Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3456 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-09-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Synopsis
Director Mike Nichols's THE GRADUATE is the satirical coming-of-age comedy that became an emotional touchstone for an entire generation. In the late 1960s, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a confused college graduate, is pulled in myriad directions by family, friends, and associates just days after receiving his degree. Seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), an older friend of the family, Ben carries on an affair with the married woman even as he falls for her daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross). However, Ben and Elaine's attempts at romance are threatened by the spiteful rage of Mrs. Robinson, who proceeds to hastily arrange Elaine's marriage to another boy, leading up to one of the most memorable endings in cinema history.
With its striking photography and clever editing, THE GRADUATE established Nichols as a major director. The film also made a star out of young Hoffman, who gives an understated portrayal of the perplexed Ben--the actor's first role in a Hollywood film, which he almost didn't get because he wasn't Waspy enough. Outstanding performances by the rest of the cast are highlighted by Bancroft's sexy, embittered turn as Mrs. Robinson and Ross's endearing presence as the gorgeous yet innocent Elaine. The film's impact on popular culture is immeasurable: "Plastics" will live on eternally as depressing but solid career advice, and older women will never eye younger men without fear of becoming a "Mrs. Robinson." Buck Henry (who appears briefly in the film) cowrote the influential screenplay, based on the novel by Charles Webb, and the soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel remains a movie classic.

Customer Reviews

AVANT GARDE AND SEXUAL SATIRE FROM SIXTIES

Mike Nichols cast Dustin Hoffman against the reigning hollywood stereotype of the californian youth as Robert Redford was the studio favourite to essay this and revolutionised American cinema forever heralding a leading man who was ordinary and devoid of the mannerisms or stylistic devices .

As the pinnacle of an upper middle class american youth Hoffman brought a fresh approach to the bourgeois hollywood cliches and introduced the non traditionally anti -hero who lazes unabashed in his parents swimming pool while ignoring their laments and then gets himself seduced by the family friend Mrs.Robinson who not only robs him of his virginity but rewards American cinema with one of the best female characterisation ever as a feline temptress definitively defined by ANNE BANCROFT .

Hoffman is a diffident youth adrift mentally and physically who claims he is working on some kind of a future and next falls head over heels for elaine[Katherine Ross ] , the only daughter of his scorned seductress .

Mrs.Robinson sabotages their short live love affair and Elaine runs away in disgust after discovering the incestuous truth ,as she decides to enter an arranged marriage our feckless graduate shows some signs of distress and strife and the rebel comes out in full glory contrary to the indifferent insolent youth in the earlier phase .

This is a milestone in american cinema as a sexual satire and a delightful romp on the swinging sixties but when you observe it closely the truth here is depicted as a bored bourgeois dysfunctional family is torn apart by an incestuous crisis,the European avant-garde tones and visual style of the movie are set within its bizarre drama and satirical humour but this is totally contemporary and simultaneously timeless in approach as it liberates both the sexes from their conventional suburban existence ,
hoffman is a natural talent who acts as little as possible apposite to the Method approach but Anne Bancroft is greater in her supercilious,arrogant and sexually confident middle aged character portraying the icy ambiguous mother and wife .
the conventional rules here are suffocated in an irreverent comedy of manners and the institution of marriage is shown as redundant in this social milieu where only sex is sacrosanct .
The Simon Garfunkel musical score is evergreen with a lyrical relevance to both the theme and era and is captured by crisp editing and ingenious angles by the sumptuous camerawork .
this is mike Nichols at his cerebral best and he has created a trend-setter not just modifying existing casting rules but innovatively framing his visuals as he observes a consumer culture where an intellect is suffocated by random boredom and lust rules the roost to provide a profane pleasure .
he reviews the morbid traditionalist social values with purposeful uneven images as imposed on screen in a staccato rhythm and delivers an ambiguous inconclusive eternal truth without any shame or inhibitions .

it is paradoxically artistic and entertaining in the most balanced cinematic achievement from america in the sixties and a triumph for the triumvirate of NICHOLS ,BANCROFT AND HOFFMAN

Helped me graduate in life
This is one of those films that as an impact on you that lasts a life time. The music and lessons you can learn here are universal. A fantastic soundtrack, wonderful story and acting. A must see.

All time great
I love the blend of the brilliant performances of Hoffman & Bancroft, the way that the surreal scenes merge with the action in the here and now to perfectly portray Benjamin's state of mind and the wonderful music which provides a poignant backdrop to his alienation.

Watching it again last night, the thing that really struck me was the ending & how it encapsulates the dilemma of young people in every generation, but particularly in the 1960s. In the final scene in the church, Benjamin & Elaine complete their rejection of family, religion & convention. Benjamin has already rejected the established career path his parents wish him to follow. As Elaine & Benjamin sit on the bus, speeding away from all that is familiar, their faces show a mixture of exhiliration & fear. It would have been so easy to just have had them kissing & looking wonderfully happy but the director conveys the sense that when you reject the way your parents have done things, the world is exciting but equally, pretty scary as you have to find your own path.