The Graduate

Plot synopsis:
The film explores the life of 21-year-old Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) shortly after earning his bachelor's degree from an unnamed college in the Northeast. The school is widely believed to be Williams College, Webb's alma mater (in the opening sequence of the movie, Dustin Hoffman, playing Benjamin Braddock, is wearing a Williams College tie). Benjamin is seen arriving at LAX International Airport over the opening credits.The movie really begins at a party that same evening celebrating his graduation at his parents' house in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles. Benjamin is visibly uncomfortable at the party attended by his parents' friends. He remains aloof while his parents deliver accolades and neighborhood friends ask him about his future plans. Benjamin escapes from each person who comes to congratulate him, exposing his seeming embarrassment at all the honors he had won at college. Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the neglected wife of his father's law partner, asks Benjamin to drive her home, which he reluctantly does. We never learn Mrs. Robinson's first name (or, indeed, the first names of any of Benjamin's and Elaine's parents) during the course of the film (in the novel, we are told that the initial of Mrs. Robinson's first name is G).Arriving at her home, she pleads for Benjamin to come inside, saying that she doesn't like to enter a dark house alone. Once inside, she forces a drink on him, and later exposes herself to him offering to have an affair with him. This scene, known as the "Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me" scene, as said by Benjamin, is said to be one of the most iconic scenes in the film. She, for no clear reason, does attempt to seduce him, removing her clothing. Mr. Robinson arrives home a few minute later, but does not see or suspect anything. Initially flustered and shocked by her advances, Benjamin flees into the night.A few days later Benjamin contacts Mrs. Robinson and clumsily organizes a tryst at a hotel beginning their affair. A now confident and relaxed Benjamin spends the summer drifting around in the pool by day and seeing Mrs. Robinson at the hotel by night. Benjamin is clearly uncomfortable with sexuality, but he is drawn into the affair with the older, but still attractive, Mrs. Robinson. Their affair appears to last most of the summer. All of their scenes pass in a musically-backed montage, showing the endless pass of time. One scene is edited so that it appears Benjamin is walking directly from his parents' dining room into the hotel room he shares with Mrs. Robinson. This seems to accent the separation of he and his parents, though they still live under the same roof. Benjamin discovers that they have nothing to talk about but, she refuses to talk and only wants sex. After pestering her one evening, Mrs. Robinson tells Benjamin that she was forced to give up college and marry someone she didn't love when she became pregnant with her daughter Elaine.Meanwhile, Benjamin is hounded by his father to select a graduate school to attend. Benjamin, clearly not interested in pursuing his studies, shrugs off his father's wishes and spends his time lounging about and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson. His affair may serve as an escape from his lack of direction or ambition, and his fear and anxiety of his impending future. Mr. Robinson, unaware of his wife's budding affair, encourages Benjamin to call on his daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross). Benjamin's parents also repeatedly encourage him to date her. During one liaison, Mrs. Robinson forces a promise from Ben to never date Elaine. Whether out of fear of Mrs. Robinson, or sensing that getting involved with the daughter of his lover could be disastrous, he tries to avoid it. However, because of the three parents' persistent intervention, he is essentially forced to date her.Therefore, he tries to ensure his date with her will be a disaster so she would not want to pursue a relationship with him. He drives recklessly, practically ignoring Elaine, and then takes her to a strip club where she is openly humiliated and silently begins to cry. After making her cry he relents and explains he was mean only because his parents forced him to ask her out. He awkwardly kisses her to try and cheer her up and they go and get a burger at a drive-in. Benjamin discovers that Elaine is someone he is comfortable with and that he can talk to her about his worries.From here, Benjamin's life falls apart. The jealous Mrs. Robinson threatens to reveal their affair to destroy any chance Benjamin has with Elaine, so Benjamin rashly decides he has to tell Elaine first. Upset over hearing about Benjamin's tryst with her mother, Elaine returns to Berkeley refusing to speak with Benjamin.Benjamin decides he is going to marry Elaine in order to have a future with her and goes to Berkeley where he rents a room in a local flop house, and begins to stalk her. He contrives a meeting on a bus while she is on her way to a date with her classmate Carl. The next day, an angry Elaine bursts into Benjamin's room and demands to know what he is doing in Berkeley after he "raped" her mother by taking advantage of her