the graduate film analysis essay

Movie Study: “The Graduate” Essay

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Introduction

Analysis of the film “the graduate”.

It is necessary for filmmakers to use the best tools and ideas in order to make their works spectacular. A good work of art such as a film should have a proper theme, clear message, and at the same time entertain the audience. The film “The Graduate” by Mike Nichols narrates the story of a young man who has just completed college.

At the age of 20, the protagonist realizes that everything is complex and hard than he had thought earlier. This essay therefore explains how the film “The Graduate” utilizes the best aspects of art and design to present useful insights that can help young individuals have a better life. The film achieves this using the best editing, “mise-en-scene”, photography, shots, and storyline.

Summary of the Movie

Mike Nichols is the director of the film “The Graduate”. The 1967 film is based on a novel written by Charles Webb in 1963. The name of the novel is also “The Graduate”.

The actor in the film is Benjamin Braddock, a recent graduate who lacks a clear understanding of life. As a graduate without any aim in life, Braddock decides to befriend an older woman by the name Mrs. Robinson. It is also notable from the film that Mrs. Robinson is married and has a daughter be the name Elaine. Benjamin Braddock eventually falls in love with Elaine, Robinson’s daughter.

From an historical perspective, it is agreeable that the film plays a significant role towards boosting the position of folk-rock in the American society. Produced in the 1960s, the film explores most of the issues that affected the society during the time. Historians and researchers have argued that the film presents a major cultural and historical value to the American people. It adds a sense of beauty to American art and film culture.

The use of various technical aspects of film production has made it a spectacular piece of art. For instance, the producers used the best mise-en-scene, close-shots, long shots, sound track, and editing to present quality scenes to the audience. This has made it easier to deliver the targeted message to the audience.

Lawrence Turman and Joseph Levine produced the film in 1967. The producers managed to present various themes that can educate different members in the society. The first theme in the film is the idea of “coming of age”. In the film, Benjamin and Elaine are two youngsters who are unable to make the best decisions in order to address the issues affecting them. This explains why Benjamin encounters various challenges and obstacles because he is “indecisive” and incapable of coming up with the best solutions.

The theme of “rebellion” is also evident in this film by Mike Nichols. The film presents a “radical mood” whereby Benjamin rebels against many things and ideas in the society.

For instance, he appears to ridicule the existing social norms. This occurs when he befriends Mrs. Robinson after finishing school. He also rebels against the social ideas in the society. As well, the movie demonstrates a strong sense of opposition. This is the case because Benjamin rebels against the ideas of the older generation, social conventions, and the upper class in the society.

The theme of “infidelity” is also evident in the film. This occurs when Mrs. Robinson decides to befriend Benjamin while knowing she was already married to Mr. Robinson. Benjamin goes further to date Elaine without considering the issues and consequences that might arise from the decision.

Although the audience is aware of Benjamin’s thoughts and ideas, it becomes evident that he continues to befriend Elaine in an attempt to achieve his dreams. Benjamin also realizes how the relationship might be horrible. This explains why such kind of indulgence by Benjamin is the most scandalous event in ‘The Graduate”.

Personal Views

The film by Mike Nichols is definitely one of the best works of art ever produced. The film presents a wide range of ideas and concepts that can help individuals live a better life. There are certain factors that make the movie admirable. To begin with, the producers have used the best strategies in order to make the film appealing to the audience.

The film embraces the idea of cast combination in order to make it entertaining. The timing of the film is “perfect” because it explores the issues that affected the American society in the 1960s. This explains why the film captures the “true spirit” of its era.

The other reason why this film is admirable is that it relates closely with its time of production. This explains why many people would consider the film as culturally and aesthetically momentous. As well, the film goes further to present some critical themes and lessons that can help the viewers address most of their problems.

The film explains how young individuals can address most of their issues arising from indecisiveness. The film is also a classical work of art. It is admirable because it employs all aspects of film production such as “editing, mise-en-scene, and close-shots”.

I would also say that most of the parts in the film are attractive. For example, the film begins with Benjamin who has graduated from college. His parents and friends are interested in Benjamin’s plans for either a career or joining school for further studies. The unfolding story reveals most of the challenges facing many people at this age. The director has made the best decisions to make the film successful and entertaining to the targeted audience.

