1. The Graduate is a coming-of-age, comedy mixed into a drama. It was a satire for the younger generation and even Hollywood. The release of this movie was the start of a new era in film making. Director Mike Nichols who was just starting to become a force in Hollywood, adapted what the younger generations of audiences yearned for. Thanks to the Miracle Case; where Italian director Roberto Rossellini sued since his movie was not able to receive the American Seal of Approval, ground was broken on the front of adult-oriented movies. The Supreme Court ruled that the film was protected by the First Amendment and was then able to be shown. This resulted in the Code being loosened up and allowing for real changes to come after 1965. This had helped to pave the way for Nichols and The Graduate only two years later. Not only was the loosening of the code helpful to the movie, but so was the full use of color. Hollywood realized it was falling behind to television and with the use of color, it was able to gain back some of its audiences. These audiences who went back to Hollywood, came back to see The Graduate. The reactions were split amongst them. Being that it was the forefather of youth rebellion movies, not many knew what expect, including the produces. It was considered a dark-horse movie, but eventually went on to get seven Academy Award nominations. It only won one of them, but it would go on to be an influential film throughout history, hence why the class had watched it. Some unique aspects of the film were the interesting use of audio and video. Simon and Garfunkel was chosen as the duo to set the movie’s unofficial soundtrack to. The use of some of melodies and sounds in the songs complimented how Benjamin was feeling or acting throughout his metamorphosis. In editing, the audio often overlapped scenes in where it was heard in one scene, and then finished in another. As for the video, the cinematography was unorthodox, but it worked outstandingly. The most memorable frame is the shot where Benjamin is seen through Mrs. Robinson’s legs. Finally, close, tight shots are used as Benjamin is first returning from school, as he transforms wider shots are used to show that he is becoming less up-tight and is letting go of his worries. The movie was ultimately successful with the youth generation and this often attributed to making Benjamin out to be the hero. He was not the hero that Hollywood has groomed in the past, but rather a hero who does bad things but is ended up being likable and is rooted for. The ending of the movie is seen as a triumph because of this.
2./3. An article for further reading on The Graduate, could be accessed at the following link: http://www.filmsite.org/grad.html. The article is written and edited by Tim Dirks and it is part of AMC’s greatest movie reviews. The article starts off with explaining the themes of the movie and how they became relevant to the new generation of movie watchers. This was analyzed as a satire in the film through older versus younger generations. Elaine was the younger and Mrs. Robinson was the older with Benjamin thrown into the middle of it. The article then explains how the movie was received with mixed welcomes, which ironically was broken down into the younger and older generations again. It was as is the movie was a satire for itself. Later, Dirks mentions the Academy Awards and its nominations along with people who were considered for parts in the movie. The article then ends with a summary of the movie, with a screenplay and actions.
4. When I heard we were seeing this movie, I was quite excited. The last time I saw it was six years ago in Film Analysis in high school and instantly enjoyed it back then. This is by far my favorite of the movies that are picked for this class. It’s not so well regarded for just being enjoyable, but also for what it achieved in Hollywood. It paved the way for a new era in films. A whole new set of themes were allowed being introduced to movie goers and The Graduate was one of the first to do it. The movie also started a trend with using nonconventional movie music for a soundtrack. Not only that, but it actually worked out so well that many movies include main stream music even today. This movie wasn’t the first to introduce new camera angles, but this one certainly kept up with that trend and used a variety of lens to show interesting effects. With that said, I hope this movie remains as one of the best ever made. It will certainly stay that way with me.
