"You're trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?"

Rating: Null/10 (4 March 2010)

"The Graduate", Mike Nichols' second feature after his brilliant debut with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) might seem a little dated, but it's still a delightful classic and a nostalgic piece of its time, to say the least. Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, 30 years old at the time, convincingly playing someone a decade his junior) is fresh out of college, and comes back to his rich parents' house in a California suburb. Bored and undecided about what to do with his life, Benjamin is seduced by a friend of the family, middle-aged Mrs. Robinson (a wonderful Anne Bancroft, who was actually only 36). When Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) shows up, Benjamin is forced to take her on a date. He hesitates at first and even tries to humiliate her by bringing her to a strip club, but he soon wants to marry her. There starts the film's weaker second half: Ben's infatuation with Elaine is not as believable, funny or compelling as his affair with Mrs. Robinson, and they fall in love with each other way too quickly. Arguably, that goes to show their own immaturity and how the young lovebirds are equals in their "what to do with my life?" dilemma. As Benjamin rescues Elaine from her own wedding with a blond frat boy, Mrs. Robinson says to her daughter: "Too late now!", to which Elaine replies: "Not for me!". Benjamin and Elaine might have been a little too impulsive, but at least they were trying to get away from that conformism which trapped their parents - even if it's clear that their naiveté will not last forever.
That doesn't mean that "The Graduate" is a bitter film at all. The witty screenplay (by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, based on a novel by Charles Webb) and the unforgettable songs by Simon & Garfunkel are the perfect combination of joy & melancholy. Hoffman is terrific, Ross is charming, and Anne Bancroft is outstanding (had she been nominated for the Oscar in the supporting category instead of Lead Actress, I firmly believe she would've won - the Academy ridiculously awarded Estelle Parsons, the only weak link in the formidable "Bonnie &Clyde", that year). I wouldn't go as far as call Benjamin a true rebel - he's way too passive for that. I'd argue Mrs. Robinson is more of a rebel than he is for most of the story, although she herself is trapped in a world of misery when Ben and her daughter decide to rebel together and give happiness, or at least freedom, a try. No matter how you judge this film in 2010, "The Graduate" might sound a little naive, but it still has the fresh smell of young alienation and passion intact.