The Graduate

1. In class we talked about The Graduate. The film was released in 1967 and was directed by Mike Nichols. Mike Nichols is one of 12 people to win all the major American entertainment awards, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from AFI in 2010. Mike Nichols won the Oscar for Best Director for The Graduate. He is also married to ABC anchor, Diane Sawyer. The Graduate was written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham. The film grossed $40 million in the box office. We also discussed the Academy Awards the film was nominated for and won. The Graduate was nominated for 8 Oscars such as: Best picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. The film won the Academy Award for Best Director. We then discussed Dustin Hoffman's career and all the Oscars he won and was nominated for. Hoffman won the Oscar for Best Actor in Kramer vs. Kramer and Best Actor for Rain Man which was his best performance. He was also nominated for The Graduate, Lenny, Tootsie, Wag the Dog, and Midnight Cowboy. We also talked about Anne Bancroft. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker. We also discussed Katharine Ross and her other memorable roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Stepford Wives. We discussed how The Graduate was one of the first youth rebellion films. It also asked the question, "what to do after graduation?" The film consisted of obvious camera shots and cutting. It used the awareness of film as intrusive art. The film also had overlapping sound and dialogue and overlapping action. We also discussed that the soundtrack of the film was performed by Simon and Garfunkel.

2. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/18530/The-Graduate/articles.html#06
I found an article written by Rob Nixon titled "Why The Graduate is Essential. The article discusses how The Graduate is still an iconic film in pop culture having been released more then 40 years ago. The article discussed how the film is a "sharp satire of the younger generation breaking free of the stultifying hypocrisy of their parents,"(Nixon). The article also concentrates on the ending scene of the film. It discusses people's reactions to the final scene of the film. Some believe it is "an expression of love winning the day even as it faces an uncertain future,"(Nixon). The article also discussed how the final scene was one of things Mike Nichols liked most about the film. It also discusses how Nichols believes the film is not all about the "Generation Gap." The article also discusses Dustin Hoffman and how he went on to becoming one of greatest actors of our time.  

3.After reading the article my perception of the film changed a little bit. The article helped me realize more about how the film is an example of the youth rebellion and younger generation breaking free. It also helped me realize how much of an impact the film still has after have been released over 46 years ago. The article also discussed people's reactions to the end scene of the film which I myself was confused about and reading the article helped me understand it better.

4. I felt The Graduate was great film. It was very funny and I enjoyed it very much. The Graduate is very important in film history. It put Dustin Hoffman on the map and he went on to becoming one of the greatest of our time. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars and won the Oscar for Best Director, Mike Nichols. The film was a box office hit. It is placed at #7 on AFI's Top 100 Best Films of All Time. The Graduate was also a film that made it aware that is was a film.