The film conforms to the “Classical Hollywood Narrative” style for film production. Movies that use the style tell a story in a “chronological order”. The style follows a “cause-and-effect” approach. By so doing, the producers have used a principle known as “continuity editing”.

The approach requires that the editing and sounds are “invisible” to the audience. That being the case, the producers gave the “desired attention” to the storyline and not to specific elements such as photography, editing, and sounds. The approach helps the producers and the editor present the best film to the targeted viewers.

The movie “The Graduate” is definitely one of the best works of art produced in the 20 th century. The film narrates a story that is culturally and historically significance. The producers have used the best tools and approaches in order to come up with a classic piece of art.

The film educates people to make appropriate choices in life as they work hard to pursue their dreams. It is agreeable that the film by Mike Nichols presents new ideas, themes, and lessons that can be applied in our lives. Personally, I have found the film meaningful because it combines different aspects of design and production. It also encourages people to make the best decisions and eventually overcome the challenges affecting them.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — The Graduate — Analysis Of Film Techniques In The Graduate By Mike Nichols

Analysis of Film Techniques in The Graduate by Mike Nichols

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The Graduate

“The Graduate,” the funniest American comedy of the year, is inspired by the free spirit which the young British directors have brought into their movies. It is funny, not because of sight gags and punch lines and other tired rubbish, but because it has a point of view. That is to say, it is against something. Comedy is naturally subversive, no matter what Doris Day thinks.

Most Hollywood comedies have non-movie assumptions built into them. One of the most persistent is that movie characters have to react to funny events in the same way that stage actors do. So we get Jerry Lewis mugging. But in the direct style of new British directors, the audience is the target of the joke, and the funny events do not happen in the movie — they are the movie.

This theory is based upon a belief that audiences, having seen hundreds of movies, come into the theater with an instinctive knowledge of film shortland. So the new-style British comedies (“The Knack,” “Morgan,” “ Alfie ,” “ Tom Jones ,” “ A Hard Day's Night “) go against standard practice, and their use of film itself is part of the comedy. When something funny happens, the actors don’t react; the movie itself reacts by what it shows next.

This is the case with “The Graduate,” In which Mike Nichols announces himself as a major new director.

He introduces us to a young college graduate ( Dustin Hoffman ) who returns to a ferociously stupid upper-middle-class California suburb. He would like the chance to sit around and think about his future for several months. You know — think?

His family and their social circle demand that he perform in the role of Successful Young Upward-Venturing Clean-Cut All-American College Grad. At the end of two weeks Benjamin is driven to such a pitch of desperation that he demonstrates a new scuba outfit (birthday present from proud dad) by standing on the bottom of the family pool: Alone at last.

One of his parents’ contemporaries ( Anne Bancroft ) seduces Benjamin, who succumbs mostly out of weariness and disbelief. Then he falls in love with her daughter ( Katharine Ross ), and sets in motion a fantastic chain of events that ends with Miss Ross (just married to a handsome blond Nordic pipe-smoking fraternity boy) being kidnapped from the altar by Benjamin. He jams a cross into the church door to prevent pursuit, and they escape on a bus.

This is outrageous material, but it works in “The Graduate” because it is handled in a straightforward manner. Dustin Hoffman is so painfully awkward and ethical that we are forced to admit we would act pretty much as he does, even in his most extreme moments. Anne Bancroft, in a tricky role, is magnificently sexy, shrewish, and self-possessed enough to make the seduction convincing.

Miss Ross, a newcomer previously seen in “ Games ,” not only creates a character with depth and honesty, but is so attractive that now we know how Ann-Margret would have looked if she had turned out better.

Nichols stays on top of his material. He never pauses to make sure we’re getting the point. He never explains for the slow-witted. He never apologizes. His only flaw, I believe, is the introduction of limp, wordy Simon and Garfunkel songs and arty camera work to suggest the passage of time between major scenes. Otherwise, “The Graduate” is a success and Benjamin’s acute honesty and embarrassment are so accurately drawn that we hardly know whether to laugh or to look inside ourselves.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson
• Katharine Ross as Elaine Robinson
• Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock
• Murray Hamilton as Mrs. Braddock
• Brian Avery as Carl Smith
• William Daniels as Mr. Braddock
• Buck Henry as Room Clerk

Screenplay by

From a screenplay by.