while she was drunk that evening of his graduation party. Shocked by what Elaine said, Benjamin tells her it was her mother who seduced him that night, but Elaine refuses to believe him and doesn't want to hear the fact that her mother is a crafty vixen. Benjamin says he will leave Berkeley and go somewhere else for her sake. Elaine tells Benjamin not to leave until he has a definite plan at what he wants to do with his life.The next day, Elaine comes into Ben's apartment in the middle of the night and asks him to kiss her. Over the next few days, the two hang out in Berkeley while Benjamin keeps pressing her to get blood tests so that they can get married. Elaine is unsure about this and tells him she had told Carl she might marry him.Mr. Robinson, who has found out everything about Benjamin and his wife's affair, goes to Ben's apartment in Berkeley where he threatens Benjamin with violence and forces Elaine to drop out of school and takes her away to marry Carl. Benjamin tells Mr. Robinson that his wife is the bad person and she manipulated him into having an affair with her. But Mr. Robinson also is skeptic and refuses to belive Benjamin. Benjamin is left with just a note from Elaine saying that she loves him but that her father is really angry and it can never work out.Benjamin drives back to Pasadena and arrives at the Robinson house that evening looking for Elaine. After getting no response by knocking on the front door, goes around to the back of the house and forces open a screen door. Benjamin quickly sees that Elaine is not there, but finds Mrs. Robinson instead. She coldly tells him he won't be able stop Elaine and Carl's wedding and she immediately calls the police and play-acts by claiming that a man broke into her house and is assaulting her. Finally seeing the sociopath that Mrs. Robinson really is, Benjamin flees and drives back to Berkeley to hide out there.The next morning, Benjamin goes to the Delta Chi Fraternity house to look for Elaine or Carl where he learns from Carl's frat brothers that the wedding is in Santa Barbara that very morning. Benjamin then speeds off towards Santa Barbara, stopping only at a gas station to ask for directions to the church. Benjamin is in such a hurry that he rushes off without refueling.Consequently, Ben runs out of gas and must sprint the last few blocks. He arrives at the church just as the bride and groom are about to kiss. Thinking he is too late, he bangs on the glass at the back of the church and screams out "Elaine!" repeatedly. Elaine turns around, hesitates by looking at her parents and her would-be husband, but then screams out "Ben!" and starts running towards him. A brawl breaks out as everyone tries to stop her and Benjamin from leaving. Elaine manages to break free from her mother, who claims "It's too late!" for Elaine apparently already said her marriage vows, to which Elaine replies, "Not for me!" Benjamin holds everybody off by swinging a cross ripped from the wall, then using it to jam the outside door while the pair escape. They run down the road and flag down a bus. The elated and smiling couple take the back seat. But in the final shot, Benjamin's smile gradually fades to an enigmatic, neutral expression as he gazes forward down the bus, not looking at Elaine. Elaine also seems unsure, looks lovingly across at Ben but notices his expression and turns away with a similar expression as the bus drives away, taking the two lovers to an uncertain future.

Tags: comedy, dramatic, cult, psychedelic, humor, satire, melodrama

Review:
Firstly, I find human emotions and life issues depicted in a bitter-comic manner to be a charming combination.Love,sex,insecurity,family relationships,shyness,deception are treated with great humor and witty dialog in this movie.Long and elaborated shots,incredible story-telling creativity (like 1-st person camera views,long still frames,distance frames),video-clip like sequences (beautifully sustained by Simon and Garfunkel's heart-warming poetry and sad irony).There is enough creative film work in The Graduate to suffice for 10 movies.The dialog is excellent and the acting pure genius.And, oh...the time frame...the sixties...don't get me started.The 2000's are like an insurance seminar compared to that...
Despite its comic appearance,I always felt that it touched a sensitive somehow sad chord in me.It's kinda like:"Haha very funny, but I felt those type of emotions and they didn't seem funny then."It's also so easy to laugh at other people's feelings,torments and emotions, but when you realize that you are also part of that old human comedy and drama, your laughing becomes more restrained.More mature.I always connected with this movie, and with Mike Nichols.Too bad they don't make'em like this anymore.We live in an era where people like John Woo and Michael Bay are starting to dictate what we will be watching more and more.What a shame.....
Dustin Hoffman is the only person we can possibly imagine in the role of Benjamin as his imprint and superb acting makes this film a great one.
Some people may just think of it as a story about young Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) stuck in a weird relationship with the much older Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), but it really is more than that.
