The Graduate, probably one of the most quoted, most famous, most well known movies of all time, came out in 1967. Mike Nichols was the director--formerly part of the comedy duo Nichols and May. Elaine May, the other half of this duo, does make a brief appearance in the movie, although her face is mostly obscured.
The Braddock's live in an upscale neighborhood. Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) has just graduated college with a bachelor's degree and come back home to stall before applying to grad schools. Benjamin was the star of his track team and very well-off academically. In the opening of the movie, Ben's parents throw a graduation party for him and invite all of their close friends, most of which Ben grew up with. They dote over him throughout the whole party, showing us just how well rounded and perfect-on-paper Ben is.
Ben doesn't feel the same way. He's tired. He came back from college, twenty-one years old, and he has no idea where the rest of his life is going. The emotion is portrayed perfectly--the lack of motivation, the hopelessness, the "what am I supposed to do now" of graduating and not wanting to always be so perfect. In the beginning of the movie, Ben is still a timid little boy waiting for someone to tell him what to do. Suddenly he finds he's an adult, and he doesn't know what to do when he isn't trying to please someone. He craves the authority. And, on a side note, I'd love to add that Dustin Hoffman's acting choice perfectly mirrors Mike Nichols' comedy style in earlier skits. When he gets nervous he makes this little high pitched whine, it kind of sounds like a puppy, and it's absolutely hilarious. It comes at the perfect moments.
When an old friend of Ben's parents--the infamous Mrs. Robinson--propositions Ben, he's terrified, confused, and runs away from it immediately. But we know what brings him back. We can tell that the lack of structure starts to drive him crazy, the way he still feels like a kid but is expected to behave like an adult. It drives him right into Mrs. Robinson's predatory arms. His terror for her is clear. He would do whatever she told him to, and for no other reason than fear and helplessness. Illustrating this beautifully, not once in the entire movie does Benjamin call her by her first name. This new affair drives him into a unique kind of depression.
The soundtrack for The Graduate, composed almost entirely by Simon and Garfunkel, is arguably one of the most famous movie soundtracks of all time. It features the longest version of "Scarborough Fair" in existence, clocking in at around eight minutes long. It was also the CD that happened to get stuck in my car senior year of high school, and I listened to it every morning on the way to school. One of the most beautiful moments in this soundtrack is a montage of Benjamin's summer routine after the affair with Mrs. Robinson begins. "Sounds of Silence" plays at first, a song packed with emotions, then immediately transitions ind "April Come She Will." Now, I've seen this movie more times than I can count, but this song transition always struck me as odd. To go from something that intense to something so light and similar to a lullaby. But I believe this is a perfect transition. It's striking, a little confusing, and perfectly captures the apathy that Benjamin is feeling, his lack of engagement with life. The stuck-ness of it all.
Then, when we think there's no chance, when we think it's hopeless, the appearance of Elaine Robinson transforms it into a love story. The first part of their date is horrific--he didn't want to take her out, Mrs. Robinson made him swear he never would, and he broke that promise on an ultimatum. At first he's rude and horrible to her, until finally she breaks and cries on the street. He apologizes, and over the rest of the date finds out that he really, really likes her, thus ending his affair with Mrs. Robinson.
Benjamin's falling in love with Elaine forces him to become an adult. She inevitably finds out about the affair and returns to college, never wanting to speak to him again, and rightfully. It can be argued that this is a terrible love story, one of the fake ones where she doesn't really love him, he just stalks her until she agrees to him. This is a perfectly valid argument--Ben's behavior is not acceptable.
The redeeming quality to this behavior is that we know it is unacceptable. The audience knows, Ben knows, Ben's parents know, shown in their conversation when Ben tells them he's going to marry Elaine Robinson--but she doesn't know yet. This is the kind of crazy, irrational, totally inappropriate behavior of someone that is desperately in love and also completely hopeless. This is someone who is in love, but knows that he is not worth forgiving. Ben, above all else, knows that he has screwed up too significantly to be forgiven--but he still has to try.
When Ben finds out that Elaine is getting married--actively, at the church as he found out--we know it's over. It's too late, there's no hope, and maybe it's for the better. He's a perfectly wealthy, static, two-dimensional blond man. Exactly the kind of man her parents expected her to marry. And in Ben's final, desperate plea for love, he breaks into the chapel and crashes their wedding. The image of him standing on the second story looking down at the wedding, his hands beating on the glass, crying, "Elaine!" still echoes through my memory. The boy we met in the beginning, hiding in his room making nervous little mouse noises is gone. In front of the church stands a bold young man going after what he wants.
Then we reach the climax--Elaine has a decision to make. It is her wedding day. Everyone expects her to do the right thing--to marry this man and forget about Ben. But, Elaine and Ben have both changed. Elaine runs to him, and together, they run away.
The final image of the movie is one that doesn't leave your memory. They run way, they get on the bus, no one can catch them now. But the giggly euphoria of their adrenaline wears off, their smiles drop. The reality comes to them that they have made their first adult decisions, and that's it. It's over--they're on their own.
No comments:
Post a Comment