• Calder Willingham

Directed by

• Mike Nichols
• Mike Nichols-Lawrence Turman

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The Graduate

By mike nichols.

• The Graduate Summary

Benjamin Braddock arrives back in Los Angeles by plane, having just graduated from college and with his entire life ahead of him. He is smart, his family is wealthy and he has professional connections through his parents. Nevertheless, Benjamin is unhappy, overwhelmed by a sense of ennui and purposelessness. At home, his family throws him a graduation party, but Ben remains detached and expressionless. Congratulations are tossed his way, and unsolicited advice is administered freely. Overcome with a sense of existential claustrophobia and anxiety, Ben tries to get away, running inside and hiding behind the oversized aquarium in his room.

His bedroom door opens as the wife of his father's law partner, Mrs. Robinson , seems to have mistaken the room for the bathroom. Benjamin directs her to the bathroom, but Mrs. Robinson stays, smoking a cigarette and probing him about his apparent disillusionment, finally asking him if he would drive her home. When they arrive at her house, Benjamin reluctantly accepts her invitation to come in, where she pours drinks, puts on music, and engages in disarmingly candid conversation. It does not take long for Benjamin to realize that Mrs. Robinson is attempting to seduce him. Flatly denying that she is seducing him, Mrs. Robinson asks Benjamin if he’s ever seen the portrait of her daughter Elaine and takes him to Elaine's bedroom to show him. As he looks at the portrait, Mrs. Robinson starts to undress and asks Ben for help with the zipper. Feeling uncomfortable again, Benjamin tries to avoid helping her, but Mrs. Robinson once again assures him that she is not trying to seduce him. Before Benjamin can rush out of the house, Mrs. Robinson calls out for him to retrieve her purse and bring it upstairs. Mrs. Robinson is waiting for him upstairs, naked, and tells him that any time he wants to sleep with her, he can. The sound of a car outside sends Benjamin running past her and into Mr. Robinson downstairs. Mr. Robinson mixes Benjamin a drink and the two discuss Ben’s plans for his future, Mr. Robinson offering some fatherly advice that Ben should lighten up and fool around a little before finding one girl to settle with. As Benjamin leaves, Robinson reminds him that Elaine, their daughter, is coming back from college soon.

At another party thrown by his parents, Benjamin is turning 21 and his parents prepare their guests for the reveal of their big gift to Benjamin: a scuba diving outfit that he will model. Benjamin waddles towards the pool in the scuba suit, before jumping in and sinking to the bottom. In the next scene Benjamin calls Mrs. Robinson to invite her for drinks at the Taft Hotel. She agrees, and upon meeting him there pressures him to get a room for the night. Awkwardly, Ben makes a reservation under the name "Gladstone." After Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin go to the room, he hesitates to make the first move, but when Mrs. Robinson finally taunts him into action by slyly referencing his virginity, they begin a passionate affair.

Ben’s life for the following weeks swings back and forth between bored loafing at home and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson in the hotel room at the Taft. As Ben becomes lazier and lazier, his father questions his aimlessness, asking what he is doing with his life. Ben replies that he is drifting, and his father insists that a time comes in everybody’s life when they need to take stock and become proactive. The next time he’s with Mrs. Robinson in the hotel room, he asks if they can have a conversation rather than rushing in to sex. The conversation reveals that she and Mr. Robinson are no longer intimate, that she gave up a career in art for marriage, and that she only married him because she had gotten pregnant with Elaine. After agreeing to never tell Elaine Mrs. Robinson's secrets, Benjamin suggests that he might ask Elaine out on a date, but Mrs. Robinson expresses vehement opposition. Ben takes Mrs. Robinson's opposition to mean that she doesn’t think he’s good enough for her daughter and gets angry. Mrs. Robinson lures him back into bed by telling Benjamin that she was not implying that at all. After he promises Mrs. Robinson he will not, Benjamin's parents begin to pressure him to ask Elaine out on a date. He struggles to avoid the situation, but when his parents threaten that they will invite the entire Robinson family over for dinner instead, he chooses the lesser of two evils and asks Elaine out. On the night he picks up Elaine, he is met by a stone-faced Mrs. Robinson, smoking in the back room and expressing her disapproval. Ben tries to tell her he was pressured into it by his parents, but she remains cold and bitter.

