Buried Treasures: The Graduate

Eighteen months ago, I awoke to the news that longtime motion picture director Mike Nichols had passed away at the age of 83. The knock against Nichols was always that, as a director, he never developed a signature style; that he often directed Hollywood fluff, softened for the masses. To an extent, that criticism is fair. But it wasn’t always so.

Nichols began his career in the early 1960s, pairing with another future director, Elaine May, as the most cerebral comedy duo of the day. Later, Nichols turned his talents to directing for stage, screen and television. His first four motion pictures were four of the greatest and most important films in history. Imagine this: For his 1966 debut, he chose to film a screen adaptation of Edward Albee’s erudite play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” starring the accomplished on-again / off-again husband-and-wife duo of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Filmed in stark black-and-white, “Virginia Woolf” exposed an intelligent, intoxicating marriage deteriorating before our eyes in an alcoholic spiral of deceit and rage. Taylor won the Best Actress Oscar that year; Burton should have won Best Actor. The two were dynamite, if somewhat difficult to watch, and Nichols instantly earned a spot amongst the great directors of the day.

But I’d like to spend the next three months discussing his next three pictures. These are three of the classics that changed American filmmaking for the better, and broadened the use of film as an artistic medium — “The Graduate,” “Catch-22” and “Carnal Knowledge.”

For each of these films, Nichols incorporated a close-up European New Wave style a la Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut. The lack of establishing shots and handheld camera technique were new to American audiences, and the baby-boomer generation ate it up. Why? Because the European style differed so drastically from the films of their parents’ generation. And because anything European (read: not American) was considered cool back then. (After all, the U.S. was the evil country invading the sovereign nation of North Vietnam — not the European countries.)

During the heyday of the Hollywood studios (roughly 1935 to 1965), motion pictures were primarily shot on studio backlots, and the cinematography made it look as though we were watching a stage play. Actors typically spoke emphatically and with a highly articulated delivery. Usually the speaker and the character to whom he or she was speaking were centered within the shot. Action scenes were almost always filmed (at least initially) from a distance — ensuring we saw the size of the event and the number of people involved. Medium close-ups would follow, but the camera would always re-establish the landscape for us. Heroes and villains were always clearly defined. Hollywood writers and directors made certain we understood the messages and morals they intended to convey.

Then came Godard, Truffaut and, by extension, Nichols. His second feature was perhaps the most important movie of the American baby-boomer generation. “The Graduate” altered Hollywood so drastically it would lose its innocence forever. A young, vibrant Dustin Hoffman cemented his place among the great actors of our time with a virtuoso performance as a confused, directionless college graduate searching for love and meaning in a rapidly changing world. Hoffman’s character, Ben, obviously represented the young generation. In one of the most representative scenes, Ben’s parents ask him to dress up in his new scuba diving suit during a neighborhood party in their backyard. In defiance, Ben dons the scuba gear, jumps in the pool, sinks to the bottom and sits there — exemplifying the paradigm of the generational movement.

Seduced by Mrs. Robinson (a sinister Anne Bancroft), a lonesome, yet malevolent, friend of his parents, Ben maintains a summertime affair with her while simultaneously falling for her daughter, Elaine (a young and beautiful Katharine Ross). Elaine noticeably has more in common with Ben than her mother does.

This setup was a little unconventional as well, and the prominent sexual discourse and plot contributed to the Motion Picture Association of America's adoption of a rating system the following year. Again, the younger generation loved the sexual theme — in part because its discussion and practice were considered taboo by their elders. Boomers could also amalgamate Mrs. Robinson with the despised generation of their immediate ancestors. She represented everything they hated about those over 40 — conventional social mores set against an often secretly conniving backdrop (metaphorically depicting the older generation sending their brothers and confidants to die in a war they neither supported nor embraced).

“The Graduate” prominently featured the music of Simon & Garfunkel, the pop / folk duo whose masterful, poetic wordsmith, Paul Simon, had already assumed the unofficial position of Poet Laureate of a Generation. "The Sound of Silence” perfectly encompassed Ben’s feelings, and “Mrs. Robinson” (which wasn’t even completed by the film’s release date) sarcastically poked fun at those over 40. “The Graduate” would have still been a classic without the Simon & Garfunkel music, but oh, did Nichols ring the proverbial bell by including it!

You may wonder why I’m suggesting “The Graduate” for viewing almost a half-century after its release. From the point of view of a film critic, I’m offering it as a paean to a great director who brought a new style to American filmmaking — a style hardly ever used anymore. Sure, many of today’s films are shot with handheld cameras, but often in an “NYPD Blue” sort of way — to denote a harried, pressure-cooker of a particular setting. Nichols used it to fly in the face of conventional filmmaking. When Hoffman runs, the cameraman runs with him — quite literally next to him — allowing us to practically feel the sweat running down his face while simultaneously eliminating his immediate surroundings.

But I also offer “The Graduate” to today’s teens and young adults. Every generation must break away from that which immediately precedes it. When “The Graduate” is shown on college campuses, it still elicits cheers. You’ll love it. It’s one of the most important American films ever made, and if it makes you want to download “Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits,” more power to it!

Andy Ray's reviews of current films appear on http://www.artschannelindy.com/