The Graduate

1) Are you here for an affair?  Yes these words and more helped set the motion in a new era of film making.  Would you please Mrs. Robinson!  The Graduate was made in 1967, directed by Mike Nichols, who is married to Diane Sawyer.  This movie grossed $40 million at the box office!  That's a lot of money, Mrs. Robinson, you will probably need that for the divorce lawyer.  Staring Dustin Hoftman (Benjamin), Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Robinson), and  Kathrine Ross (Elaine, Mrs. Robinson's daughter).  The Graduate was like the American Pie of it's time.  It was one of the first true youth rebellion movies that showed a significant generation gap.  What to do after college was the main question in this movie.  The values of society are examined throughout satire in the movie.  This movie has its interesting features to it with obvious camera shots and cutting and the awareness of film as an intrusive art.  The camera cuts are obvious to the movie goer along with the innovative use of sound and dialogue that connects from one scene to another.  The framing of objects in the movie like Mrs. Robinson's leg was new to the scene along with really tight framing is symbolic of uptight Benjamin.  Benjamin has contained vocal responses, is a track star that doesn't smoke and is always nervous and "confused about my future".  The soundtrack of the movie was Simon and Garfunkel.  Throughout the movie, there were sequences with just the soundtrack, like the pool scene.  This movie is like the American Pie of today (but American Pie is not as good as The Graduate).  This truly opened up Hollywood horizons and gave them an opportunity to think outside the box.

2)  The site I used for the summery was: http://www.filmsite.org/grad.html
 The genre of an innocent and confused young person who is taken advantage of, mis-directed and betrayed by an older generation was well comprehended by all who viewed the film.  That picture to the right, well that is the seductress Mrs. Robinson.  The mistress of Benjamin so to speak.  Yes, she is married but she has not had sex with her husband in forever it seemed like.  She had sexual tension and saw Benjamin as weak and vulnerable and seized the moment at took advantage of him.  It was at Benjamin's graduation where Mrs. Robinson asked for what seemed to be a innocent ride to her home.  Her home is where it all started.  She gave him a drink and asked if he could help her undress and such. Benjamin, a nervous wreck, and kept insisting on leaving.  Mrs. Robinson used her seductive powers and basically trapped him in Elaine's room where she revealed herself to him.  This article goes on to give countless examples of how Benjamin changed over the hour and 46 minutes you watch the film.  Would you please Mrs. Robinson! I don't think that this is a good Idea!

3)  This article discusses the different styles that came about in the new day and age of the film industry. This article also shows the innovative use of sound and camera angles.  The use of long lens compress space especially in the sunning scene at the end where Benjamin was really running towards the camera.  There was rapid cutting and editing especially when it came time for Mrs. Robinson revealing herself to Benjamin in Elaine's room.  There were also dramatic changes in time though matching cuts like the scene at Berkley. Benjamin falls in love with Elaine and then he tells Elaine about the affair he had with her mother and has to win her back.  In the end he runs with her out of the church where Elaine was to marry the family friend.  They are traveling toward an unpredictable and ambiguous future.

4)  This movie was an interesting one with the use of soundtrack and the different camera cuts and just the way this movie was put together was an amazing job.  This movie had the same feel as the recently made American Pie movies.  A teen rebellious theme with a generation gap that tries to understand each other.  This movie was a good pick to watch and it was one of the first movies that can show whatever they really wanted unlike television who has to censor things still.