A must-see, but not very nice

Rating: Null/10 (20 August 2011)

I saw The Graduate a lot at the cinema when it first came out: it affected me a lot, but I'm not sure why.
It tells the story of newly graduated and emotionally dislocated Benjamin Braddock (30-year old Dustin Hoffman, playing younger) who is sucked into a casual and loveless affair by, and with, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft), wife of his father's business partner. All proceeds well enough, if unemotionally, until Ben falls for the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross) and takes it upon himself to pursue her despite having no immediate prospects, Elaine's engagement and forthcoming wedding, and the angry prohibition of Mrs Robinson who threatens to - and duly does - make public their affair.
Stated baldly, this is a fairly soapy and sordid business, and two of the three main characters - Benjamin and Mrs Robinson are, for most of the film, quite unlikeable.
I suppose we must cut Mrs Robinson some slack - she is clearly trapped in a loveless marriage, and she is equally clearly prepared to fight like a lioness for her daughter. And one of the closing shots of her shows what a tired, unhappy woman she is, and goes a long way towards defusing the anger the audience feels towards her by then.
And I suppose we must also acknowledge that Benjamin progresses from a passively nihilistic cipher to someone who is finally prepared to take strong positive action in pursuit of something he actually wants.
But what makes this film worthwhile - essential viewing, in fact - are the fantastic performances of Hoffman and Bancroft, the script (Clader Willingham and Buck Henry), and Mike Nichol's direction, not to mention the superbly placed songs by Simon and Garfunkel, especially when they emphasise Benjamin's alienation (The Sound Of Silence over the opening titles is a case in point).
This film is sordid and dispiriting in many ways. But it is also uplifting, and often very, very funny.