Anyway, 1967 was certainly the year in which American movies made a giant step into the new mold, with "The Graduate", "Bonnie and Clyde" and "In the Heat of the Night" (some people might also include "To Sir with Love" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner").
After graduating in college, the twenty-year old Benjamin "Ben" Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) returns home and his parents give a party for him.
But soon Ben and Elaine fall in love with each other affecting the Robinson family."The Graduate" is an unforgettable movie for people of my generation.
"The Graduate" doesn't dig too deeply, it's lightweight (even with Dustin Hoffman's outburst in the church--the only time the movie gets some fury going), but it does take chances; it wasn't ahead of its time, it just came along at the right time and is still a relevant, glossy modern comedy.
The college crowds devoured it hungrily, as it was the first of its kind  a film that proposed adults were emotional sell-outs who thrived on superficiality and materialism.It earned Mike Nichols a Best Director Academy Award as well as solidifying itself as one of the biggest and most important films of the 1960s, a motion picture whose influence would extend effortlessly into the generations to come.But is "The Graduate" really a great movie, or were moviegoers simply too caught up in the moment to realize what they were watching was nothing more than an exploit of the times?
He's an East Coast graduate who returns home to his parents' estate in an upper-class suburb and finds it hard to adjust to life again.The opening scenes are promising  Benjamin is unable to interact with the adults, finding solace in his bedroom, where he stares at his aquarium, contemplating whatever it is gloomy college graduates contemplate.A friend of his parents, named Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), tries to seduce Benjamin after he gives her a lift home  inviting him in for a drink and then undressing in front of him, blocking his exit.Benjamin resists at first, but the temptation is too much to bear and he begins an ill-fated sexual relationship with the older married woman  driving to a nearby hotel every few nights to meet her.Benjamin's parents don't seem to catch on at first, although his mother has suspicions that he's seeing someone.
When they set him up on a date with Mrs. Robinson's daughter (Katharine Ross), he feels extremely uncomfortable and takes her out to an unsuitable place for the evening as a way of making sure she never wants to see him again.
And of course the anger of her mother, who threatens to reveal the truth to everyone if he continues to date her daughter."The Graduate" uses some cheap tricks to force us into seeing things Benjamin's way  for example, before having sex Benjamin wants to talk like a normal person, and have a conversation with Mrs. Robinson.
This is essentially a snapshot of the era and little else  the characters aren't likable and we're forced into feeling false admiration for them; the direction is somewhat clumsy, the script is often unbelievable and the movie's two halves  its drastic change from comedy to drama -- never really form a satisfying whole.Like Benjamin, "The Graduate" just kind of sits there, staring at you bored, self-absorbed, and lazy.
It was so engaging and I felt so much concern for the main character that I actually started forgetting I was watching a film, both of the times I watched it (I feel like watching it again sometime really soon, considering it genuinely is pretty entertaining).The film is also highly enhanced by a great soundtrack made up of songs by Simon & Garfunkel.
The scenes in which "Sound of Silence" is played (all three of them) are really powerful, because of both the great song and because of what we, as an audience, are witnessing on screen."The Graduate" is a beautifully made film, as well.
When I saw this movie in the top the list, I can't but question: did I miss something ?I can't understand how a movie like this, featuring the moral decadence of a society is considered a "classic".A boy who just finished college is having an affair with the wife of his dad's partner, doing anything else for months, instead of trying to achieve a goal in his life.Then "falls in love" with the daugther of that woman ( can you tell me how they could fall in love after what happened in the cabaret?
Not with the same anticipation I look forward to each new Star Wars installment, but definitely with interest and high expectations.So I finally watched it, 37 years after it was released, and instantly recognized that it's not a very good film.On the positive side, the casting is excellent, and the acting superb.
He's a man without a personality, and when the film was over I was still trying to figure out what an older woman and her daughter could possibly have liked or loved about this character.
Yet I would think the primary job of a director is not to use innovative visual tricks, but to ensure that the finished product tells a good story in a compelling manner, keeping the audience's attention, entertaining them throughout, and leaving them with thoughts and emotions to deal with after the film has ended.
