UPDATE 2016-11-25: This is not the final review of this film. It has been amended with an “Upon Further Consideration” article. Click here to read the newer review.
Wow. The 1967 classic The Graduate is quite an interesting film. It seems to me to be like a play that was adapted to film in the best way possible, even though I know it was actually based on a book, not a play. While I have not read the book, I can say that the movie’s writing makes the story very interesting, mostly because of the personalities of the characters that experience these events. While the writing does an excellent job at making Mrs. Robinson devious, Benjamin and Elaine likable, and all of the other main characters interesting, it is the acting that makes these characters so powerful. After all, any movie that casts Mr. Feeny of Boy Meets World as a father, or just about any role, knows how to pick actors that will be interesting to watch.
The brilliant mix of drama and comedy that ultimately has a somewhat melancholy tone is easy to attribute to just the writing, but one must not forget how huge of a role the directing, cinematography, and music played. It’s always hard to tell what exactly a director did for a film, but whatever this director did he did right, aside from the fact that the movie could get kind of slow at times. The music did an amazing job at setting the tone of the film, and Simon and Garfunkel were just the perfect people to do this music. The cinematography provides viewers with such interesting shots and visuals, symbols and transitions, and much more, which makes the film very artistic and beautiful. I don’t totally relate to the characters or the story, and the pacing does bother me a little, but overall, this film really, really impressed me.
