Rent The Graduate (1967)

One of the classics of 1960s cinema - amusing and enjoyable even after 45+ years - The Graduate review by RP

I remember seeing 'The Graduate' in the cinema way back in 1968. I enjoyed it, but what I remember most was the introduction it gave me to the music of Simon & Garfunkel.

I've just watched it again after a gap of over 45 years - and I can now appreciate it as one of the classics of 1960s cinema. It tells the tale of new college graduate Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) who returns home for the summer vacation, uncertain of his future.

Up steps an older married woman (Mrs Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft. We never learns Mrs Robinson's first name) who seduces young Ben - leaving him even more uncertain of his future. His unsuspecting parents push Ben into a date with Elaine (Katherine Ross), Mrs Robinson's daughter. Ben falls for her, rousing Mrs Robinson's wrath. Elaine returns to college, Ben pursues her, but Elaine is persuaded by her parents into a hastily arranged marriage with another student. Ben arrives at the church too late to stop the ceremony, but elopes (if that is the right word, since she's already married to another) with Elaine, making good their escape on the rear seat of a bus.

The film is in two clear halves: the first is a comedy of manners, in which an experienced older woman introduces Ben to sex (although given the age of the film, nothing is explicit). The second half of the film is a romance, where Ben (slightly creepily?) stalks Elaine and finally tracks her down.

The film is set in a peaceful, perfect, white, middle class America - a world soon to vanish. None of the troubles soon to come (Vietnam, the civil rights movement etc) are visible. Is it too pretentious to imagine that the final scene is taking the two young people away from their parents' lives towards an uncertain future?

The storyline is somewhat hackneyed, the acting is good (Anne Bancroft is excellent) even though the age of the actors doesn't quite match with the characters, and the film is amusing and enjoyable even after 40 years.

It's an iconic 1960s film so I feel I must give it 5/5 stars - but that does seem a little high...

THE Classic RomCom - A Masterpiece - The Graduate review by GI

Every time I watch this I am enthralled as just how funny and clever it is. As a romantic comedy it tops the tree in that it's also a serious scrutiny of middle class America in the 1960s and I'm sure will resonate today in many of its themes around expectation. Dustin Hoffman is perfect casting, in his first screen role, as the naïve young man, Ben, the son of wealthy parents who returns home after graduating as a top student. He's confused about the future especially being surrounded by his parents businessmen friends who offer him all kinds of options in which Ben sees he will be trapped and unhappy. Part out of boredom he allows himself to be seduced by his father's business partner's wife, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Mrs Robinson is the lost soul of the narrative, a woman who gave up her dreams for the security of wealth and regrets it. Their affair continues unabated despite Ben hating himself for engaging in it but it's the arrival of the Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross) that finally allows Ben to see what he wants. With the fantastic songs by Simon & Garfunkel and the really sharp direction by Mike Nichols this is a real classic of modern cinema, it captures the essence of all powerful true love as a human experience and reveals that social acceptance and success comes at a price. It condemns the notion that each generation expects the next to follow their lead, this was a key challenge in the mid 60s and here was a film that brilliantly voiced the views of thousands of the young generation. Above all else this is hilariously funny, with clever camera work (watch the scene where Ben is running and seems to never get where he's going) and it's a joy to watch this each time. A film every cinephile should make sure they see.

Social Comedy. - The Graduate review by Steve

Intelligent and very funny social comedy which was a massive box office hit. It looks a knockout with the pop art visuals, stunning use of widescreen, quirky editing, striking Technicolor... And directed by Mike Nichols with an innovative and surreal imagination.

Dustin Hoffman (in a star making role) is home from college and seduced by a friend of the family (Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson), which proves an impediment when he wants to marry her daughter (Katherine Ross). It is labelled a counterculture film, but that's not really what is on screen.

The graduate may be experiencing generational friction with his parents and their bourgeois pals. But he is not rebelling against their wealth or hypocrisy. He is a product of them. He has no causes. He is just drifting. He has as little to communicate as his materialistic relatives.

It's a generational film, but Hoffman is not playing a hero/anti-hero. He's just another thwarted American life, alienated, inarticulate and lost within his own familiar subculture. A landmark second film by Nichols, with standout use of brilliant Simon and Garfunkel songs.