Blast some your favorite Mikey jam today, kids (mine's "They Don't Care About Us"). And pay your respects to a bona fide legend. Now, on to this week's Saviors of Cinema pick-
THE GRADUATE
The 25: Countercultural masterwork with so much to say it leaves you speechless.
"You ever heard of this one?", a thoroughly religulous relative who will remain anonymous once asked as he caught sight of this week's film on a DVD store shelf. "It's about sluts. Do you know what those are? Loose people. And people who watch this...they turn into loose people, too." From that moment on, I think, I knew watching The Graduate would be one of the great movie-viewing experiences of my lifetime. And indeed it was. This is a rare thing-a Talking Movie. Not just one with recorded dialogue, but one that speaks honestly (at times, ruthlessly) and intelligently about common experiences, emotions, and thoughts; disillusionment, lust, fear of aging, generation gaps, unfair standards, young-adult ennui. Oh, and it's funny as hell.
You know the plot, I bet; recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, in his game-changing debut perf, still one of his best) carries on a torrid summer affair with a much older family friend, the slinky Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft, in one of the greatest performances of all time), then breaks her heart by committing to a true, deep relationship with her daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross). The film could get by on story alone-it's filled with twists and turns and great situational comedy and drama. That makes it a very good movie. What makes it great is its willingness to sink its teeth into great themes most films merely nibble at. Classic literature is expected to be about more than what's on the page-great books revel in deeper meaning. But film is often held to lower expectations-we just ask that it entertain us, let us have some good laughs or expel some cathartic tears here in the dark. But at its best, it can convey thoughts as brilliant and worthy of discussion as anything Hawthorne or Hemingway ever wrote, while still steeping us in the visual and aural awesomeness unique to the art. The characters in The Graduate represent much more than themselves. Their actions are as much social commentary as they are advancers of plot. And in those shockingly and appropriately ambiguous last 30 seconds of perhaps the most famous ending in American movies (I dare not spoil it), this one cuts to the heart of what it means to grow up in the modern world.
I have saved my favorite thing about the film for last. No, it's not the Simon and Garfunkel score, though about half of their most famous (and best) songs were written specifically for this picture. Nor is it the kick of seeing how many films were influenced by what started here-Garden State, Up in the Air, and Rushmore, to name a few. It's the way reliably pyschotic and reliably brilliant director Mike Nichols makes every single image count for something. Each self-contained shot carries as much subtext as any sentence of a Great American Novel. Take for example the way Benjamin is reflected in glass, photographed from the outside of phone booths, filmed from the inside of a scuba diving suit (long story)-it's as if the whole world has conspired to trap him. Notice how Elaine is often situated between Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin, separating them both literally and figuratively. And don't even get me started on the use of that cross in the wedding scene. No wonder he won the Oscar! This movie is a flawless, paradigm-smashing triumph. Were I still making a numerical list, this would've ranked 7th or 8th best. Ever. So here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Mason loves you more than you will know. (Whoah, whoah, whoah....)
The Singular Scene: Benjamin's month-long affair starts, grows, and peaks-all within about three minutes of spectacularly designed jump cuts set to S&G's musical crown jewel, "The Sound of Silence".
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