According to many of my fellow movie-reviewing classmates, this movie is "icky," "raunchy," and "stale." I wondered if I had watched the same movie as the rest of my classmates. Not to offend any classmates, but this was a great comedy and I thought it was hilarious. It was nominated for seven Oscars. With all the "cougar" shows and references and actual relationships, this isn't an out-of-the-ordinary film for today's audiences. Also, to note, the film Casablanca is a love story between a married woman and a guy. It is left to our imaginations what they did on those long drives and picnics. The difference is one went with her husband and the other left with the guy.
There were some definite usage of angles, lighting, editing, notable shots, and sound to this film that enhanced the story of poor Benjamin Braddock. This was a modern-day film which the story and theme has been used throughout film making. I watched an old Alfred Hitchcock silent film with a very similar storyline. Alfred Hitchcock understood the human condition very well and his films depict them with the mastery that he is so well known for.
I watched The Graduate a few times, before this class and of course since enrolling in it. I wonder if Benjamin took a film class, he made a reference in the film like he had taken one. Just a random thought and observation.
The most standout technique in the film was the lighting and cinematography and how it connected the story. I am certainly not the only one to have noticed or experienced this since, of course, humans have been having sex since Adam and Eve. Benjamin is inexperienced and incredibly awkward. It is painful to watch as the experienced and skillful Mrs. Robinson seduces Ben, the track star, the graduate, the lost boy-man.
The director portrays Ben's fear of intimacy with the lighting. The hotel room is too lit for Ben and he turns off the lights, puts on the bathroom light and closes the door to add a little light to the room, closes the blinds, and waits. When Mrs. Robinson enters, she turns on the lights with Ben turning them off again. They have sex. The dark is representative and symbolic of the lack of intimacy and the fear of exposure. Later in the film, it is Ben who is now more experienced and confident in his sexuality that he wants the lights on. It is Mrs. Robinson who wants the lights out. She prefers not to engage in talk or intimacy. She is comfortable with the lack of intimacy and is there for the physical attention only. She knows the complications that come when you become intimate and attached emotionally. Ben, however, is finally seeing that there is more to sex than just the act of having sex and wants the intimacy that couples usually share in a relationship that is based on love. Sex is boring after awhile without the intimacy and creativeness that accompanies deeper feelings of love. We also see this explained very openly in Amelie... she tried sex and her feelings were depicted very differently in the beginning of the film (silently giggling) versus the ending of the film when she let her emotions merge with her physical desires. Just an awesome way of depicting this in the film. It is so accurate on how people act. If it isn't a cover of darkness, it is alcohol or some other form of "courage" to help get through the awkwardness of closeness.
The transitions from one romp to the next is brilliant! I know this seems as if I am not applying this week's text reading, but how can you not talk about the transitions in this movie! Just fantastic examples of transitioning - dissolve, wipe, flip frame and fade-out/in. The flow was awesome from scene to scene of their romps, the doors, on top the air mattress in the pool to on top of Mrs. Robinson. Excellent!
On to this week's text reading influence, the sound was used in this film the same way as the lighting and helped flow and connect the movie. The songs choice was a mystery to me and needed further investigation. The Scarborough Fair ballad is about two lovers asking for impossible tasks. Hmm, fitting for this film's characters and the impossibilities that were realized/overcome at the end of the film creating a very fitting song for the closing scene. The director was British and possibly was very familiar with this very old English ballad. It was only credited to Simon and Garfunkel but it was written in 1670. When Ben realizes that he may be able to marry Elaine, he starts whistling another tune - Mrs. Robinson. According to some online sources, the song was about a secret love that Paul Simon had on his friend's mother. Interesting. There were also very notable time of silence and other sounds, i.e. the breathing through his scuba suits air tank.
The actors in the film were perfectly cast. I can only say this in my opinion because I have had the chance to see this actors in other films. Dustin Hoffman is incredible and his performance of the inexperienced, lost, and confused guy was done to perfection. I had to laugh at the drive in with Elaine. Hoffman showed the difference in his demeanor when Ben was with Mrs. Robinson and being relaxed and himself with Elaine on their first date. He was so funny and was perfect in his interpretation and performance of Ben.
I haven't watched enough of Mike Nichols films to comment on his style; however, I have watched Working Girl and The Birdcage. He is credited with twenty two films and some of the films I do recognize. He definitely used a particular style throughout the film with the shots and the lighting effects throughout the film. I am going to watch some of his other ones just to see what his "style" is.
I am a true fan of the movie and the soundtrack to The Graduate. I am about out of adjectives or shall I say I need to use some new ones the next time I talk about this movie. I haven't written all that I wanted to talk about. I have trouble concentrating with the continued thought of how actors, directors, filmmakers do their jobs. I am entranced with this industry and what it takes to really know this business and the art of it.
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