“The Graduate” is one of the most considerable and well-known masterpieces in cinematography. It was filmed and released in 1967 by Mike Nichols, the laureate of such a gratuity as an Oscar. The 1960-s were perfect for the production of “The Graduate,” as this period is generally remembered as a time of high economic growth and general prosperity. During that period, people started gaining wealth and affording more goods and services, and the quality of living conditions significantly increased. It is also when different artists and cultural figures start paying more attention to diverse social and ethical problems. Although the movie does not represent significant changes in art, it does show the demolition of several social prejudices. Firstly, the relationships between an older woman and a younger man cannot exist. Secondly, parents do not influence their children’s relationships. Therefore, it can be concluded that some discrepancies with the established social norms are shown in “The Graduate,” which comes along with a change in society.
Although “The Graduate” may seem quite easy to comprehension, light, and sometimes even funny, it depicts several significant problems that are still urgent in the modern world. These may include people’s envy, a mixture of love, affection, and addiction, as well as the impact of authoritative characters generally experienced by young adults and teenagers. For example, in the movie, Mrs. Robinson’s daughter says, “My father is so upset, you need to understand. I love you but it would never work out” (SkyMTV, 2020, 00:00:17-00:00:25). This means that parents’ opinions often have an impact on their children’s relationships which is a great social dilemma that often causes break ups and misunderstandings. The movie wakes up critical and analytical thinking and subjective opinions about certain behavioral patterns and leads to the estimation of the characters’ actions and decisions. “The Graduate” might bring people to the reflection on their lives and the indirect division of roles in their life situations.
The fact that the film directors decided to depict such social issues in their cinematographic artwork is supported by their beliefs and virtues, as well as the popularity of such topics during the 1960-s. During these years, such movies as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” or “Marry Poppins” were presented to the audience. All of them were oriented on the value of certain traits in people, as well as their inner dilemmas that can find feedback in society. Due to the popularity of such topics as love, freedom, life, kindness, prejudice, and sometimes envy, these themes were reflected in “The Graduate” as well. The movie was filmed as a drama and comedy, and it is clearly depicted in various scenes. A good example of a dramatic situation in the movie is when Mrs. Robinson’s daughter leaves the main character, and her mom says, “Sorry, we will not be able to invite you to the wedding, Mr. Benjamin” (SkyMTV, 2020, 00:02:20-00:02:27). The film’s main director and cast include Mike Nichols, Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, and Katharine Ross who are unfortunately whether gone or in their 80-s at the moment.
However, during the movie’s production, all of them expressed certain beliefs and had their own perception of the situation. For example, the main film director, Mike Nichols, explains his desire to move people with the help of these movies in one of the interviews. He states that the story represented in the movie is somewhat similar to the Hippolytus and Phaedra myth about an older woman and a younger man; hence it has the ability to move people’s souls (Mike Nichols on The Graduate, 2012). It is quite unusual, extemporaneous, and intriguing, although the scenario is quite simple.
In general, Mike Nichols and his co-workers did not plan to make the movie connected with the ongoing political or social events that were urgent at that time. The Vietnam war worried both young and old; therefore, the majority of viewers expected the movie to be reflecting USA’s participation in the belligerence. The fact that “The Graduate” does not contain any remarks on the war made it even more astounding and strengthened its ubiquitous success. For example, in the interview, the film director mentions that college students who appreciated the movie often asked him such a question as “How come it is not about Vietnam?” (Mike Nichols on The Graduate, 2012). Additionally, they tried to figure out his opinion about the situation by saying, “We cannot tell whether you are for or against Vietnam in this movie. What are we supposed to think?” (Mike Nichols on The Graduate, 2012). Hence, it can be concluded that “the Graduate” made a huge impact on society, their minds, and interests, especially on young adults, and was well received by the audience.
In addition to the mentioned above features represented in the movie, “The Graduate” can be considered quite innovative in its filming techniques. For example, the film director explains that all the camera movements, along with special requirements for the operating team, were reviewed in the scenario (Mike Nichols on The Graduate, 2012). This was quite innovative for the 1960-s because the films were not usually made by the implementation of specific filming techniques or effects. Besides this, the soundtrack utilized in the movie was quite unusual for those times. Usually, orchestral music was used as a background to the films. However, Mike Nichols decided to rely on folk-related songs written by one of the most popular duos of that time consisting of Simon and Garfunkel (Doidge, 2018). Therefore, the implementation of such innovations, as well as a perfect cast and a talented film director in the face of Mike Nichols, led the masterpiece to enormous success and admiration.
References
Doidge, K. M. (2018). The pop innovations of a 50-year-old soundtrack. The Atlantic. Web.
Mike Nichols on The Graduate. (2012). TimeOut. Web.
SkyMTV. (2020). The Graduate – Mrs. Robinson [Video]. YouTube. Web.