Screening Post For the Graduate
The Graduate (1967) is listed as a comedy, drama, and romance on imdb, and after watching this film it is hard to pin one genre to it. Their are many clever and funny aspects to the film, like Ben’s reactions to Mrs. Robinson’s advances. These corky scenes are in sharp contrast the scene when Mr. Robinson comes to confront Ben about his affair with his wife, and his pursuit of his daughter. One could say the film is lacking a sense of identity, which is similar to Ben’s confusion about his future after college. This film is full of contrast and parallels in composition, color, set design, costume design, lighting, and editing style. My first example of a parallel is between the set design of Ben’s room, and the composition of the scene where Ben sits at the bottom of the pool. In the beginning of the film we see Ben sitting in his room next to a large fish tank. The tank is a large focal point of many shots in his bedroom, and in the tank their is a small model of a diver. One is reminded of the diver in the tank in the scene where Ben is forced by his father to try out a dive suit in their pool. The camera pulls back from Ben’s mask and you see him standing in a similar manor as the figure in his fish tank. These too elements put together help show why Ben is so worried about his future. He feels his is just a show piece in a big tank. In his own words, “It’s like I was playing some kind of game, but the rules don’t make any sense to me. They’re being made up by all the wrong people” (The Graduate). The next thing I would like to look at is the contrast in Ben’s costuming from the beginning of the film to after his affair. In the beginning the film Ben is dressed very clean cut, in suits and dinner jackets. He seems to be constricted by the clothing as well. However, in the scenes right after his affair with Mrs. Robinson we see a big change in his wardrobe. He wears light lose shirts, and spends most of his time in his bathing suit in the pool. He also seems to move much slower and more relaxed. I feel this is supposed to show how Ben is angry with himself inside for what he has done, but being lost and not knowing what he wants in life it is like he is giving up. The Graduate has many other examples of contrast and parallels and they are used to tell the story. This is probably why it has become an example of classic film making.