Please Mrs. Robinson...

Rating: 6/10 (6 August 2017)

"The Graduate" is an American English-language film from 1967, so it has its 50th anniversary this year and this is also the reason why it came back to theaters this year because it is a very special occasion. The film won recently deceased director Mike Nichols his only Oscar back then and it was also the only Oscar the movie won back then, but that sounds a bit derogative. That is quite a success obviously, especially as the film also scored many more nominations, including one for lead actor Dustin Hoffman and this film was his big breakthrough. Several other nods (and 2 wins) followed. His female co-lead Anne Bancroft probably had a better shot at winning and she was already an Oscar winner at that point. Add to that nominations for Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Screenplay and of course Best Picture. This is the story of a young man who ends up in a relationship with a much older woman before hopelessly falling in love with the woman's daughter. Hoffman was around the age of 30 in here and he clearly did not look like 20 as his character was supposed to be. But they had to make him that young because Bancroft was also younger than her character, the age difference between the actors was not that big. At one point they say she could have been his mother. Anyway, Mrs. Robinson is still considered among the greatest cougars / milfs in film history and the popularity of Bancroft's performance has turned the film into a classic really, even if overall this is a really personal story without any significance for society or the masses really. As a consequence, it is fitting the film competed as a comedy at the Golden Globes and was very triumphant there. I would call it a mix of comedy and drama and I would also add the romance genre that is missing here on IMDb for this title. You could maybe call it a lighter, less serious "Love Story".
Anyway, I enjoyed watching these 105 minutes quite a bit. Good job from everybody involved in the production. The ending was somewhat cute too and did not feel too forced. Maybe the biggest thing the film tells us from a historic perspective is how different marriage is perceived today compared to back then. Ross' character ends up talking marriage with one guy while marrying another and hardly had any romantic (not to mention sexual) involvement with either really. And that was social standard back then. Very odd from today's perspective. The overacting was not existent with one exception perhaps, when Hoffman's character's mother finds out about his son's potential wedding. The first half of the film belongs to Bancroft, the second to Hoffman and I personally struggled to see Hoffman's character's clumsiness as realistic compared to his success (with women) about which we find out early. But yeah, maybe he was a bit of a nerd too, nut just a heart-throb. Bancroft is of course also lead in here. No Mrs. Robinson, no conflict at all in this movie as really both Hoffman's and Ross' characters' actions are constantly related to Mrs. Robinson. The music is amazing in this film. "Mrs. Robinson" and "Sound of Silence" are instant classics, the third song did not do too much for me. But this film reminded me again how much I love Simon (and Garfunkel). Finally, a personal note on the story: Throughout the entire film from the moment she tells him not to date her daughter, I expected Mrs. Robinson to carry a dark secret with her, namely that she had an affair with Hoffman's character's dad 20 years ago and that the girl is actually the protagonist's half-sister. The references to her pregnancy/marriage, to a blood test later on, her infidelity now and 2 or 3 other moments really made me sure we would get this revelation later on that she wanted to avoid incest between the kids. But apparently not. Quite surprising to me I must admit. Seems it was all just jealousy and the fear of losing her young lover to a younger version of herself. Okay, that is all I believe. I liked this film and I give it a thumbs-up. I'd maybe not call it a classic, but I sure recommend watching this pretty entertaining film.