Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31747 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-06-26
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Few films have defined a generation as The Graduate did. The alienation, the non-conformity, the intergenerational romance, the blissful Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack--they all served to lob a cultural grenade smack into the middle of 1967 America, ultimately making the film the third most profitable up to that time. Seen from a later perspective, its radical chic has dimmed a bit, yet it's still a joy to see Dustin Hoffman's bemused Benjamin and Anne Bancroft's deliciously decadent, sardonic Mrs. Robinson. The script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham is still offbeat and dryly funny, and Mike Nichols, who won an Oscar for his direction, has just the right, light touch. --Anne Hurley, Amazon.com

Special Features
2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 9
German\Italian\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Surround English German Italian Spanish
Dolby Surround
Original Theatrical Trailer
Picture Gallery
Scene Access
English\German\Italian\Portuguese\Spanish\Turkish

Virgin Film Guide
The Graduate is a flawlessly acted and produced film.

Customer Reviews

Classic 60's movie
The Graduate has become a classic film, one that makes all those ‘top 100 film’ lists. It stars a young Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, a young man from a wealthy family, who has just graduated from college. He is in limbo, unsure of what to do with his time and where life will lead him. The Robinson’s are his parents’ best friends and it is their daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) who Ben’s parents have earmarked as a partner for their son. However Mrs Robinson (played by a brilliantly predatory Anne Bancroft) has other plans and is set on seducing the naïve young man. When Elaine returns from college, Ben falls for her and ends his relationship with her mother. Predictably Mrs Robinson reacts with hostility and sets out to ruin both his relationship with her daughter and his life.
Simon and Garfunkle provide the music in their inimitable style and the title song, Mrs Robinson, was a huge hit for them. Director Mike Nichols managed, in this film, to capture the feel and mood of the 60’s flawlessly and he deservedly won an Oscar for his work. The DVD itself has few extras, a documentary by the director, interview with Hoffman, some trailers and the usual subtitles. The picture and sound quality are good, what you would expect from the format. This is a film that has stood the test of time and is still worth watching today.

Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
This is one of the defining films of my generation, and of course I saw it when it came out in 1967. Seeing it again after all these years I was struck by both how funny it is and by the brittle, cynical and brilliant performance by Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson. She really is flawless in a part that might easily lend itself to overacting. Instead she is subtle, controlled, focused, and authentic in a way that is both sexy and chilling with just a hint of ironic humor. The maternal manner with which she treats virginal Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman in a breakout role) emphasizes the creepy, almost incestuous nature of their sterile affair.

Mike Nichols has directed a number of sexual/relationship comedies, including Carnal Knowledge (1971), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Nora Ephron's Heartburn (1986) and Carrie Fisher's Postcards from the Edge (1990). Nichols's films typically feature talented and charismatic actors and actresses who explore in a deceptively humorous manner the dark side of our human nature. The humor usually has an edgy quality while the taboo elements are somehow resolved into happy endings as in a musical comedy. Nichols likes to work with material from another medium and make it his own. Typically, The Graduate is adapted from the novel by Charles Webb. Nichols also likes to feature cutting edge popular music in the score. What we hear in the background and played over the opening credits is Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence." Of course Paul Simon wrote the song "Mrs. Robinson" for this movie, but what I didn't realized until now is his "It's all happening at the zoo" was probably inspired in part by the zoo scene in this film.

Dustin Hoffman's confused and drifting Benjamin, worried about his future and suffocated by his parents' generation, knocked everybody out in those days with his dead-panned, literal delivery of one-liners, some of which were written by Buck Henry, who plays the desk clerk at the rendezvous hotel. I especially loved Ben's answer when his father, enquiring about his Quixotic plan to marry Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross), asks, "Isn't this a half-baked idea?" In dead seriousness, Benjamin says, "No, sir. It's completely baked."

