Proclivity for the Unorthodox? One Woman's Response: Me Too!!

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2011)

The year,1967, was a pivotal year for movies. The Academy Award nominees were: "Dr Doolittle", "In The Heat Of The Night", "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner", "Bonnie and Clyde" and, of course, "The Graduate". These five films revolutionized the movie industry, and addressed social issues for adults (as well as children) which changed the ossified formulae for making movies. The innovate genre to movies in 1967 manufactured a mystique to movie goers, and cultivated an enlightening dynamic to the directors and producers of the American cinema. Esoteric concepts which were emphasized with these films, encapsulated the movie audience with socially clairvoyant philosophies. The implementation of the egalitarian dichotomy between social commentary, and ,paramount Hollywood film making, for all of these five pictures, accommodated a pique for movie productions in the future. The realm of creativity with these five films manifested a cinematic ideology which was a harbinger of Hollywood's ensuing years ahead. By the beginning of the year, 1968, "The Graduate" had a gross revenue which ranked it the third highest for any movie ever made in the whole history of major motion pictures! "The Graduate" was surpassed only by "Gone With The Wind" and "Sound Of Music". As it turns out, "In The Heat Of The Night" won the award for best picture in 1967. Winning the Oscar for best picture is always a rare and coveted accolade, however, the final assessment to winning the Oscar for best picture can be conceptualized accordingly: If a film wins the academy award for best picture, it is put in the category of films like "Casablanca", "Best Years of Our Lives", "Ben Hur", "Godfather", "Deer Hunter", and "Forrest Gump". If a film is nominated for best picture and does not win the Oscar, it is put in the category of movies such as "Citizen Kane", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "Network", "Apocalypse Now", "Shawshank Redemption", and, what else? "THE GRADUATE" (This scenario literally being, six of one, half a dozen of another). What was the basic gist to the film "The Graduate"? Men do it all the time, so why not have the shoe on the other foot. It is very possible that the script to this movie could have been motivated by the advent of the XYY theory, which became a sexual revelation for women! The elusive sophistication of Brentwood, swimming pools, one martini after the next, and the double-entente solution to quelling your boredom, all became acrimonious elements to surviving the affluent monotony of corporate, well to do suburbia. The director, Mike Nichols, who also directed "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest films ever made, does a brilliant job at expediting the aggregate comical rancor in "The Graduate". This stupendously identifiable technique exudes Nichols' directorial genius all throughout the film from start to finish! Often times, "The Graduate" is ranked as high as the eighth best film ever produced in the history of all film making by the critics of AFI (American Film Institute). "The Graduate" was an integral part of 1960's pop culture, the sixties were a complex potpourri of taboo tenets of radicalism which inevitably erupted and wound up precariously influencing the American people in one way or another. "The Graduate" became an unprecedented executive class freak show for unconventional actions and capricious mannerisms. This movie's astute depiction of disconcerting and latent emotions serves as a necessary ingredient to fortifying the foundation of the entertainment curriculum designated for movies and television! The acting in "The Graduate" is phenomenal! Dustin Hoffman was impetuously perfect as Benjamin, the sexually befuddled and precocious misfit. Ann Bancroft was sensational as Mrs Robinson. Making a relatively impossible role look naturally easy to perform is a proverbial needle in a haystack, yet, Ann Bancroft succeeded very admirably. That year,(1967) she was up for best actress, Bancroft was a lot of movie critic's choice. Second, was Faye Dunaway for "Bonnie and Clyde". The winner ended up being Katherine Hepburn for "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". To say that the nominations for best actress were intensely competitive in 1967, would be a masterpiece of understatement. Other stars in "The Graduate" included: Katherine Ross, Murray Hamilton, William Daniels, and, even a cameo appearance by Richard Dreyfuss. Mike Nichols won for best director for "The Graduate", suffice it to say, this award for best director given to Mike Nichols was extremely well deserved. The Simon and Garfunkel music contributed to this movie in a very uplifting and auspicious manner, and became one of the movie's most memorable trademarks! The most poignant line applicable to this movie was from the song "Mrs Robinson", that would be "Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes". "The Graduate" became a flick which set a higher standard for the discerning criteria pertinent to the findings of all of the prominent American Film Academies. Yes, as this film illustrates it, a situation can be simultaneously funny and deranged! It boils down to Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) battling with the macabre repercussions of true love! Humour about an individual's blatant imperfections is one of the crucial cornerstones to Hollywood filmmaking, "The Graduate" epitomizes such a feat. See this film!! It is outstanding!!