The Godfather

The Godfather

The Graduate

The Graduate

1.      Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols was released in 1967. Nichols was one of only twelve people to have won the major American entertainment awards. These prestigious awards include a Tony, Oscar, Grammy, and an Emmy. He won the Academy for the Graduate; the big winner of the year went to The Heat of the Night. The filmed starred Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, Katherine Ross as Elaine, and Dustin Hoffman as Ben. The camera focus helps set the stage for Benjamin’s transition into adult hood. In the beginning they use tight framing to illustrate the nervousness and stressed out Ben. His voice is not demanding and cracks at times, he sounds unsure of himself; he doesn’t smoke, and appears to be nervous a lot of the time. The cameras angles help illustrate how unsure he is about his future. Towards the end after Ben sleeps with Mrs. Robinson and dates Elaine he becomes more confident. The camera shows more of a wide angle at this point. He starts to dress more “hip” and causal, he drinks more, and starts to smoke and he becomes more rebellious. It is a sign of how he begins to grow up. The film was one of the first true rebellion movies and portrays how graduates feel after Graduation. 

2.      Find a related article and summarize the content.

The article I found was titled “The Graduate” written by a North Carolina film student Benton J.  He gives an analysis of the coming of age. He states the film deals with sex and relationship in a way that was not yet presented in film yet to that point. Benton also declares it paves the way for other films for generation to come and was one of the best performances still do this day.  To find out more check out, http://www.unc.edu/~jbenton/Graduate_Analysis.html

"The Graduate Critical Analysis." The Graduate Critical Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.

3.      Apply the article to the film screened in class.

In Brentons’s analysis of the film, “The Graduate” he states the film is, “A deadpan comedy of the blackest variety” (Brenton). Brandon was describing the film to focus on the idea of sex and the idea of, “what happens after graduation.”  He believes the film was revolutionary for the

Film industry. The 60’s was a time for film where the industry was no longer restrained by the rules of the MPAA. Directors were allowed to freely create anything they wanted on the film, so they pushed the boundaries and The Graduate illustrates this change of the film industry.  Before this, an older woman, a mother, would not be seducing a young college boy. It was deemed scandalous and unheard of for film before this.  Not to mention a lot of the sexual acts were performed out of wedlock.

            Brenton depicts film was geared for the younger generation: “Everything, from the soundtrack, to the editing style, to the cinematography, to the soundtrack in particular, were specifically focused towards the youth of America. The music Performed by Simon and Garfunkle, a popular band of the era, the soundtrack rang true with the youthful generation of the late 1960’s” (Branton). He believes the music set the tone for the film. It created the energy and sprit of the film by playing the music of the young generation. To entertain the young generation masses the film appeared to be ridiculous at times but stayed grounded to reality of man growing into adult hood.

            The article goes on to discuss Mike Nichols’ directing style throughout the film. Branton states the film had a modern feel, as boundaries were pushed that were never before. The film had different cuts and at times the camera appeared to be disconnected from the film. It had a voyeuristic style making the audience feel as an outsider looking in.

4.      Write a critical analysis of the film.

In Mike Nichols’ film The Graduate (1967) the film surrounds itself around the central theme of social rebellion. It focuses on the recent graduate, Benjamin Braddock, a young man unsure of what his future holds. The very idea of entering adult makes his whole demeanor appear to be anxious and uncertain. His high expectation from his parents drive him into very adult like situations. He has an affair with an older woman, Mrs. Robinson, the complete opposite of Ben. While she is secure and confident he is anything but at this time. The encounters between the two illustrate the generation gap of the young adults and adults. Their entire sexual relationship is set to her rules. She appears to be well experience, he does not. Even when Ben is seen talking to Mr. Robinson, he doesn’t seem to understand Benjamin. Whenever he sees Ben he pours him the wrong drink, no matter how many times Ben tells him what his drink of choice really is. The 1960s counterculture casts a shadow over the entire film. Younger generation didn’t trust the older one, either.

      The film was obviously geared towards the younger generation. The older generation was not painted in the best picture. For example, Ben’s parents appeared to always want to show off. They had a large party for when Ben graduated, even though it was clear he did not want to socialize at the time. When they bought Ben scuba gear, they forced him to show it off to all of his friends. When he wanted to just go out and let off steam, they could not understand it. Mr. Robinson was portrayed to be dimwitted. It was not till the very end of the film he realized Ben had a relationship with his wife. Then there was Mrs. Robinson who was clearly painted as the villain. Not only was she an adulterous, she was inappropriately sleeping with a young man much younger than she. This could be deemed as someone wiser taking advantage of a confused young man. The end of the film the parents really appear to be villains. They refuse for their daughter Elaine and Ben to marry and force her into a marriage she clearly was not interested in. The two had to fight of “the villains” which was really just the older generation. Once again, the film was highlighting the confusion of the two generations.  By the end of the film, it clearly did not matter how Elaine and Ben ended up. Whether they are right for each other or will have a happy life together is not the issue; what is important is that they fought their parents and emerged victorious.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM

1) (  x) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) (  x) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) (  x) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) (  x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) (  x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) (  x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) (  x) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) (  x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name: Jacqueline McGrath Date: 4/4/14

Gone with the Wind (Extra Credit)

Casablanca

Film Journal Four

Journal Three

Journal 2