Memorable is Norman Fell (whom most of us recall from TV's long-running comedy, Three's Company) in a small part as the landlord of the Berkeley rooming house. He is of course a past master at dead-panning one-liners; in fact, he is a master at mute dead-panning. One of the funniest bits in the movie is when the camera catches his face as Elaine's father comes out of Ben's room spewing obscenities and insults at Ben.

What we loved about this movie was the youthful point of view; the wonderful chase scene at the end, a Hollywood staple made fresh; the sympathetic character of Benjamin with whom we could readily identify; the cliché-ridden and shallow parents being slyly made fun of; and the sense of getting what we want out of life and doing it our own way. This is a coming-of-ager and a romance and a social satire rolled into one, and a classic Hollywood movie that no afficionado would want to miss.

But see this for Anne Bancroft, a brilliant and perhaps underrated actress in one of her most memorable roles.

"The Graduate" - The Film That Defined My Generation
I don't know if every generation has one particular film that defines it, but Mike Nichols' "The Graduate" is the one which defines mine. This masterpiece, with its themes of alienation, idealism, social consciousness, cultural and generation gaps, and the extraordinary music of Simon & Garfunkel, brings back strong and poignant memories of life in the late 1960s and early '70s. Many of the issues the movie addresses, however, are still relevant today.

Benjamin Braddock, (superbly portrayed by Dustin Hoffman), has just graduated from college. A confused young man who is awkwardly making the transition between adolescence to adulthood, he is totally unsure of what to do with his future, let alone what to do next. As the film begins, the Braddocks are throwing a party for their son, the successful new grad. All his parents' financially secure and affluent friends are there to celebrate. Benjamin is not one of the happy participants, however. He returns to his room as if it were the womb, and watches the aquarium. It seems as if he longs for comfort and clarity, but doesn't know how to express himself or whom to ask. He attempts to talk with his father to no avail. He will spend much of the summer like this, contemplating the tropical fish and his future - which he sure doesn't want to be "in plastics."

Benjamin is expected to enter the bland suburban Californian society that his folks move in, filled with unhappy relationships, materialistic brinkmanship, and manicured lawns. He doesn't know what he wants to do, but he definitely knows what he doesn't want. Enter the famous Mrs. Robinson, and may I say BRAVO Anne Bancroft! Bored and unfulfilled, she is married to Benjamin's father's business partner. She obviously feels that Ben can temporarily alleviate her situation when she seduces him - or attempts to. He is initially unbelieving and reluctant, but persuadable. Filled with self-loathing, he continues the affair, which only punctuates his ineptness and his emptiness.

Elaine Robinson, (Katherine Ross), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, is about to come home from college. Benjamin is forbidden to date her, by his lover, who happens to be her mother. Talk about incestuous! Of course the now jaded Benjamin and the fresh, lovely Elaine will go out, fall in love, and you'll have to see the movie for the rest. The conclusion is brilliant.

Anne Bancroft, in her gorgeous prime, is perfect as Mrs. Robinson. She is also sad, sarcastic, manipulative, at times really b*tchy, brittle in her beauty, and vulnerable in the role. If it were real life I would have asked her what she was doing with the virginal nerd, when she could do so much better!

The film holds up so well today, not only because of the brilliant acting, direction and screenplay, but because the Graduate's problems are not dissimilar from what many youths experience now. Nichols won the Best Director award for this movie. His pacing is fluid, and his imagery metaphorical, at times chillingly so. Writers Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, (working from Charles Webb's novel), did a remarkable job with their satirical, off-beat screenplay. Simon and Garfunkel songs, including "Scarborough Fair" and "The Sounds of Silence," give the film a wonderful lyrical tone.

A five-minute interview with Dustin Hoffman and a fascinating documentary "The Graduate at 25" make up the extra features on the DVD, along with a limited edition 64-page book with production notes and a collection of articles and reviews from the original theatrical release.

I remember watching "The Graduate" for the first time in 1968, and really relating. What can I say? I was young! Naive as this may sound, I did identify with the feelings stirred by the movie and performances. I still do, very much...no matter how retro. Now after almost 40 years, this is a classic!
JANA