That idea that anyone could love a disturbing stalker or fall for someone who has the personality , charisma and sex appeal of a rotten vegetable like Benjamin are just two of the many reasons i find this films enduring celebration hard to understand.Characters that were naive and easily manipulated one minute become manipulative and conniving the next and vica-versa as often as the contrived story requires.Iconic as the soundtrack is, i laughed as the song Scarborough Fair played for the 7,000th time.This film has some quite repugnant messages at its heart and i'm not talking about it encouraging polyamory, adultery or it depicting people wanting more from life than 2.4 children and a house in suburbia; i'm talking about it suggesting you just need to stalk and harass someone until they like you and that if you can force a kiss out of someone well, there yours.It has aged very badly compared to other 'Classics', it is not timeless it is very much of its time- embarrassingly so..
I liked this film not only because of resonating themes, it's the movie that introduced us to the careers of a legendary director in Mike Nichols and a fantastic actor in Dustin Hoffman.
Of course, now we all know where the song, "Mrs. Robinson" comes from.Mike Nichol's film is about a young man named Ben who has just graduated from college.
For those who are fans of the 90's TV Show "Boy Meets World," you may recognize Mr. Feeney himself, William Daniels as Ben's father.Overall, The Graduate may be a bit old and weary, but it tells such a wise story with great acting and fantastic music, that it's hard to not see pass those rusty pipes.
Nichol's smooth direction (which he won an Oscar for) and the all round perfect performances by an excellent cast (including Dustin Hoffman in his first big role, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross) make The Graduate an unforgettable and emotional experience.The film follows Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), who we first see returning home from college to a party(celebrating his scholarship) held by his upper-class parents.
By the film's end, not a lot is solved and it somewhat comes full circle.Deep and meaningful story aside, the film boasts an outstanding soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel, with the songs suiting the movie's theme, especially "The Sound of Silence." Nichol's direction is simply stunning, one scene in particular, which cuts between Ben swimming and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson is masterfully done and creates the perfect mood.
The story of uncertain college graduate Benjamin Braddock, his affair with older family friend Mrs. Robinson, and his eventual pursuit of her daughter Elaine is now common knowledge, and the many upheavals of the '60s have come and gone.
The acting, screenplay, and direction are all skillfully done, and overall the film truthfully conveys how it feels to be "adrift," like Benjamin."The Graduate" is hilarious and painful, often at the same time.
Some great humor comes from the satirical skewering of American culture ("Plastics"), but most is character-based, arising from Ben's awkwardness and knack for saying exactly the wrong thing.Technically, Dustin Hoffman was too old for his role and Anne Bancroft was too young for hers (they were just 6 years apart in age!).
The movie is deeming qualities of this film are the awesome performances of Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, and Katharine Ross and the incredible score by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle.
But everyone is subjected to their own opinions because everyone usually have different opinions about any single movie.This film follows around this kid, Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) as he joins the big, wide world after college graduation.
But things take a sharp turn when Ben meets Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross).and falls in love with her.
Dustin Hoffman, despite being 29 at the film's release, convincingly plays Braddock as a shy, awkward kid who wants to take this time in joining the real world.
Fans of Wes Anderson take notice: director Nichols edits and shoots with bold experimentation for this sort of dramedy; jump cutting in time, slow shifting camera focus, and long takes full of brilliant acting punctuate this fighting-to-come-of-age romance that flies past the conventions of its era to sit alongside the best that modern indie films offer.
A right mixture of awkwardness, drama and entertainment value, Simon & Garfunkel, terrific performances including a first major role for Dustin Hoffman makes this movie special.
If you want to know what I was like in high school, just watch Dustin Hoffman's performance in this movie.
Dustin Hoffman is Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate, 21 years old and trying to figure out what to do with his life.
Mrs. Robinson Seduces young Benjamin and they have a clandestine affair which is, of course eventually discovered.This is one of the best satires of American life and the great hypocrisy surrounding the supposed values and traditions of the modern nuclear family, still a relevant theme today.Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" and "Sounds of Silence" are used on a perfect soundtrack.
Benjamin is a new college graduate that returns home from college and has a love affair with the wife of a family friend Mrs. Robinson played by Anne Bancroft.
This film is a comedy, drama, romance that's theme is a combination of love, sex, relationships, deception, and insecurity.The movie starts out with Benjamin Braddock recently graduates from college and returns home.
Benjamin and Elaine run away together just before she is to be married to someone else.The movie "The Graduate" directed Mike Nichols has won an Oscar, 19 other awards, and was nominated for 13 other awards.
The other of Simon and Garfunkel's songs "Here's to you Mrs. Robinson" is another song that goes along with the movie.I think Mike Nichols 1967 film "The Graduate" is a true classic and one that will be watched for generations to come.
