2. Introduction
• Sam Mendes was born in Reading, Berkshire
in 1965.
• He is a British Stage and Film Director best
known for Oscar winning movies ‘American
Beauty’ and ‘Skyfall.’
• He is also famous for his portrayals of popular
stage musicals ‘Oliver’ and ‘Gypsy.’
3. Sam Mendes’s style of Direction
• Mendes’s movies usually contain many subplots
opposed to just being focused on Characters, he
has been praised for his use of conflicting themes
within his movies.
• Mendes has become known for starting his films
as well as scenes with ‘high angle master shots’
especially in American Beauty and Road to
Perdition.
• Mendes is also noted for frequently starting end
ending his movies with monologues.
4. • American Beauty is considered to be Sam Mendes’s
‘masterpiece,’ it is also my favorite movie of all time.
• The movie centers around Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) a
middle aged man fed up with having to fake all the
enjoyment in his life. The movie has several different plots
with ‘beauty’ being the most evident theme in the movie
and how it can be found in the strangest places.
• Critics lauded the exploration of the movies other themes
explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality,
materialism, self-liberation, and redemption.
• American Beauty won 5 Oscars including Best Picture and
Best Director for Sam Mendes.
5. Skyfall
• Skyfall was the 23rd James Bond movie and Daniel
Craig’s third appearance as James Bond.
• The movie is about villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem)
who is hellbent on getting revenge on M (Judi Dench)
who betrayed him. James Bond, despite be
• The film was a massive success with Mendes being
receiving large amounts of praise. It grossed
$1,108,561,013 making it the eighth highest grossing
film of all time.
• It one two Oscars for ‘Best Original Score’ and ‘Best
Original Song.’
6. Jarhead
• Jarhead is a biographical war drama starring Jake
Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx.
• Jarhead is about a marine called ‘Swoff’ who is fighting
in Saudi Arabia in 1975 in the Desert Storm. The films
themes differ from loyalty and friendship through to
love and Isolation.
• Jarhead was fairly successful in the box office making
over $25,000,000 million more than its budget.
• I admire the films bravery as it deals more with the
boredom and depression war causes opposed to the
psychological damage war causes.