The date does not go well. Benjamin tries to rush through the evening and behaves rudely to Elaine, speeding and taking her to a strip club. When Elaine starts crying and runs from the club, Benjamin tries to explain that he was pressured by his parents and that he is not behaving authentically. Spontaneously, he kisses her and they go eat dinner at a drive-in restaurant. Over hamburgers, Benjamin candidly shares his innermost thoughts about the unfairness of the world, which charms Elaine, as the two share a thoughtful and compatible relation to the world. After the two wind up at the Taft Hotel for a drink, Benjamin must fumble through an explanation as to why the entire staff is so friendly and calling him "Mr. Gladstone." Back in the car, Benjamin confesses that Elaine is the first person he can stand to be with for so long. After a pause, she directly asks if he is involved in an affair and he admits to having been in an affair, but remains vague about the details, lying that the woman has a son.

When Benjamin shows up for a second date the following day, Mrs. Robinson comes out to confront him, ordering him to never see her daughter again, and threatening that she will tell Elaine all about their affair. He responds by running toward the house and finding Elaine in her room. As he begins to tell the true story about the married woman, Mrs. Robinson appears behind Elaine and Ben freezes. The situation becomes clear to Elaine and she screams at him to leave. Benjamin spends the rest of his summer trying to get a glimpse of Elaine. After Elaine goes back to college, he announces to his parents that he is going to marry Elaine despite the fact that she doesn’t like him. Ben heads to Berkeley to find her. After taking a room at a boarding house, Benjamin continues spying on Elaine. He follows her bus ride to the zoo, where he meets her boyfriend, Carl , and tags along behind her until she finally demands to know what he’s doing, and tells him to leave her alone.

A few days later, Elaine shows up at Ben’s rooming house, demanding an explanation for the fact that he raped her mother. Benjamin tells her what really happened, which finally calms her down, and she leaves. After Elaine shows up at the rooming house again that night, Benjamin asks her to marry him, but she gives him a non-committal answer. For the next few days, Benjamin relentlessly pursues her, even after she tells him that Carl has also proposed. Later on, he buys an engagement ring and prepares for his marriage to Elaine, but when he returns to his room, Mr. Robinson is there waiting for him, and demands an explanation for the affair. He tells Ben he is divorcing his wife and when Benjamin tells him he is in love with Elaine, Mr. Robinson attacks him, promising him a life behind bars if he pursues his daughter.

When he tries to see Elaine again, Benjamin receives a note informing him that while she loves him, Elaine cannot marry him, given the circumstances. Ben determinedly goes to the Robinson house, climbs the fence and sneaks inside, where he finds Mrs. Robinson packing. She calls the police on him, but he makes a break for it, driving back to Berkeley only to find out that Carl and Elaine are getting married in Santa Barbara. Making a desperate drive to Santa Barbara, Benjamin attempts to get there before the wedding can take place. He discovers the location of the ceremony and as he gets closer, his car runs out of gas. Running the rest of the way to the church, Benjamin makes it to the balcony just as the ceremony is drawing to a close. He starts yelling and pounding on the glass, causing Mr. Robinson to start toward him.

In the midst of the confusion spreading throughout the congregation, Elaine turns toward the balcony and loudly yells Ben’s name, signaling her desire to escape her own wedding. Ben runs as fast as he can down to the ceremony and after Mrs. Robinson slaps her daughter twice, Elaine breaks free and runs out of the church with Benjamin. Benjamin grabs a cross off the wall and uses it as a wedge to keep the doors locked behind them.

The unlikely couple run toward a city bus, get inside, and take the bench seat across the back. Laughing and celebrating their successful escape, Elaine and Benjamin stare into the faces of the other passengers on the bus who have turned their heads to look at them.