The scenes join together seemlessly, Ben's symbolic actions in the pool link directly to his actions with Mrs. Robinson in their hotel room.The main character Ben, played by Dustin Hoffman, did an excellent job of acting.
The scenes where Benjamin tries to win Elaine's heart are outright freaky now that people have a better grip on what stalking is all about.Dustin Hoffman has a lot of screen presence, which keeps the movie from being a total turnoff.
Mrs. Robinson's explosive anger toward the end is the only emotion in the entire movie which feels genuine, and despite its best efforts, the film can't quite manage to squelch the fresh air that her rage brings to the stuffy set piece of The Graduate..
After watching 'The Graduate', I just wondered what it would have been like if I were a 20-year-old in the late 60s.Mike Nichols, with the help of Simon and Garfunkel's everlasting music, excellently displays the characters' inner turmoil.
That's the only reason The Graduate doesn't hold up like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, or Five Easy Pieces- Dustin Hoffman's Benjamin Braddock, while as keen and funny an uneasy and unsure young man can get, isn't exactly a representation of a time capsule of the angst, rebellion, and freedom of characters like Wyatt and Billy or Robert Dupea.
And his counterpart for nearly half of the movie, Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson, has a balancing act of her own- she can be alluring, demanding, sweet (with a vodka in hand), and sour, and in that sense she's the most fascinating character of the film.
Originally released in 1967, it was one of the key films that heralded a changing of the guard in American cinema.The story concerns a recent college graduate (Dustin Hoffman) who begins an affair with the wife of his father's business partner (Anne Bancroft).
Nichols also makes excellent use of the music of Simon & Garfunkel, including "The Sounds of Silence" & "Scarborough Fair/Canticle".In my opinion, "The Graduate" is an essential film.
Then one day the Robinson's daughter comes back home and after spending time with her, Ben sees his life heading in a new direction.The story is great.
Nichols piles up almost ridiculous scenes and you just don't give a rat's ass about the fate of the characters, who by the way are completely unlovable, especially Ben whose amazing corniness annoys more than it amuses.In the end, it's obvious that The Graduate relied on an anti-conformist aspect that probably worked well at the time in the 70's, in a context of evolving mores, but it doesn't have the same impact nowadays, therefore there is not much left from this generational movie except an undeniable aesthetic and artistic research from the director..
The Graduate is THE best comedy of the 1960s, easily making the top 10 all-time list.It's a film that propelled director Mike Nichols and actor Dustin Hoffman to the top of the Hollywood A-List.For baby-boomers, this is an iconic film - a snap-shot of mid 1960s affluent suburban post- college let-down, introspection, angst, and confusion.
Baby boomers saw things vastly different than their Greatest Generation parents, and Nichols (along with screen-play writer Buck Henry) "integrated" the generation-gap in a way no film had before.Dustin Hoffman was fortunate to get the lead part as legend has it, and Nichols was fortunate to get him - both took advantage of the opportunity, and we are all fortunate they did so.The best soundtrack sync in movie history - Nichols had an epiphany about using the introspective and melancholy music of Simon & Garfunkel in the film, setting what was then a new standard for use of popular music as an integral part of story telling.
The director was greatly assisted by two stellar performances, Anne Bancroft as Mrs Robinson of course, and Dustin Hoffman, who was just perfect as Benjamin the priggish bore, who finishes up causing an amazing amount of emotional damage through `self fulfilment.' As for the music, well, it's a great LP, but it doesn't always work well in the movie  the excellent lyrics clash with the banalities of the script - the characters are seriously banal people.Well, here's to the sixties, Mrs Robinson, and Jesus knows they won't come again..
As someone who experienced the sixties like Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), I have always recognized the film's ability to capture the zeitgeist of its time.
The story is well-written, well-played and directed, with great photography, but probably the best thing about this movie is the music of Simon and Garfunkel.
This movie is really worth checking out, it's a landmark in film, wonderfully acted out by greats like Bancroft, Ross, Hoffman and Hamilton and the company..
That's exactly what happens to Dustin Hoffman's character, Benjamin Braddock, in the film The Graduate.
The Graduate is a great film for young people, especially college kids, because a lot of them can identify with the main character's feelings of being lost and not knowing what choices to make.
That's what makes it so interesting.Dustin Hoffman does a great job playing the character of Benjamin.