Revisiting The Graduate for the AFI Project

From June 16, 2008:

What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx

The Graduate is on the following AFI lists:

The Original Top 100 (#7)
100 Funniest Films (#9)
100 Years...100 Passions (#52)
100 Greatest Film Songs (#6 - "Mrs. Robinson")
100 Movie Quotes (#42 - A Braddock family friend: "Plastics;" #63 -Benjamin Braddock: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?")
The Revised Top 100 (#17)

I was happy to revisit The Graduate because I think the first and only time I watched it was around the time I graduated from high school because a friend thought watching it would be a clever way to spend an afternoon in celebratory anticipation of our pending commencement. Personally, I don't think this film is truly relatable to any teenager in or around their high school years. I think underlying messages, what exists of them, are more universal for the twenty-something set who have embarked or about to embark into that thing people call the "real world." Now, whether the film is really all that relatable to any population who did not constitute a member of that age group in the late sixties is up for debate. Still, this film is one of those films that are worth a second look, and thanks to Netflix and this silly project o' mine, I had an excuse to revisit it.

The Graduate refers to Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, in his first major film role), who has just graduated from college and is now at a loss as to what he will be doing with his future. He seems adamant to not turn out like his parents - who seem to fail to understand him like any oher generationally challenged family of that era - though he exhibits rapaciously cavalier qualities that they also possess. Their sophisticated naivete translates most poignantly when Benjamin is comically seduced by one of their family friends, the cuckoldy Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), who seems to need Benjamin as much as she uses him to stave off the loneliness of an empty marriage. Troubles arise when the affable Benjamin falls in love with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross), despite his initial protests to his parents about dating her. Benjamin is then caught in the middle between covetous mother and confused daughter.

The Graduate is described here by the All Movie Guide and by many critics and film historians as the iconic film that struck a chord with the growing malaise and bubbling counter-culture of the late 60s. Benjamin is the anti-revolution revolutionary, so it says at the bottom of this page. His apparent apathy becomes the symbol of unrest and boredom for all of that generation that protested the actions of members of the preceding generation. He has a certain sexual promiscuity that defies social decorum yet a capacity to love fiercely and passionately. He rails against the conventions of his parents and society while simultaneously being bonded by those conventions. He is an enigma in an obvious way.

Here is my trouble with this film: I am not sure that Benjamin's role in this story and the situations of his character transcend generation. I'm not sure that The Graduate is timeless enough to be relatable to all audiences. I see this film as a pop culture icon depicting an electric moment in history and sort of the societal and generational attitudes of that moment. Otherwise, the film is full of unsympathetic characters of many types: Benjamin is kind of a doofus. He is apparently eliglble for graduate school and has all of these wonderful degrees and honors, but he is largely idiotic in the context of the real world. Mrs. Robinson, deliciously played by Anne Bancroft, may be a woman in a loveless marriage, but she steamrolls over doofus Benjamin, preying on his weaknesses, which may be the point, but represents a separate lapse in morals and ethics (sort of anti- the generation at issue, actually). Mr. Robinson is an innocent bystander, even if he has neglected his wife. And why Elaine should succumb to the entreaties of the slightly creepy and desperate Benjamin surpasses my ability to understand. Are their character types a subtle commentary on the affectations of youth and family of the time? The film was released the same year as the Summer of Love after all.

Still, though it captures the spirit of a decade in which I was not alive to enjoy, The Graduate posseses some groundbreaking and truly iconic elements that make it sort of a great film in the American film lexicon. Mike Nichols' direction (which earned him an Oscar, back when he was young and cutting edge) was, in fact, cutting edge, playing with angles and lighting in a way that connects the viewer with Benjamin, despite his doofus-like tendencies. The performances are all very very good, particularly from Mrs. Robinson herself, and the soundtrack is unparalleled, showcasing Simon and Garfunkel in a very complimentary fashion as it relates to the film. "Mrs. Robinson" is one of the AFI's greatest film songs, but the film also makes legendary use of "The Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair."

The AFI rated The Graduate #52 on the love stories list, which sort of gives me great puzzlement. Considering how Benjamin and Elaine come together by the end of the movie, do you really believe that their bond is permanent? Especially when she looks sort of sad and bewildered. Plus, it's not a love story that causes my personal heart to pitapat; I would find it so creepy to be stalked by the man who had an affair with my mother. And, of course, the affair itself is not the love story in question, so I have a huge problem with this film making that list at all, much less at a fairly high position.

I find The Graduate flawed on many levels. Is it overrated? Maybe a little. The AFI dropped it ten spots on the revised list. I still think it has its place despite its flaws, which are largely in the story. Since the film was based on a novel, I can't fault the filmmakers too much for that. The technical elements of the film and the spirit of it are what make it as good as it is.

I will add, though, that the film slows up considerably about the time Benjamin decides to follow Elaine to Berkeley. I remember growing bored watching it the first time, at the tender age of 18, right around the same spot, and on second viewing, I grew quite dozy. It's through the Scarborough Fair sequence; maybe it's the song, but the film seems to take on this meandering, artsy atmosphere when it had been a quirky, dysfunctional drama up until the point. In that way, the film is sort of schizophrenic, and I think that's one of its largest flaws.

On a ratings scale, I would give it an 8 for being very good despite these minor flaws. As to my test, it doesn't pass, mostly because though the film amuses me on some level, it's not a film I relate to. Though I want to watch it again because Richard Dreyfuss apparently makes a cameo in his first screen role, and I completely missed it this time out! I think The Graduate is a landmark film but more a landmark exemplar for the decade in which it was produced than for the caliber of the film itself.