eagandersongil A film that is a must for every movie lover, a film that promotes a story in the best romantic comedy style and yet is surprising, with absolute mastery of technique, script and performances, the American director Mike Nichols knew how to conduct his work with almost complete perfection in what it provides to do. Take a look at the story of Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a 21-year-old who gets caught up in a sexual journey with the mother of the girl he loves, the movie script is perfectly told, always exploring all sides of the story, the pains, anxieties and fears of all the characters, and we are glazed and stuck to its narrative, even being a romantic comedy, a genre that massively searches for cliche. Benjamin is a character who is embraced by loneliness, he is completely desperate to quench his emptiness, even though he may not know it, when Ben is invited to participate in a sexual adventure, this temporarily fills his void, but after a while he realizes that it only leaves him empty, and when falling in love with Elaine, he sees a desperate attempt to get rid of this "darkness", Ben is a completely broken character, that even in love, he has no idea what to do, loneliness who pursues Ben is the drama of many, and the way she is explored in the film is spectacular. Not only does the script have its merits, but the direction too, speaking first of the camera angles, aiming always show well in zoom and then rolls a large zoom out, always showing how small the character is in the scenario, in addition to always using outlets and not to abuse in the cuts, even being a 1966 movie, besides, we have great songs on the soundtrack, sometimes it may seem little distoante or repetitive, but the track talks with the drama of Ben, besides, we have a great editing and sound editing, as well as beautiful photography. Dustin Hoffman is a great performer, and he is one of the pillars that makes the script get to explore so many themes without the actor, the movie would perhaps be a dramatic romantic comedy, we also have the magnificent Anne Bancroft. The use of the spectacular song "hello darkness my old friend" in the end contrasts somewhat the idea of ??what the film is going through - unless it is interpreted that the character still feels empty - in the end, it is not a perfect movie, but it accomplishes everything that promises and a little more, a lot more.

gab-14712 "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" If there is a movie that can hit viewers of all age from this groovy decade of the 1960's, I would have to choose The Graduate. At it's base, the movie is a coming-of-age story and usually those kind of stories relate with people of all ages. The younger generation may be living through the same eyes as the characters in the story and the older generation gets nostalgia as they remember the days of old. In fact, this movie is a favorite of my family. They grew up in the era when this film is released, so they understand the struggles the character is going through. Also the movie is recognizable because it is a damn fine piece of art. It took me years to see the film, and I finally did so recently. It did not hit me as strongly as it did with my family or other people of their generation, but there is no denying how good the film is.I feel like I can relate to the film somewhat because I'm in the same boat of our main character, Ben Braddock. Ben is a recent college graduate, but is struggling to find a life after college. I know how he feels, because I have the same struggles in a much more competitive world. I can also relate to Ben's personality, because I had similar traits years ago. Ben, in the film, struggles mightily around females because of his awkwardness. Back in my teenage days, I had similar issues. Although I eventually changed and I never fell for any older women like…..ahem….Ben does. But people adore this movie because of its very relatable themes involving post-graduation life.One of the popular things about the movie was its soundtrack. The film heavily relied upon folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel to provide the music, and provide the music they certainly did. One would say their most famous song is "Mrs. Robinson." Now you know where the song received its personality. Personally, I loved the music in the film but other people, such as the late great Roger Ebert had major qualms about the music. 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. Everyone expects great things out of him, especially his parents (played by William Daniels and Elizabeth Wilson). At a homecoming party of his, Ben is asked to drive Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) home. Mrs. Robinson is the wife of his father's business partner (Murray Hamilton). After Ben drove the seductive older woman home, they begin an affair. But things take a sharp turn when Ben meets Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross)…….and falls in love with her. Now with two women in his romantic life with the affair unbeknownst to each other, Ben is going to have a lot of work to do.The film partly works because of its fine, naturalistic performances. 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. Hoffman will become a big star, and this is the first piece in helping him do so. My word, I really enjoyed Anne Bancroft's performance as the seductive wife. She could have stolen any guy's heart with her portrayal. It's funny because she was supposed to be the older woman in the picture, but she's only six years older than Hoffman is. Those of you who seen the 90's sitcom, Boy Meets World, you'll recognize Mr. Feeney himself, William Daniels who played Ben's dad. He has some amusing scenes, and I particularly liked the scene where he forces his son to try on a scuba diving outfit much to Ben's chagrin. Murray Hamilton has a rather smallish role as Mr. Robinson, but I thought he did a fine job and likewise for Katherine Ross as Elaine, whom we don't meet until much later in the film.Mike Nichols was a well-known director who is known for his quirkiness and sensibilities in all of his films. He sadly passed away earlier this year, but he left behind a legacy of well-known works. The Graduate is his first feature film and boy what a way to introduce yourself to Hollywood. He does an amazing job directing this film and it's no surprise he won Best Director at the Oscars for his first film directorial effort. He told the story in a very crisp away and he never slowed down.The film works as a comedy and a drama, but its not funny in a way you would think. The comedy is more subtle, and that makes it refreshing. However, not everything meant as comedy I found funny. You can blame me living in a different generation for that. The movie also offers some unforgettable scenes. The very last scene with Elaine and Ben in a bus…..just a classic scene and quite funny. Just watch the movie, and you'll see what I mean.Despite how much I enjoyed The Graduate, not all is perfect. The film feels outdated. What worked in the 1960's doesn't always work well today. Some jokes are not as funny and on the technical side of the film, it doesn't hold up well. As one would say, the movie has rusty pipes. But those pipes still work perfectly fine. Thanks to the music, the performances, and the themes, The Graduate is a lesson that all young people should learn and it's a movie that still appeals to the older generations. I enjoyed this film, even if other people enjoyed it more than I did.My Grade: B+