The Graduate Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Graduate is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

"Art" scene How does director Mike Nichols creatively use light and darkness in this scene?

Nichols uses light to focus on the truth... the darkness covers things best left unsaid. In the case of Benjamin, lighting the darkness allows him avoidance.

In the Art Scene: What is ironic about Mrs. Robison’s choice of major?

Mrs. Robinson was an art major, which is ironic because she hates art.

In the Art Scene: How does the lighting correlate with (match) what we learn about Mrs. Robinson?

Mrs. Robinson continually turns the light off when pressed to reveal her emotions..... almost as if she is hiding. She turns the light on, however, when angry (jealous?), so that Benjamin is fully aware of that anger.

Study Guide for The Graduate

The Graduate study guide contains a biography of director Mike Nichols, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Graduate
• Character List
• Director's Influence

Essays for The Graduate

The Graduate essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols.

• Graduated Distortion: Welles’ Influence on Nichols
• The Graduate Scene Analysis: Mise-en-Scene of the 'Reveal'
• The American Dream Reflected in the Idealized Women of Film: Sunset Boulevard and The Graduate
• Reaching the Audience: Comedy Contrasts in 'The Graduate' and 'Groundhog Day'

Wikipedia Entries for The Graduate

• Introduction

Why 'The Graduate' Still Matters

By  Jonathan Zimmerman

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“Would you mind telling me what those four years of college were for?”

So asks the father of Benjamin Braddock, the protagonist of "The Graduate." A half-century after Mike Nichols made this film, it remains popular at "senior week" events and other end-of-college rituals. And that's because we still haven't answered its central question: what are we doing here, and why?

When Nichols died in November, obituaries inevitably depicted "The Graduate" as an emblem of youth alienation in postwar America. In the 1967 film’s most iconic line, a family friend gives young Braddock a single word of advice: “plastics.” The term became an ironic rallying cry for a rising generation of rebellious Americans, who rejected their elders’ bland conformity and empty consumerism.

But Braddock simply repeats the phrase — “plastics” — in a glassy-eyed stupor. As Nichols told an interviewer after the film’s release, Braddock is “a kid drowning among objects and things, committing moral suicide by allowing himself to be used finally like an object or thing.” Young Benjamin knows what he doesn’t like, but he has no idea how — or even whether — to change it.

That’s why Nichols decided to give the role to an unknown actor named Dustin Hoffman instead of to an established star like Robert Redford, who also campaigned for the part. When Hoffman read the book on which the film was based, he told Nichols that Braddock should be played by Redford or by another classically handsome white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

But Nichols had something very different in mind. He saw Braddock as an anti-hero, a loser who sleepwalks through life instead of awakening to its challenges. So the director chose a Jewish actor — with dark, ungainly features — instead of the “walking surfboards” (as Nichols mockingly called them) who usually won the big Hollywood roles.

Braddock has an ambivalent and depressingly passionless affair with one of his parents’ friends, Mrs. Robinson, whose name would be immortalized in the song that Paul Simon wrote for the film. (The other Simon and Garfunkel songs on the soundtrack, including “Sounds of Silence,” predated the movie.) Then Braddock falls in love with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine, an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley.

Conventional to his core, Braddock resolves to win Elaine in the most predictable, socially acceptable fashion: by marrying her. He drives his sportscar up to the Bay Area, where Nichols treats us to the famous shot of Hoffman speeding across the Bay Bridge (but in the wrong direction, as film buffs often note). The budget-conscious Nichols shot most of his college scenes at the University of Southern California, which was much closer to his studio, although we do get a few glimpses of the neighborhood abutting Cal-Berkeley.

What we do not get is a sense of the Free Speech Movement, demonstrations against the Vietnam War, or any of the other political passions that enveloped Berkeley in the late 1960s. The only hint is an exchange with a hostile boardinghouse manager, who inquires whether Braddock is an “agitator"; a few scenes later, a young tenant (played by Richard Dreyfuss, in one of his first roles) asks the manager if he should call the police to arrest Braddock.

