Review of The Graduate (1967) by Michael Y — 11 Feb 2011

This is probably the best romance movie with the absolute worst morals and lessons. But whatever works. The Graduate broke love story conventions and started a new wave of dark comedy.

Benjamin Braddock is an impressive young man with his great achievements at college. But Benjamin is also a very lonely man, anti-social and embarrassed by his family and own self pitty. But all that changes when he begins to have an affair with a friend of his family's, Mrs. Robinson. But though he finds new confidence through Mrs. Robinson, it's her daughter Elaine that he begins to love. The Graduate is a very deep and personal character study of masterful proportions. Though it's subject matter is dark, this movie dared to do what no other movie did before: It viewed the story awkwardly truthful. The scenes and acting in this movie is so down to Earth with it's unmoral and dramatic situations, they were funny. Though this movie deals with adultary, social isolation, affairs and STALKING, it's a love story made from the heart.

The Graduate not only made leaps and bounds with it's story, but it's cinematography brought feeling and symbolism to every scene like there was no tomorrow. Beautifully shot in so many ways, the direction in this movie gave audiences an even closer look into the mind of it's leading character. Benjamin was a socially awkward person, and this movie definitely showed the world through his eyes. This movie is also famous for it's all Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, making famous many songs like "The Sound of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson".

The Graduate is a confusing and deep coming-of-age story where romantic love isn't like what it should be, but at the same time its what it is. There really isn't a good moral to this story other than you do what you have to do. But this movie's out-of-the-box look at love, confidence, sex and comedy not only remains influential, but hilariously entertaining and thought provoking as well.