Ah yes, the 60's......

Rating: 9/10 (8 November 2006)

This is one of the most talked about movies from the 60's. This is the era that took America back into a war most did not want - Vietnam and it ended up tearing the nation apart. This is a movie that is only partially a mirror to the entire 60's or to the growing menace in their Vietnamese conflict. It is also a movie about a young 20 something man who is not given enough time to sort out what his next move past college will be or is given enough time to sort out his sexuality.
If we pay close attention to the script we are told several key things about Benjamin. He is very bright, a very high level achiever at school, the pride and joy of his parents, apparently their only child (unless I missed something here?), someone who at an earlier age only had nasty fights with Elaine, is maybe a virgin, is definitely a schlemiel and mommas boy and is completely emotionally at odds with himself about what to do next. When we are introduced to Ben he wants to hide in his room rather than face his parents friends and their well intentioned but annoying and cloying back slaps, boozy lipstick smearing kisses and unending free advice. He keeps saying (although no one is really listening or interested in his answer) that he has no idea what he is going to do next and he keeps insisting that this is really bothering him. The pressure Ben felt was the same for all college grads; the expectation of his family to make something of himself after they had presumably paid a great deal of money for his education put him in the hot seat. Although he was home for a summer vacation, neither he or his family will let him take stock of himself and just get to a decision on his own terms. The angst he expresses seems to me to be larger than just himself. This appear to be Mike Nichols reflecting the angst of the entire 60's generation who was as I was saying just coming to grips with a huge conflict over Vietnam, a conflict that brought great friction between young people and a generation that saw America triumphant in World War 2. Although the film is a comedy, it certainly has elements of the 60's conflicts that have been written about extensively by historians and journalists alike.
The film is famous in our eyes for several reasons. The music of Simon and Garfunkel is always a joy and although some of the tracks are played just wee bit too often, we enjoy the music nonetheless. The hilarious sound bites: "Ben, I have one word for you: plastics" must have been repeated ad nauseum by people for years after. I know my brother and I used to crack ourselves up with repetitions of some of those phrases. The steamy sex scenes: my God, if Anne Bancroft is not one super hot woman in this film! I was quite surprised to see a stripper flip her breasts around in that funny and sad scene - only wearing pasties. I say surprised because I thought it a bit more steamy than films of that rating would have had at that time. It is a short scene but it effectively launches the building of a real relationship between Ben and Elaine.
Much has been written analyzing the relationship between the nebisch Ben and the hyper-manipulative alcoholic and sexually deprived vixen Mrs. Robinson. Clearly she saw him come back from college and could not live without instant satisfaction. She was not interested in what he felt; she is incapable of giving that much concern to another person. She is needy, grasping, willing to hurt her own daughter in order to satisfy her pulsating libido. She has no morals and clearly wants like a true addict: getting only means more wanting. Is she a nymphomaniac then? Perhaps, but her personality is corrupted and she is more than willing to take every advantage with a young buck who has strayed into her sights. You can just imagine that all the time Ben was away from her Mrs. Robinson drank herself into oblivion with her sexless marriage. Along comes Ben and she sees salvation through physical conquest; Ben is so over his head in confusion and insecurity that although he notices that he is being used he doesn't know what to do about it. Bancroft's portrayal of Mrs. Robinson is certainly one of the most powerful and much talked about female vixens in movie history. Bancroft was a superb actress and she makes mincemeat with the stumbling Hoffman. It is just a delight to watch her even though she gives in to such self destructive urges.
Hoffman: what a bang for the start of a movie career. He is so fantastic to watch there are not enough words in a short review to say why. A 'graduate' of the method school, he shows everyone why he is to be respected; as a very young actor he worked with the script and direction and the inherent conflicts of the movie without going astray or overacting. Hoffman is just worth his weight in Oscar gold.
This is a seminal 60's movie and there is so much that one can see in it given my 2006 perspectives. Anyone who wants to see movie making from the 60's at it's very best should start here. There are few better than this one.