The Graduate (1967)

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nTitle: The Graduate (1967)

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nDirector: Mike Nichols

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nCast: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross

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nReview:

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nThe Graduate is one of those classics that every film buffnshould see at some point in their lives. It’s a classic film with a fantasticnscript that manages to capture an era while addressing social issues at thensame time. It is also, simply put, one of Dustin Hoffman’s best performancesnever. What The Graduate achieves so well is that it captures the aura and generalnmalaise of the 60’s; a time brimming with revolution and social unease. Thisnfilm was made during the days of Nixon and Vietnam, a time when most Americansnweren’t happy with the way the country was being run. Staying true to the ideanthat “art imitates life” the general discomfort felt in the nation during thosendays was subtly caught in Mike Nichols’ The Graduate. The fantastic thing aboutnThe Graduate is that at first you can’t really tell what’s wrong with its mainncharacter, Ben Braddock, but you know something’s definitely bugging him. Littlenby little and in very subtle ways we discover that it’s modern society that’s gotnhim on the edge, this world is too crazy and Ben can’t seem to take it.

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nIn The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman plays Ben Haddock, a youngnman who’s just returned from college. His parents throw him a welcome homenparty populated by family, friends and neighbors, all of them curious to knownwhat Ben is going to do with his life now that college is over with. Problem isnthat Ben himself doesn’t even know what he’s going to be doing now, he feelsnuneasy, not ready to take any significant steps in life just yet. For now Bennseems contempt with just chilling by the pool and getting a sun tan, in a way,nblocking out the rest of the world. But life has other plans for Ben. He endsnup meeting Mrs. Robinson, a foxy lady who’s about to shake things up for Ben,nthe naïve young man. The character of Ben is one of the best things about the film;nDustin Hoffman perfectly embodies the insecure 20 something with everything tonlearn about life, a young man afraid to face the harsh realities of the world. Inloved those scenes that mark the sharp contrast between Mrs. Robinson, an adultnwho is extremely sure of herself and knows her way around life and Ben, a youngndude who doesn’t even know how to ask a waiter for a drink. The awkwardnessnbetween the two make for some truly great scenes.  

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nWhat I loved the most about The Graduate is how it satirizesnand comments the typical American family of the 60’s. Ben lives in a familynthat expects him to be a productive member of society, problem is, Ben doesn’tnseem to like society very much. But his parents expect him to follow thenprogram, go to college, get the job, fall in love, get married have kids andnsettle in your perfect suburban home with your pool and your perfect neighbors.nBen doesn’t care for any of these things at this point in his life, many thingsnare wrong in the world for him, so everything else stops making sense to him.nAll this pressure “to do something with your life” is getting to him,nespecially when he sees the world around him falling apart. Coming back fromncollege feels like he just came back from war, he simply can’t settle back inton“normal” life. When we first meet Ben, he’s out of it; he can’t focus on beingnpolite or having a light conversation. He has too much on his mind. It isnhinted that his virginity also makes him uneasy, so he has a lot of that pentnup sexual anxiety in him; fortunately, this is a problem that Mrs. Robinson isnwilling to help him with.

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nAside from Ben’s sexual exploits, the main focus of the filmnis society and how Ben wants to turn his back on it. For example, the wholenidea of marriage isn’t taken too seriously in the film; in fact, Ben is willingnto get married to the object of his affections from one day to the next; at onenpoint he nonchalantly asks her to marry him. “Are we getting married tomorrow?nThe day after tomorrow?” It is clearly shown that Ben doesn’t care about the institutionnof marriage; he just knows he loves Elaine and wants to be with her. Marriagenis portrayed as something that we do out of tradition, or simply because it’snwhat you’re supposed to do, but not something that you really want to do. Thenwhole ending of the film with Ben trying to stop Elaine’s marriage to somendouche bag is a big “screw you!” to the institution of marriage. Elaine wasnjust going through the motions; she was getting married to this doctor becausenit seemed like the safe thing to do, not because she loved the guy. She lovednBen, not the guy she was marrying. The final moments of the film are anrevolutionary outcry to the status quo of things. Elaine and Ben seem to bensaying “screw this world, we’re doing things our way!” So expect a film thatndisplays young people trying to go against the grain, trying to change things. Ifnyou ask me, this is a natural reaction to the way the world was at the time.nAmerican was extra crazy during the last half of the 60’s, young people tryingnto shake things up was a gut reaction to the crazy world that surrounded them. Bynthe way, the whole ending for Wayne’s World 2 (1993), in which Wayne tries tonstop Cassandra from marrying Christopher Walken was completely copied, almostnshot for shot, from The Graduate! They even filmed it in the same PresbyteriannChurch!

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nBut then again, many filmmakers have been influenced by ThenGraduate. Director Wes Anderson, the guy behind The Royal Tenenbaums (2001),nMoonrise Kingdom (2013) and Rushmore (1998) is very obviously an admirer of ThenGraduate. For example, same as The Graduate, Rushmore focuses on the life of anstudent going through an existential crisis while looking for love. The onlynthing that Anderson did differently with Rushmore is that he turned thingsnaround, instead of the mature lady trying to seduce the naïve young man; it’snthe other way around, it’s the naïve young man that wants to seduce the foxynlady. A couple of more elements from The Graduate show up in Anderson’snRushmore, for example, there’s a scene in The Graduate that takes place as Bennand his family are hanging out by the pool. In this scene Ben’s parents arenconstantly asking things of him, so when Ben can’t take his parents constantnyammering, he hides underwater, trying to shut out the rest of the world. InnRushmore there’s a scene that mirrors that one in which Bill Murray’s characterndoes the exact same thing, he shuts out the crazy family by hiding underwater. There’snalso the aspect of criticizing the modern American family and what is wrongnwith it, an element that can clearly be felt in The Graduate and has also beennpresent in most of Anderson’s films. So as you can see, Wes Anderson has alwaysnhad a hard on for this film.

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nAnd yet another aspect of the film that makes it memorablenis its soundtrack which is almost entirely composed of songs by Simon and Garfunkel.nIt might take a little getting used to (especially for those who didn’t grow upnlistening to Simon and Garfunkel) because Simon and Garfunkel are all over thisnmovie, but after a while you realize that this movie and Simon and Garfunkelnare and will forever be linked together, one goes with the other. I think thensoundtrack gives the film uniqueness; the duo are an integral part of this film,nright down to having a song called “Mrs. Robinson”, just like one of the mainncharacters in the film. So if you ask me, The Graduate is a bonafide classic. It’s class A, gradenA, filmmaking. It explores family life in a somewhat similar fashion to filmsnlike American Beauty (1999) and the more recent Silver Linings Playbook (2012).nIt holds a mirror to our collective behavior and then asks the question, whynare we the way we are?  

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nRating:  5 out of 5

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