James Mercantante The two movies American Beauty and A Separation are very different in some ways and much the same in other ways. The main characters and plot in these two films are alike, but the filming style and cultures are very diverse. American Beauty is a film about the typical American family but is very satirical, almost like a joke. A Separation is a movie about a couple in Iran struggling to stay together. Directors purposely use those four factors to make the viewer feel for the characters and show relationships between them. The filming style of any move is very important and because these two movies have different genera's they were shot differently to get the best effect on the audience. The filming style in American Beauty used a lot of close -ups to show the actors emotion and low or high angles because it makes a character seem either diminished or makes them look bigger. In A Separation the director uses mid-shots and eye-level angles because it is the most realistic, he also uses a hand held camera to make it seem as if your are actually there in real time. Because it is a drama, this type of filming makes the scenes seem more dramatic. The main difference in the theme of the films is the place that they're filmed. American Beauty was filmed in America and A Separation was filmed in Iran because of this, the interactions between the characters is different. For instance, when the father was talking with judge he argued with the other man about honor and keeping his dignity, but in American Beauty it wasn’t very important to the characters. Between the these two films the main characters are