The Graduate by Mike Nichols

"Can we talk about this for a minute" (Ben)

"I'll give you 10 seconds to come out here and humiliate yourself (father)

What film made Mike Nichols famous?

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (movie where the husband looks like he's going to shoot his own wife, but an umbrella comes out instead of a murderous bullet)

Mr. Robinson's view of Ben at the end of the film

-"degenerate, scum" -"You'll pardon me if I don't shake your hand" -won't let him near Elaine (sets up an arranged marriage)

the pool scene

-"it's over 6 ft deep" = plenty of space (not really) -got pushed under twice, not just once -parents' showing off leads Ben to have an affair with Mrs. Robinson

What are the people in the suburbs like?

-"talking without speaking" -"hearing without listening" -numbing life with booze

The "Hello darkness my old friend" song at the beginning of the film symbolizes what?

-Ben's not being in the right world -water trap and drowning/submerged -fish bowl -liet motif -constricted -meaningless

Mike Nichols

-Berliner and Jew -fled the discrimination of WWII -new auteurs -attended University of Chicago -improvisation comedy group called Compass Players -Broadway -only started directing in 1961

Elaine's current boyfriend

-Carl -doesn't really love her -only likes her for social reasons -thinks he and Elaine would make a "good team" -leaves her cold -makes her ambivalent about her future

prohibitions and taboos

-Mrs. Robinson returns to maternal figure when she prohibits Ben to see Elaine -you never find out if this affair is the biggest thing for Mrs. Robinson -end of their affair because they refuse to communicate

time-period of film (1960's)

-Vietnam war starting -pornography popular -political assassinations -sexual revolution -questioning society -selling subversive products -unpopular war

Ben's decision to marry Elaine

-absolutely absurd -stalker-like behavior -obsessive -wants to please his parents

What is Mrs. Robinson like?

-alcoholic -symptom of this world (devoid of striving) -numbed by boredom -aggressive -predatory (always costumed in animal print) -housewife -seems experienced in subduction of other men

What does Ben's room have?

-all the amenities -radio -TV -stereo -everything he "should" have in a suburban bedroom

"Can we talk?" (Ben)

-all the conversations in this world are superficial -Mrs. Robinson wants him to talk about art because she used to want to interpret the world but no longer does

Berkeley (in the late 1960's)

-care = mobility/freedom -place of radicalism, not suburban world -for Ben, the forbidden fruit

Easy Rider (1969)

-cheap -ragtag group -box office made good money with countercultural themes -dad's era with long haired hippies that just wanted freedom

Give a description of the 1950's box office

-conservatism -risky -self-conscious (about style and filming) -deliberate -challenged by newer films

Hollywood Production Code (after 1960)

-dead -films could be more edgy -films could be more sordid -replaced by Classification and Ratings Administration

What are the men like?

-drink first, talk later -like adolescents who want to play -escaped into their own creature comforts -not grown up -emasculated -superficial narcissistic

How is the passage of time conveyed in the affair?

-elliptical (jump forward) -match-cuts seen by the same bed headboard behind Ben but different scenes when camera pulls back -music choice ("April comes she will") -course of love affair set against the changes in seasons

Ben's relationship with Elaine

-first thing he's liked -first meaningful conversation in forever (eating burgers and talking in the car together) -sees her as a person -Elaine knows exactly what Ben means -"she once was a true love of mine" in the song keeps referencing this climax moment in their relationship

water theme

-fish are trapped in a limitedly-spaced tank of water -shimmering pool symbolizes suburban materialism and superficial narcissism

new box office

-focus on reality, not perfection -avant-garde -French New Wave -Italian Neo-realism -neech market -centralized psychological perspective (harsh reality) -emphasize internal dynamics -speak to challenges of the turbulent times

How does Ben feel in the affair?

-guilty -like he will be caught -awkward -prey -like he has something to do in his life -"floating on top of the water" -no feeling

What camera method is used?

-hand-held -intensely watched -scrutinized -crowds him -drives him -restlessness -anxious

What issues does Benjamin face when he comes home from college?

-inescapability -not fitting in -boredom

What is the father's position in the fish bowl scene with Ben in his room?

-introspective -his frame is covering Ben's because of the camera angle

What issues does Mrs. Robinson face?

-loneliness -boredom -doesn't fit in (like Madam Bogery) -alienated by meaningless society/existence

What does the airport scene at the beginning of the film provide instead of the original scene planned?

-more condensed visualization -people-mover symbolizes how Benn is being forced back home -shows his anxiety -being dragged back to his family's way of life which he abores

suburbs

-new social space that had grown up in post WWII America -middle class -escape the city -settle

Hollywood Production Code (before 1960)

-no sex or neuroses -censor system of film industry -controlling

Why is Elaine drawn to Ben?

-not a clue -she should run away from this stalker -his passion interests her -she shares his world view -rebellion (to infuriate her mother)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

-only x-rated film to win an Oscar -deals with homosexuality

Ben and Elaine's relationship

-passionate -a little creepy -represents confusion of this generation -gives Ben's life meaning

use of camera and sound

-random flashes of nudity -certain words are emphasized with sound increasing that is not normal

Irony about romantic, comedic ending

-relationship founded by an active rebellion -honeymoon lasts about 10 seconds -antagonism toward the older and inescapable order of things -meaningful rebellion -leaves them in position they were trying to avoid -forced into going back to suburbs (place they were trying to escape) -thematic similarity from beginning of film

Classification and Ratings Administration

-replaced the Hollywood Production Code -self-regulation

What is the affair like?

-sex without meaning -she is goading him to sleep with her -no passion -Ben's first sexual experience -manipulating and conflicting -soulless beginning, intimate details by Mrs. Robinson in the middle, soulless end

What does Benjamin want?

-something different -search for meaning

What is the Robinson's house like?

-sterile -bar is the most important room -dominance resembles the importance of private life -cold -over-protected

What are the women like?

-too much make-up -too much jewelry -too much booze -same frosted hairdo -represent leisured class -represent relentless conformity

What is Ben's father like?

-uninterested in his son's concerns -focused on reputation -childish -existential angst -castrating

What is Mr. Robinson like?

-wishes he were young -gives advice for Ben to have a few summer "flings"

"Let's not talk at all" (Ben)

Ben does not see the affair as an escape anymore

Who is the main character?

Benjamin Braddock

Italian Neo-realism

Kazan

generational conflict

Mrs. Robinson takes her clothes off in her daughter's room in front of the portrait

What music choices are made for this film?

Simon and Garfunkle with themes that animate the movie

What "type" of movie is "The Graduate?"

a coming-of-age movie

What scene was the movie originally going to begin with?

an anxiety dream of Benjamin giving a speech at his college commencement, but all of his notecards fly off of the podium right when he was going to explain the meaning of college

intimacy in a relationship symbolizes

conversation

liet motif (opera term)

feeling of not being in the right world or belonging

Bonnie and Clyde (1969)

gangsters are protagonists working against the law

Network (1976)

people live their lives on what their TV says but shouldn't

French New Wave

reacting against coco-colonization

What does "plastics" symbolize?

set meaning with no substance

symbol of urban setting in films

social and community life

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

standing up to authority for the sake of standing up to authority only to be killed by authority

What was the secret message behind "The Graduate?"

the movie industry is crappy

subversion

wall street guys running the show