'Bullet in the Brain' og 'American Beauty': slutninger og hukommelse

“Bullet in the Brain” and “American Beauty”, the endings

Is it true that our most remarkable memories are the ones we see the second before we die? And does anything even flash before our eyes? This endless mystery about death is one theme of the endings of both David Von Ancken’s “Bullet in the Brain” (2001) and Alan Ball’s “American Beauty” (1999). In the films, we encounter two grown men, each being dissatisfied with their lives due to different reasons. We follow them up until their very last moments on earth, before they are both shot in the head – Anders due to provocative behavior towards his killer, and Lester after unintentionally humiliating his.

In “Bullet in the Brain” we follow the very careless and nonchalant Anders, a university professor, through his visit to the bank where a bank robbery takes place. The offender is armed and ready to shoot anyone who doesn’t obey him. Regardless of this ruckus, Anders is calm and confident that the robber will not dare to shoot and decides to make fun of him instead. Consequently, the robber is provoked and ends up shooting Anders in the head.

In Ball’s “American Beauty” we meet Lester, a man who is greatly tired of his monotonous life. Throughout the story, he takes different paths from what he has tried before, going as far as to buy drugs from the adolescent next door. It is, in fact, this that leads him to his death. After developing a bond with the young man, the teen’s father witnesses a fairly normal scene from a remarkably unfortunate angle. He is led to believe Lester is a homosexual - something he won’t admit he is himself. After trying to kiss Lester, and getting rejected, he feels deeply humiliated and ends up killing Lester.