original #7
I'd never seen this one before and I've been meaning to for a very long time. Needless to say, it's amazing. Definitely a classic. First of all, Mike Nichols is the Man. I pretty much love everything he's ever directed. Secondly, Anne Bancroft is sexy. Third, Dustin Hoffman is awesome. And young. And funny. And awesome.
The movie reminds me of Harold and Maude, not in terms of plot (though similar, I guess) but more in terms of style of storytelling and film-making. It got me thinking about the plots of most contemporary movies and how there has to be something big happening at all times. Every scene needs to have a big plot point, constant action, twists and turns... Movies in the 60s were just about a person's life or a situation or figuring out how to grow up. The Graduate is mostly beautiful in its simplicity. The montages of Benjamin lying in the pool or in his room or staring out the window say so much about him. Yes there's the big love triangle which is the central focus of the movie but I enjoyed watching him figure out how to deal with maturity. That feeling of being thrown out of college and expected to know what you're doing with your life is universal. Everyone experiences that for a year or a month or even just an hour and it's terrifying. That's what I took away from the film more than anything else; that it's okay to not know how to be an adult or how to act in a certain situation. Sometimes it's painfully funny, sometimes its unbearably terrifying, but it's normal.
Also that Anne Bancroft is HOT. She's been one of my favorites for a long time. If you haven't seen Mel Brooks's To Be or Not To Be go rent it immediately. And you should remember her from Keeping The Faith too ("Shabbat Shalom everyone!" "SHABBAT SHALOM!" "Thanks, mom."). The best part about this is that I know her as a brilliant comedic actress and this part was slightly funny but mostly devastatingly serious and almost dangerous. And did I mention she's gorgeous?
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