Coming of age or dragged in

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2010)

Finally I've seen it. One of the most authentic films ever made. I guess at the date of release on a lot of movies, and am usually within 2 or 3 years. But I was off by 5 years, and the Hoffman film with a colossal cast of supporting actors was in theaters in 1967. Totally and thoroughly enjoyed this movie which felt like a cultural predecessor of the "me era". If Mrs. Robinson(Elaine's mother) was not the epitome of a selfish, sad, hateful and probably scorned woman, I don't know who ever was. I don't think any of the assorted cast from "Bewitched" were that way(there were several at the party at the hotel). I get the idea that the Robinsons were loaded and Ben's family was not. It was difficult to grasp that concept. Shortly after coming home from school, Ben met the elder Mrs. Robinson and it looked like Ben picked up the tab for the room. This was a nice hotel. A lot of movies made at that time did not ever get transferred, and it's very cool to see the archives or things of days gone by. Like that hotel. Motels usually worked well for me in my late teens.
Ben's parents see their son lounging about "a few weeks" after he graduates from college. They worry he will not get on with their life. Ben has a new playmate, and the arrangement is one that makes him happy despite the fact that his girlfriend/lover has become very possessive. This emotion plays an important part later in the movie. None of the humor in The Graduate is silly or shallow. The things that Ben says to his elders is at times direct and obvious, a little ingratiating(to them) and sometimes sarcastic. Screenplay in terms of scene changes is fresh and new--nothing I see in more recent or modern movies competes well with the movie in that sense of direction. I only now see there were seven Oscar nominations and one win for Best Director. There were more than one light in the thoughtful movie besides Dustin Hoffman-- the other one who's movies have lasted are Katharine Ross, who was in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.