On what charge? Braddock isn’t a threat to anyone at the university, where he follows Elaine through the humdrum rhythms of college life — to a class, to the library — while a clock chimes from the tower overhead. There’s nothing here to engage either of them, except the fact that Elaine is herself engaged to be married — and not to Braddock. So he has to win the girl from his rival, who looks very much like Mike Nichols’ walking-surfboard stereotype.

The film’s courtship rituals feel altogether dated in today’s era of student hook-ups and delayed marriage. But the aimless ennui of college should be familiar to anyone who works or studies at one. We have millions of students who are simply drifting through college, just like Benjamin Braddock does in his parents’ pool. As my colleague Richard Arum and his co-author Josipa Roksa have shown, the average undergraduate studies 12 hours per week, and more than a third report studying less than 5 hours a week.

On the other end of the spectrum are the so-called Organization Kids, who have been programmed to climb the social ladder at all costs. They do hit the books, early and often, but there’s something soulless and depressing about their grim quest for grades, connections, and jobs. They’re “excellent sheep,” to quote the title of William Deresiewicz’ recent book, going along in order to get ahead.

In the years since Mike Nichols made "The Graduate," we have transformed our universities into truly mass institutions. Soon, we are told, we'll have "college for all."  But college for what? Asked that by his befuddled father, Benjamin Braddock replies simply, “You got me.” We've got to come up with a better answer than that.

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The Graduate

The following analysis reveals a comprehensive look at the Storyform for The Graduate . Unlike most of the analysis found here—which simply lists the unique individual story appreciations—this in-depth study details the actual encoding for each structural item. This also means it has been incorporated into the Dramatica Story Expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example.

Story Dynamics

8 of the 12 essential questions

Everyone thinks that Ben is absolutely on the right track and if he continues as such, he’ll be assured success.  But Ben changes.  His change is not a leap of faith, but one that is gradual and inexorable—resulting in him getting the girl, but also disappointing everyone he knows.

Ben has a hole in his heart.  A huge sucking chest wound (metaphorically speaking) of a hole that needs to be filled by starting on a path of his own choosing.  However, it could be said that Ben is wasting his time and should stuff aside all of his feelings, lie about the affair, pretend to be interested in plastics, and move onto the business of aggressively pursuing his future.  That’s probably what he should start doing if he wants to achieve the objective story goal.  But would that make him happy?

Ben is most definitely a ponderer. From the first frame of the film, his preference is clearly to think out situations before taking action.

Ben tends to solve problems from a very linear, cause and effect perspective, without paying much attention to the big picture.

Mrs. Robinson decides to seduce Ben; Ben later decides to take her up on her offer; Ben decides to acquiesce to a date with Elaine; Ben decides he’s going to marry Elaine; Elaine decides, at the altar, to leave her groom and run off with Ben.

Ben’s future is completely open. There is no particular time limit imposed on his decision to step into his future (although his parents do get a bit anxious at the length of time it seems to take him).  In fact most of the story revolves around Ben’s weighing of options.  The story comes to a climax when Ben decides not to take advantage of any of the options presented to him by the adult world.

Although everyone in the story sees great things for Ben’s future, he ultimately fails them all (evidenced by the horrified faces at the church), by throwing away the future they had in mind for him and running away with Elaine.

As Elaine and Ben are on the bus riding away from the church, they are very happy (this a matter of degree, of course, because there is a moment when their smiles fade slightly and become looks of “Oh my God, what have we done?”), but for the moment at least, Ben clearly thinks he has done the right thing.

Overall Story Throughline

""Plastics""

Ben Braddock has arrived home from college, as a hero. Everyone has high hopes for his future and seem very concerned that Ben appears to be putting off his future—wasting his time “floating around.”

The future can be summed up in one word. Plastics. Everyone has high hopes for Ben’s future. He clearly has a great future ahead of him, possibly as a partner in Dad’s firm, maybe even marrying Elaine. The future looks so bright. . .  Which is why everyone is concerned that Ben appears to be wasting all of his time doing “God knows what,” instead of taking the bull by the horns and setting goals.  Elaine is also concerned with her future, graduating from college, marriage (to Ben or Carl), her relationship with her parents if she continues to see Ben, etc.

