A Masterpiece of film and music.

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2009)

With The Graduate, Mike Nichols created a sharp, engaging portrait of bourgeoisie life and the struggle for agency endemic to youth. Simon and Garfunkel's soundtrack proved a vital aspect of the film's strategy, both reflecting and imbuing meaning throughout. The opening sequence, for example, has our protagonist arriving at LAX to the strains of "The Sound of Silence", a haunting meditation on spiritual introspection. We may note how the words occasion Braddock being moved along a tram as an intercom dictates the various travelers' permutations through the airport. The juxtaposition creates an internal life for the character, one of deep confusion and introspection, as the forces around him (the tram, the intercom) reflect his lack of agency. He is, figuratively and literally, a young man being moved involuntarily towards a predetermined destination. This metaphor is underscored throughout; note Mrs. Robinson's ruse to lure young Benjamin into her home: "I don't like entering a dark house alone", or when young Braddock is asked if he wishes to make love "in the dark". It's here that the song appears for the second time as Braddock turns out the lights before consummating the affair. One can't help but notice that the reappearance of the melody is reflected literally here (note how the words "left its seeds while I was sleeping" correspond with young Benjamin laying asleep upon a pool raft), an exclamation that imbues the songs presence with new meaning. The effect is to suggest that the protagonist has undergone change. In the scenes that follow, he slowly morphs into a more sexually reassured and aggressive young man. This overall strategy compels the viewer to be more acutely aware of the film's use of song. We note how "April Comes She Will" plays over a montage indicating the elapse of a number of months, how the cacophony of a nearby car radio forces Ben and Elaine to close their convertible, compositionally suggesting a deeper level of intimacy, how "Scarborough Fair" accompanies Benjamin's sojourn to Berkeley, and how the tempo of "Mrs. Robinson" is married to the action of Benjamin driving, then running to thwart Elaine's marriage (the guitar strum that follows a beat after Benjamin slams his hand down on a work table is an especially powerful touch). Finally, we arrive at the denouement where Benjamin and Elaine flee their bourgeoisie lives on a decidedly proletariat bus, and sit contemplatively as the "sound of silence" returns. Here, the song makes clear the circuitous route young Braddock has taken; he enters unsure of a potentially hollow future, and leaves the same. However, as the film fades he and Elaine have wrested a moment of brilliant, audacious self control from a world that had very specific plans for them. They leave different, but the same.