The Graduate

One of my favorite movies is The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman, directed by Mike Nichols.  I love it because it's very ironically funny and it defines the generation that was coming to age in the 60s.  It also has some of the best cinematography you'll ever see, and that's why it's a perfect movie to analyze.

The opening scene is a close-up of the main character, Benjamin Braddock, who appears to be lost in thought.  The voice of an airplane pilot announces that the plane will be landing soon.  The camera then zooms out to show the entire cabin of the plane.  Benjamin is not interacting with anyone and the long shot symbolically isolates him from everone around him.  This shot sets the tone for the rest of the film, as Ben is uncertain about his future after college and doesn't want to take the conventional life his parents are encouraging.

Mike Nichols uses a water motif throughout the movie, and several scenes are set in Ben's family pool.  In one scene towards the middle of the film, the Braddock family's friends the Robinsons come for dinner while Ben is lounging in the pool.  Ben's father has already expressed his desire that Ben start applying for graduate school or get a job, instead of taking it easy for the summer.  In this scene, Ben is photographed from above on a raft, putting him in a position of weakness.  To emphasize this, the Braddocks and the Robinsons are shot from below, showing them in positions of power.  Mrs. Robinson, with whom Benjamin is having a secret affair, is photographed in the same way, alone.  She occupies this symbolic role throughout the film: proposing the affair in the first place, then blackmailing Ben with it, and then trying to keep Ben from seeing her daughter, with whom he falls in love.  

While Ben and Mrs. Robinson are having an affair, Mr. Robinson suggests to Ben that he take out their daughter Elaine, because he thinks they'd like each other.  Mrs. Robinson forbids it, but Ben has no choice when his parents hear about the idea.  On the date, Ben is rude to Elaine and takes her to a burlesque club in order to make her dislike him.  She gets very upset, and he weakens, apologizes, and takes her out for dinner.  They start talking and end up falling for each other.  Mrs. Robinson reveals the affair to her family, and Elaine goes back to Berkeley where she is attending college.  Ben follows her in an attempt to convince her to marry him.  When he first gets there she won't speak to him.  In one scene he chases a bus that she boards.  He's shown from the inside of the bus, very small and over her shoulder.  This high angle shot symbolically shows that Elaine wants nothing to do with Ben.  In the rest of the movie, Elaine softens and admits that she still has feelings for him.  However, her father comes to Berkeley, pulls her out of school, and plans a wedding for her to keep Ben away from her.  Ben discovers this and races to the church, but is too late.  He starts yelling to her from the balcony.  Elaine decides she's made a mistake and runs to him.  Bedlam erupts at the church with Elaine's new husband yelling at her, Mrs. Robinson slapping Elaine, and Mr. Robinson attacking Ben.  Ben and Elaine end up escaping the crowd and running to a bus.  The final scene on the bus shows Ben and Elaine, happy, sitting at the back of the crowded bus.  The final shot shows the two of them side-by-side, and is shot at eye level.  This symbolically shows the change that has taken place over the movie, with Elaine and Ben finding what they want, despite their parents' wishes.

The End