I love the film The Graduate! I don't really know much of the trivia
But, it is one of my favorites.
WELCOME Max. You are going to love it here. I know I do. Love your Hound Dog.
OOOH! What a cute little doggie. Welcome, Max!
Mrs Robinson and Benjamin in the coffee shop of the hotel and then up in the room made one of the best and funniest seduction scenes ever. Hoffman was magnificent in his befuddlement. Woody Allen, funny as he is, never equaled that performance. Mrs. Robinson was at once steamy and ridiculous.
I agree with L/W that Ben and Mrs. Robinson's daughter run off together fleeing the moral corruption and cultural decay of their elders, but, like most rebellious young people, they will soon embrace the very same corruption and decay. Funny thing about people!
It is interesting how some movies are infused with a style, filming techniques, language, and a thousand little things that tend to date them, and yet they overcome all those supposed limiting factors to become timeless classics. Maybe this is one of them.
The Graduate
The Graduate has such superb acting on all fronts - Dustin himself is sheer perfection as that quintessential young man with a whole world of possibilities in front of him; so what does he do? Not a thing, except engage in a little careless affair with one of his parents' dearest friends.
I think it struck a chord then and still does now, in part, due to that very concept. We each have a UNIVERSE of possibilities in front of us but aren't we terrified by it??? How often do we grab for the brass ring? Or,
for that matter, how often do we even get on the merry go round to begin with???? Look at Ben! Life grabs him by the balls, in the form of Mrs Robinson. HE is lifeless, a void, a scuba diver hiding under the water to escape the "real world". How many of us have jumped off one of those huge cliffs in our own lives......... took a big chance and make a huge change?? I think that no matter WHAT you do for a living, if you do not change jobs every 10 years or so, you are at risk of your life becoming stale, a necessary prison which you could leave, but even though the door is open..... will not come out and play.
Contd
Good God, I DO love this new forum. It is SO great to see all these familiar names. What a great idea!
It was on TCM yesterday. I hadn't seen it, ever, in it's entirety, and missed alot of it again yesterday but, I wondered about Ben and Elaine after the cameras stopped rolling too and, do you see much hope for them as a couple? Estranged from both sets of parents, jobless, homeless, penniless, and it showed on both of their faces as the lase scene faded. Two young people who grew up "privledged" suddenly thrust into potential poverty, perhaps in love but practically strangers...Geez. What a tough way to begin a marriage.
Good question re: Is there hope for the two of them at the end? I recall thinking when I first saw the film (when it was playing in theaters, and I was the perfect age for it--a college student) that they both were so happy that it didn't matter. Later on, it would, of course, but it was a fairy-tale ending. A somewhat perverse fairy tale, for sure, but still kind of sweet at the end...
