The Graduate (1967)

I'm not saying the IMDB top 250 is an objective guide to film canonization, but it is interesting to see Mike Nichols' The Graduate on that list. Simon & Garfunkel performs the famous soundtrack and, during some peak moments, the film is driven by a restless energy. The first 15 minutes of this film, in which the all-American family ideal is slashed to pieces, are actually pretty funny. The cross-waving at the very end is a moment of brilliance.

But, on the other hand, I suspect this is a movie that hasn't aged well (I'd rather watch Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf). I see nothing "liberating" about this film - on the contrary, it is entirely steeped in the very thinking it attempts to oppose (and, hey, the same goes for Closer, a much later Nichols film, in which the most exciting moment appears when they show a picture of philosophers GEM Anscombe and Peter Geach, "a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully"). The story contains embarrassing holes: pre-Rain man Hoffman goes from shy kid to self-assured lover boy and world-weary cassanova in an instance. And how does this magical transformation take place? Yep, the virginal piece of flesh got laid (the Swedish title: Mandomsprovet). I have a hard time grasping what the film tries to do (except depicting women as pathological (sexual) nutcases or pure objects of desire). Of course Nichols explores a young man's rebellion against a suburbanite society that wants him to decide on careers and girlfriends. But, in the end, the film is based on a very traditional boy-meets-girl blueprint even though the love story builds upon the obligatory external obstacle (a middle-agaed female alcoholic, mother of the love-interest, former lover of our hero). My overall impression of The Graduate is that it is a creepy film, and not in a good way.

PS: Mrs. Robinson, Bancroft, owns this film - outclassing every other actor and even her own lines.