know English very good, I won't be ever able to write perfectly, but still I do my best to be as comprehensible as I can.

Besides of that I like to think of speaking with people that have a relatively high culture (not knowing who Heidegger is it is pretty bad, since he is considered by the majority of the experts the most complete phiolospher ever existed).

And I don't study philosophy at college and I had an horrible teacher in high school, so what I knew is what I've studied myself, so nothing could lead me to exclude that you didn't do the same.

Maybe I was wrong in thinking that his theories are well known, even if they should be so.

Anyway my mention to Heidegger were not for prooving my culture, but simply to explain myself faster and in order to try to make the conversation less superficial.

---

But what can I say? If people blamed William Blake for putting references that they didn't understand in his poems, I guess that you have all your rights to do it with me.

Movies I can’t stand:
Any musical, any movie with Jim Carrey, any movie with Jerry Lewis, Harry Potter 1,2,3,4,5, horror movies (almost everyone).

Movies I always like to view:
Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon’ and ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, Monty Python's ‘Life of Brian’, Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’, Madhouse’s ‘Summer Wars’, Pixar’s ‘Up’ and Studio 4° C’s ‘Mindgame’, Sean Penn’s ‘Into the wild’, Gillo Pontecorvo’s ‘Battle of Algeri’, Truffaut’s ‘The 400 blows’, Frank Miller’s ‘300’ and surely something else…

i hated 2001 a space oddessy its stupid three hour long murder

Maybe I'm wrong, and the movie is really stupid.
Nevertheless, I found something on Wiki:
"Today it is near-universally recognized by critics, filmmakers, and audiences as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The 2002 Sight & Sound poll of critics ranked it among the top ten films of all time,[10] placing it #6 behind Tokyo Story. The film retained sixth place on the critics' list in 2012, and was named the second greatest film ever made by the directors' poll of the same magazine.[11] Two years before that, it was ranked the greatest film of all time by The Moving Arts Film Journal.[12] It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and received one for its visual effects. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[13]"

*facepalm*

I didn't like 2000 A Space Odissey, it is absolutely overexstimated...

To me it seemed a poor mixture of The Planet of Apes, Star Trek and the first episode of Simpson's 13th season:/

Avatar visual effects are much better too, so I don't really understand why that movie is so well considered.

sorry i cant do that- hal