wal-btr A movie about the coming of age, and a disenchanted college graduate wondering about his future and trying to escape the predestined path his parents want him to follow. The movie shows his idle life through in his eyes lost in his thoughts, in the cross fading, the close-up shots, and Simon and Garfunkel songs. The hesitating young man becomes a self-confident man after having an affair with a mature woman. When he falls in love with her daughter, the life he seeks eventually becomes obvious to him.

Duncan Gosseyn I can't say I connected with this movie either on its comic level or on its dramatic level. I'm giving this two stars because I liked the soundtrack (although I thought both "Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair" were repeated a few too many times) and the cinematography. The characters and story I didn't care for at all.If I had to describe this movie in one word, it would be "unconvincing." Most of the characters' actions seemed to have weak or nonexistent motivations. Why does Mrs. Robinson admit to Benjamin that she married her husband because of an unplanned pregnancy? Why does he hate her so much when she tells him to stay away from her daughter? Why do he and Elaine suddenly fall in love after not seeing each other in years? Why does he suddenly want to marry her? Why does she suddenly want to marry him?As others have pointed out, the awkward and unfocused behavior of the main character does not seem consistent with what we find out about him at the start of the film, which is that he has won academic awards and is also a successful athlete. This movie reminded me of one of my favorite books, The Catcher in the Rye. Both stories are about young men who don't quite know what they're doing with themselves and both have a kind of ambiguous ending. The difference between Holden Caulfield and Benjamin is that Holden's behavior throughout the book makes sense given what we already know about him. At the start, we know he's an academic failure and holds many of the people (especially the adults) he knows in contempt.Some people hate the book, because of Holden Caulfield's constant whining and complaining. But J. D. Salinger didn't mean for the reader to think of him as a hero. We are supposed to see Holden as a bit of a whiner. Some people will find him endearing and will see his whining more as understandable observations about life. Others won't, and that's okay. But I'm a bit confused about how we're supposed to view Benjamin. Is he a hero or an antihero? Are we supposed to sympathize with him in the end, when he runs off with a married woman, essentially on a whim? I think that the answer to the second one is no (we're supposed to infer, I think, that Benjamin and Elaine might end up in the same situation as Mr. and Mrs. Robinson), but that the answer to the first is the former - no character who is meant to be sympathetic reproaches him and he doesn't seem to ever have any moments of serious self-awareness. We're supposed to accept that he makes mistakes, but never think that he's obnoxious or unpleasant. One of the big problems with The Graduate is that we find out very little about Benjamin's worldview. Holden accomplishes very little by the end of The Catcher in the Rye, but we at least know what he thinks about just about everything. Benjamin says he is concerned about his future, and the movie would have been more interesting if this concern had been highlighted throughout it, but it's forgotten after Benjamin starts his affair with Mrs. Robinson.Also, this is supposed to be a comedy and I'll admit that I didn't think it was funny. The only part that made me crack a smile was when Benjamin and Elaine run away from her wedding and he uses a cross to fend off her parents, her fiancé (who is actually her husband at that point), and the guests, and uses it to bolt the church doors. But comedy is highly subjective, obviously, so other people may have found this movie to be quite humorous. Lastly, I think I should assure anyone reading this and thinking I disliked the movie because of prudish concerns, that isn't the case.