Ben’s father is very concerned that Ben isn’t “taking stock in himself and getting off his ass.” Mr. Robinson suggests that Ben give Elaine a call when she gets into town, but Ben puts that off for as long as possible. Even when Ben calls Mrs. Robinson to meet her at the hotel, he puts off the actual act of getting a room (and consummating the affair), for as long as he can.

Most of the characters in the story are inclined to push Ben into make choices: to have an affair or not, to choose whether or not he’s going to grad school, to decide conclusively whether or not he’ll be taking out Elaine, etc. But the choices that are made don’t seem to be particularly well thought out, or at the very least, not the wisest of moves. (When Mr. Braddock learns of Ben’s decision to marry Elaine, he tells Ben that “This whole idea sounds pretty half-baked.” To which Ben replies, “Oh no, it’s not. It’s completely baked. It’s a decision I’ve made.”)

Perhaps the best thing for all concerned would have been to let Ben take his time in deciding what to do with his future. Unfortunately, Ben is forced into making decisions that (from the perspective of the objective characters) adversely affect his future.

What’s at the root of all the conflict in the story is no one is willing to deal with actual problems. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson’s marriage is a sham. They don’t love each other at all. Yet rather than do something to remedy that problem, Mrs. Robinson avoids it completely, choosing instead to have an affair with Ben. Ben is avoiding the future that has been laid out for him, to the consternation and dismay of his parents. Ben’s avoidance of Elaine causes problems between the Robinsons and the Braddocks. When Mr. Robinson finds out about Ben’s affair with his wife and his feelings for his daughter, Elaine is pulled out of school and spirited away to Santa Barbara to be married.

The general consensus is that if Ben would only pursue the future that seems to be so obviously before him, everyone would be happy. In fact everyone is thrilled (temporarily, anyway) when Ben announces he is going to Berkeley to marry Elaine. It looks, for the moment, as though he’s got a definite plan, and is making a concerted effort to achieve his future (it turns out to be a rather “half-baked” plan, however).  Once Mr. Robinson discovers his wife’s affair, he seeks a divorce.

The characters in The Graduate don’t see “avoidance” as problematic, they instead focus on “support.” Everyone has terrific, supportive things to say about Ben. He’s referred to as the “editor of the school paper,” a “track star,” a “ladies’ man,” a “Frank Helpingham Award Scholar.” However it seems like he’s doing very little to live up to the praise. In fact, in the words of his father (when Ben is reluctant to show off his new birthday present), “You’re disappointing them, Ben.”

Under the assumption that their problems stem from issues dealing with “support,” the characters generally react with opposition and protest.  At the drive-in, Ben explains to Elaine that ever since graduating he’s had “this kind of compulsion to be rude all the time.”  Elaine says she knows what he means.  When Mr. Robinson finds out about the affair, he asks Ben if he harbors a “particularly strong resentment” towards him.  Mr. McCleery, the landlord, doesn’t trust Ben and keeps telling him that he wants him out of his building.

Ben’s willingness to reevaluate Mrs. Robinson’s offer leads to their affair. Although Ben at first refuses to see Elaine (taking Mrs. Robinson’s advice), he is willing to reevaluate that stand when his parents pressure him. When Ben apologizes to Elaine (and kisses her) after the strip club incident, she is open minded enough to go with him for a meal, and accept another date for the next day. Even after finding out that Ben “raped” her mother, Elaine is open minded enough to consider Ben’s version of the story and agree to the possibility of their getting married.

Ben refuses to see Elaine, much to the consternation of his parents and Mr. Robinson. Mrs. Robinson shows up in Ben’s car in the rain and refuses to back down on her ultimatum. Were Ben to acquiesce to her demands, the progress in the story would screech to a halt.

The “past” is the standard by which progress is measured in the objective story.  When he and Elaine are on the second half of their date, he admits that he was having an affair with a married woman, but that it’s over now.  When Elaine shows up at his apartment, she asks Ben how he could have raped her mother.  Ben sets her straight on what really happened. When Ben shows up at the wedding, even though the wedding is a done deal, and despite all that she knows about his past, Elaine calls out his name, and in that one moment it is clear that the past no longer matters.

