Here's to you, Mrs Robinson

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2008)

"The Graduate" stars Dustin Hoffman as Ben Braddock, a disillusioned young man who has recently graduated from college. Ben's parents - garish, insensitive and money hungry - have already carved out a future for him, but Ben resists, finding no value or purpose in their way of life.
Eventually Ben enters a sexual relationship with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the wife of one of his father's colleagues. She's likewise a detached loner and explains that she was once an artist but traded this life in for an easy marriage to a rich lawyer. Mrs. Robinson recognises pieces of herself in Ben, and sees in him her own disillusionment. The two meet frequently for sex at a local Hotel.
"The Graduate" was directed by Mike Nichols, who has a background in theatre. Perhaps because of this, the film demonstrates an eagerness to explore the possibilities of cinema. Virtually every shot in the film is filled with experimental compositions and neat tricks, Nichols visibly relishing being cast free from theatre houses and stage plays.
Elsewhere Nichols reveals the psychology of his characters through clever techniques. Ben is often seen to be separated from large crowds, and Mrs Robinson is always shot in vast, empty buildings. Supporting characters likewise often talk about Ben in the third person, suggesting that he is out of sync with a world he deems domineering and callous. Lonely and confused, and hiding behind a false air of confidence, Ben's also associated with water, pools, scuba-gear and fish tanks, all symbols suggestive of suffocation and aimless drifting.
Like Harold in Hal Ashby's "Harold and Maude" - another similar classic of the period - Ben's parents give him a red sports car in an attempt to instill some confidence and direction. Rather than talk to him or address his problems, they seek material solutions. Ben drifts further away.
Despite a great first hour, "The Graduate" cops out in its last act. Ben eventually casts aside Mrs Robinson and begins to fall in love with her daughter. A love triangle thus develops. Mrs Robinson forbids her daughter from marrying Ben, and Ben, now with newfound purpose, is desperate to marry the daughter. The film henceforth turns Mrs Robinson into an evil witch, the daughter into a princess and Ben into her dashing rescuer. And so in an instant "The Graduate" turns away from the interesting relationship between Mrs Robinson and Ben, damns all adults, and morphs into a shallow attack on the generation gap. Compare with "Goodbye, Columbus", a similar film with a much braver finale.
Aesthetically, "The Graduate" is something special. Many of the clichÃ©s (visual or otherwise) found in today's drams and comedies originated here: the shy anti-hero, those helicopter shots of cars crossing bridges, the obligatory love triangle, the climactic wedding, the last minute run to the altar etc etc. For better or worse, the film is filled with techniques and conventions that have been digested and absorbed by five decades of cinema.
7.9/10 - See "Harold and Muade", "Le Chinoise", "Goodbye, Columbus" and "Ghostworld".