The Graduate

I'm going to write this one as i watch the movie because frankly I have quite a lot to say about it. The Graduate is one of the most fascinating films to come out of the 60's. With all it's theme's of uncertainty and pointless rebellion and it's beautiful sound track by Simon and Garfunkel,  The Graduate is one of the first comedies to portray the bleak uncertainty of adulthood through the eyes of a graduate. it's a truly compelling and over all wonderful black comedy. Here's how it goes. 

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Our story begins with, you guessed it; a Graduate. Benjamin Braddock is returning home from college after recently finishing his schooling. But it's not the joyous occasion you'd expect it to be. As he returns home he discovers a great emptiness in his life, the uncertainty of where he's gong deeply confuses him and pretty much turns him into a social recluse. On the night of his welcome home party Benjamin comes is asked by his neighbor Mrs. Robinson , to take her home. what he realizes is that her intentions are not exactly innocent. She attempts to seduce Benjamin and as he struggles with resisting he eventually gives in. Now under the brightly colorful veil of suburban life. Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson continue to have an affair that should never be. and still Benjamin finds the the fulfillment of it only brief. eventually Mrs. Robinson's Husband tries to set Benjamin up with their daughter and what starts out as a simple date turns into a bizarre and taboo love triangle that leads Benjamin down an even darker path of uncertainty. Is he willing to upset everything and ruin the pristine nuclear atmosphere in order to be with The robinson/s daughter? Or will he continue down the path of uncertainty that has consumed him?

So what exactly do I love about this movie? Well, for one think i absolutely appreciate it's lack of BS. this movie doesn't try to star coat anything or give us a white washed outlook on the characters. from the get go, you'll find Benjamin very frustrating and sad. you'll see Mrs. Robinson as Manipulative and selfish. you'll see her husband as a dim wit, You'll see benjamin's parent's as idealistically blind suburbanites, and you'll see Mrs. Robinson's daughter as being too naive for her own good. What these characters do when they are put together rid create  very odd view of American society in the 1960's. but what it also does is it creates a unique genre; the anti romantic comedy. Benjamin while in his world of uncertainty becomes infatuated with Mrs. Robinson, and when she becomes old news he moves on to her daughter and after that? Oh, I'll get to that in a minute. What we get from this movie is a group of characters that have made or are in th process of making bad decisions. the ultimate e of which is BEn and Mrs. RObinson both of whom are lost in the world either suffering from their past, or fearful of heir future.  

Visually the films is quite strait foreword. there's nothing special to it until you get to the musical segments of the number. The entire film is scored by Simon and Garfunkel; and the sound of Silence takes this film and just gives it that down note that really grounds the entire film. it just makes the world seem bleak and even though we know we're watching a comedy, and to some extent a parody of our modern culture, we get the idea that this isn't all the happiness it appears to be. The way in which this music adds itself to the the visuals is simple. during these segments especially the three times the sound of silence is used. we are shown Benjamin's outlook on everything. we see  via certain angles that he is completely lost in the world and that Mrs. Robinson seems to be something that brings him relief from what appears to be nothing but white noise.  Like a drug however, no matter how much he goes to her that high is all but brief and he once again feel strapped in the world around him. 

Let me get to what I love most about this picture; the ending. what the ending brings to the table is one of the more fascinating punctuations to a film ever made. at a certain point in the film Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson's affair is revealed. he daughter refuses to speak to Ben and she runs off to Berkley College. Ben finally finding what he believes to be certainty in his life runs off to marry her, with no plan, or any rational  idea of whether or not she'll mary him. when he finally finds her he learns she is engaged to a medical student. On the day of her wedding, he crashes said wedding causing a riot which leads to him and her escaping on a bus, laughing as they go. But here is where the magic really happens. Normally it would be here that the film ends as our lovers go off into the sunset, but the camera keeps rolling. what we see now is the two gradually coming off of their high once again. The Sound of Silence plays as we see the realization come across their faces. They have just made a mistake. the two of them know little to nothing about each other, they have just alienated themselves from both of their families, and now here they are on a bus heading towards an uncertain future that the two of them cannot escape from. They're stuck with each other now and they have to deal with the consequences.  Thats what Truly makes this film wonderful. where a normal film would who you a sappy and false story about two kids caught up in a whacky situation that results in them defying their parents and following what they love, shows that there actually consequences to our selfish actions. and in reality these characters are selfish. they both act out of their own self indulgence with little thought of how they affect the people around them, and that's a pretty great ending to a very honest film.