Graduate

Year: 1967

Grade: A+

Country: USA

Director: Nichols

Review

this is an insanely good film; it’s so good that i’m pretty certain that i’ll never see a film as good ever again. i’m just going to write in fragments about my utter joy in watching the film since there’s too much to address and i’m not in the mood to form an essay. as entwined as the music and images are we only hear one simon and garfunkel song (during the opening credits) through the first 38 minutes of the film. after that we get a couple musical interludes, one of them being the driving sequences which are great and make me want a convertible alfa romero. the film starts with ben on a plane landing in LA, so does die hard which is another of my favorite films ever. after that the credits begin and he’s on a people mover…he’s moving, but he’s not propelling himself…a consistent theme throughout the film. nichols uses a lot of off camera dialogue. in some cases it’s to move along the plot or tell us something about ben or a situation, but often it’s because the camera is still. i’d have to watch it again, but i think that the camera is still when ben is, or maybe wants to be, because the camera sort of echoes ben in some ways. nichols uses a lot of zooms, usually to show a character amongst a great background. for example, mrs. robinson in the scene after ben tells elaine the truth, or ben when he’s in berkeley at the fountain. none of the adults have first names, but all of them have opinions on what ben should be doing with his life. on two occasions (both before significant steps towards the affair) mrs. robinson makes her entrance on film through a reflection. once on a table and once on a piece of glass. i think that the slowest part of the film is the time spent in berkeley when ben is courting elaine. in most romantic films this would be the bread and butter. water seems to play a big role in the film. the most obvious manifestation of this theme comes in the pool sequences. the first being when ben gets the diving suit  and is forced to the bottom by his father, and another being when he’s floating on a raft and his parents are in the pool circling him like sharks while trying to convince him to take out elaine. this time he gets off the raft and swims to the bottom on his own accord. some of it’s pretty obvious, some of it isn’t, but it’s all natural within the film. nichols and henry never go out of their way to work a symbol into the plot. i’ve gotten this far and i haven’t mentioned the humor of the film. though i wouldn’t personally call it a comedy (because of how it begins and ends and what it is ultimately about), it does have plenty of comic relief. again, like die hard…an action film with more comedy in it than 98% of the comedies out there. in its broadest stroke the film is about coming of age or finding oneself. more specifically it’s about breaking out of the mold of the older generation or that which came before you. and i think that’s why the ending works so well. beyond ben trapping the adults in the church (what an exceptional scene) is the fact that once they’re on the bus they realize what they’ve done. slowly their faces change from pure happiness to a reserved optimism because they know that technically elaine is married and that the romanticism of hollywood may not actually be a panacea, but they’ve still struck out on their own. and, ultimately, that’s why i know i’ll love this movie for the rest of my life…because it’s not just a movie about the foolish optimism that comes with being young – it’s more about doing things on your own terms and finding your own path.