The Graduate Ending

The ending to The Graduate was one of the best endings to a movie I have ever seen.  Ben drove all the way to Santa Barbara and snuck into the overlook of the wedding and he started to scream Elaine's name, the shot of that scene was a great one because it gave a view from Elaine's view and all you see is Ben's silhouette.  This shot was a very intense one to watch because we see that all the audience of the wedding is screaming at Ben and Elaine for running away.  Also the scene where they get onto the bus and they are so happy that they got away and that they can start a new life together, but the director never said cut so when the actors thought that the scene was over it immediately became awkward and you can just feel the tension between them and it seems like they aren't sure what they are going to do after they get home.

The Graduate

Overall, The Graduate was one of my favorite movies that we have watched in the class. Putting the plot aside, there were so many effective cinematic techniques used in order to enhance the quality of the film, and its ability to reach the audience. One of the more underrated features of the film in my mind was the pool scene, when the camera alternated between the above-water shot, and the below-water shot. Along with the visual display, the audio in this scene was impressive. When Benjamin was above the water, the music was loud and clear, the music that was presumably being played outside of the pool. When he was under the water, however, the music could still be heard, but in a very faint and muffled manner. I just wanted to touch on this interesting aspect of the film. Additionally, I thought that the progression of Benjamin’s character throughout the course of the film was both impressive and interesting—the director did an outstanding job chronicling Benjamin’s maturation. Benjamin is an awkward character, in the beginning and in the end. But we do see him build some degree of self-confidence and courage as time progresses in the film. When Mrs. Robinson starts seducing Benjamin, he really does not know how to react. Rather than standing up for himself, he ultimately leaks his vulnerability to Mrs. Robinson and allows for it to happen. After he loses his virginity, however, he has the confidence to stand up to Mrs. Robinson’s face, stop the affair. Then, he himself goes for Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, stops the wedding, and has the courage and self-confidence to get the girl himself, something that I do not think he had the interest nor the degree of confidence to do earlier in the film. It is a feel-good story with a great plot that is executed through the use of effective cinematic techniques.

The Graduate Blog Post

The Graduate is an American comedy-drama that uses interesting camera techniques as well as original ideas to create a film considered to be an all time great. Much of the beginning of the movie is shot in a cold, dark way, with little or none up close and personal shots. It is meant to convey the confusion and lack of emotion Ben feels at the start. Another notable shot comes in the underwater shot when Ben's parents make him show off family how he can go underwater in a divers suit. The shot of him standing blankly in his kitchen is one of the most famous shots of all time, and very recognizable. The shot of him underwater just standing there conveys the sense that Ben is out of his depth, and he doesn't know where to go from here. There is also originality that the viewer might not notice but actually plays an important role in the movie. In the last scene, Ben and Elaine sit in the back of a bus after running away from her wedding with another man. However, the director never tells them to cut even though they expect it, creating an interesting sequence of almost awkward facial expressions that makes the viewer realize that Ben and Elaine are in fact human, and the reality that the ran away from a wedding begins to set in.

The Graduate

The Graduate in 1967, which was even before our parents generation. This was deemed one of the funniest comedies in America at that time; however, nowadays we might interpret comedy a little bit differently. When we refer to comedies nowadays, we refer to major punch lines from the main characters. When comedies were created in the 1960's, the interpretation was a little different. Roger Ebert wrote, "the audience is the target of the joke, and the funny events do not happen in the movie -- they are the movie." That is what the young british directors were looking to accomplish when making this film.

The main character Ben started off as a young business man straight out of college with a decent amount of money and a bright future ahead of him. After becoming caught up in all the chaos with his parents and graduating, Ben makes a mistake. He sleeps with his family friend. Throughout the play we see the awkwardness of Ben, but also his determination to get what he wants. Bens sequence of events of his life and the events in the movie, are the funny events that are aimed at the audience. After Ben has an affair with his family friends mother, he pursues the daughter. This sequence of events is outrageous yet hilarious. 

The Graduate

I thought the music choice for this movie, The Graduate, was very interesting. I found that the song called “The Song of Silence” was played multiple times throughout the movie, several times in a row. I noticed that it was played when the main character, Benjamin, was unsure of what to do. One of the times it played was at the end of the film when Benjamin & Elaine left the wedding which was a time of peace for the both of them, particularly Benjamin. I think this song represented the times of peace of him because not only did it play then in the final scene, but it also played when he was in his pool and there no other outside noise and Benjamin was unsure of what to do. Even though I was not a fan of the song and repetition in it, I found the meaning behind it interesting. I also found it interesting how the movie began with a close up on his face, to establish that he was the main character, and then the camera zoomed out to reveal that he was on a plane blending in with emotionless people. The following shot was has Benjamin emotionless while standing on a moving walkway – this shows that not only is he surrounded by emotionless people, but he, too, is emotionless. His facial expression is so emotionless it is almost robotic. I find it interesting how this is how his character is established in the beginning, but he completely changes by the end of the movie.

The Graduate

I'm not really sure how I felt about the main character, Benjamin, in The Graduate. He was awkward. It is still unclear to me why exactly he chose to sleep with Mrs. Robinson. Perhaps he liked Elaine the whole time and felt it was a way to get closer to her. Maybe, it was because he was in the rebellious stage after graduating. I think it was both. Although, I don't think he was consciously doing it, he had reasons for his affair. In a place of pressure and confusion over his future, he needed something that was constant, something that he had control over. And, Mrs. Robinson was just that. When he called her to the hotel, she came right away. It seems although everything was on his terms. Except of course, until he wants to have a conversation with her. This is the true turning point in the movie. When she refuses to have a conversation with him he realizes what he's been doing the whole time. I think the power had kind of gotten to his head and as soon as it was gone he came back to reality. For Elaine, I think he obviously knew how he had felt about her for awhile. They were childhood friends so clearly they knew each other pretty well. I don't believe their date was the first time he ever thought about her, and Mrs. Robinson was just an older version of Elaine. I'm not exactly sure why Mrs. Robinson does not want Benjamin seeing Elaine, but I do think she turns out to be the "villain" in this movie. All in all, The Graduate was a good very and did a great job of taking a funny concept and underlying it with a serious concept (of graduating, of course).

The Sound of Silence

I thought the music was extremely interesting throughout the entire movie. I think to have the same type of music playing in different occasions, depending on what is going on adds to the emotional part of the movie. Something that I notices was the song 'The Sound of Silence" only played a few times all representing Benjamin not knowing what to do. It played when Ben was in the pool and there was no outside noise that was chirping in telling Ben what he has to do. That pool scene was one of the only times that Ben had no outside influence. A time of peace. It also played at the end after Ben and Elaine left the wedding. Something I also noticed before the song came on was that the sound was actually muted or edited out. Ben was going against what everyone wanted him to do and he was not going to listen to what people are going to say. He enjoys the Sound of Silence.