The lives of the beautiful people

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2020)

"The Graduate" is 1967 drama directed by Mike Nichols starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Back in the day, this film sparked a controversy, because it has been the first film to depict the forbidden relationship between a young man and an older woman. What now has become normalcy in our society made the people feel uncomfortable in the sixties and that's one of the few reasons this film became a classic. In his feature film debut and his first leading role Dustin Hoffman plays his character Benjamin Braddock with such a genuine naiveté and awkwardness that the viewer immediately can sympathize with him a lot. To be honest, although he was already thirty years old at the time of filming he played the part of a twenty-one boy convincingly. From the first shot the film builds up a packing atmosphere. Everything seems to be perfect around Benjamin who visibly struggles with his own anxiety about the future and the expectations of his parents. I personally liked this hypocritical tone and how it subliminally critises the situation without condemning it. But the best part of the films starts when Mrs. Robinson, magnificently portrayed by Anne Bancroft, enters the scene. After this there's an extremely uncomfortable tension that honestly took my breath several time. It's scandalously revealing and thanks to superb character play, extremely compelling and entertaining. It's not only this. The analyst in me was also appeased, because there's a prominent metaphor in it that gave the whole film an all new second meaning: What is even the reason behind Ben's decision to fall for his seductress? It's ingenious how the screenplay shows that he is depressed and doesn't know how to deal with his future and with his life in general, although it's supposed to be perfect. This is feeling, this frustration is what made him fall for his temptations. Said metaphor is the pool that occurs multiple time. When his parents force him to dive he's unhappy but it's what his parents wanted, but after the first experience with his affair he floats on it and doesn't care about his parents who want him to care about his career. It's social satire at it's best and I love that. As the film goes on, the conflict begins to become increasingly subliminal and what I can only imagine, extremely hard to watch for the people back then. At times it even offers some funny, even macabre undertone without losing its seriousness. If there's anything to criticize here it's the second half, because the said conflict shifts to a less packing scenario and although it's still great, makes the tension recede a little. But it's still packing and fits with the overall tone of the film, mostly due to the ingeniously accentuating soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel and their classic track "Mrs. Robinson". All in all, this atmospheric satire hits at the right spots and entertains due to excellent actors in every role and a plot that doesn't hesitate to agitate the important issue that kids and their futures should not be ignored or decided by parents. It's legitimately scandalous, but not only because it's unusually revealing, because it raises an uncomfortable topic. Anyways, it deserves it's cult status and remains an infamously pioneering piece of art.