Additional Overall Story Information →

Ben arrives home from college to a hero’s welcome. All of the family and friends have high hopes for the track star and editor of the school paper. They don’t understand why Ben seems to be growing so distant, and wastes his summer doing “God knows what” at night and floating around in the pool during the day. They encourage him to take out Elaine Robinson (obviously having no idea that Ben has been spending his nights having an affair with Elaine’s mother), who is visiting from Berkeley. Ben resists, but finally gives in and takes her out, just to get the parents off his back. He treats Elaine horribly on that date, forcing her to tears. When Elaine asks if Ben hates her, Ben realizes that, no, the truth is he loves her. He agrees to meet her the next day, but Mrs. Robinson, who forbade Ben from seeing Elaine at all, intercedes. Ben runs to Elaine to confess his affair, and she angrily tells him to leave. She returns to Berkeley, but Ben decides that he is going to marry her and goes to Berkeley to win her back. He almost succeeds, but Elaine’s father turns up, having learned about the affair and Ben’s advances toward Elaine, and takes her out of school. Ben searches for Elaine, and finds out that she is getting married (a very quick decision) to Carl, an old boyfriend. Ben tracks her down to a church in Santa Barbara, but is too late. She’s just said “I do.” The wedding is over. No matter. Ben starts banging on the glass of the church’s balcony and yelling Elaine’s name. The entire congregation watches in awe until Elaine yells out Ben’s name. Ben runs to her fighting off family members with a large wooden crucifix, and the two of them hop a city bus and leave their lives and commitments behind.

The Braddock and Robinson families have known each other for years. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Braddock are business partners. Ben and Elaine knew each other as children, though not romantically in any way. The parents have always had high hopes for the respective futures of their children. This is why it seems so logical for Mr. Robinson to suggest that Ben give a call to Elaine when she comes into town. Unfortunately, with so much emphasis on the future, no one seems to pay any attention to what has been going on right in front of their eyes, in the present.

Main Character Throughline

Ben — Graduate

Because most of the film focuses on Ben’s perspective, the way he thinks is explored in depth.  From the opening shot, Ben is deep in thought.  He spends most of his time thinking over his situation.  Whether he’s floating in his pool, or trying to figure out exactly how to get past the suspicious hotel clerk, Ben puts a lot of thought into everything he does.

Ben is very aware of the fact his life is changing.  At the beginning, when Ben is hiding in his room, his father asks what he is worried about.  Ben tells him he wants his future to be “different.”  The implication is he does not want to become his father.  Later, he is very concerned that he is turning into a sick twisted pervert, which seems to be confirmed by Mrs. Robinson, Mr. McCleery (the landlord), and finally Mr. Robinson.

It may take Ben a while to figure out the right course of action, but once he does, he sticks with it regardless of the consequences.  For example, once Ben decides that he is going to marry Elaine, he sticks by that decision until the end, regardless of what anyone thinks.

Ben is given to understand he has a responsibility to his parents to attend graduate school and become a success.  However, Ben tends to take issue with the fact that everyone else thinks they know what is best for him.  What he discovers over the course of this story is his rebel nature.  He comes to the realization that he alone is responsible for the course of his future, for better or for worse.

Ben’s inner conflict is, to be responsible for his own life he must have something that means enough to him to make a total commitment, regardless of what anyone else says or thinks.

When Ben arrives home from college, he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his future, and rather than face the inevitable questions, he chooses to hide in his room.  When Mrs. Robinson asks him to drive her home, Ben does everything he can to avoid it.  He runs from Mrs. Robinson when she offers herself to him, and spends most of his summer avoiding having to deal with his life.  He tries desperately to avoid having to go on a date with Elaine, until he decides that he has no choice.

The date with Elaine is the start of a major shift for Ben.  He has finally found a future worthy of commitment.  When he tells his parents that he will be marrying Elaine, they immediately see the change in him (whether or not they think it’s a particularly wise decision).  Ben pursues her all the way to Santa Barbara, where he rescues Elaine from her family and her new husband.

The effects of Ben’s problem of “avoidance” are felt in the area of “faith.”  Ben is expected to accept a lot on faith alone.  Plastics, for one. The idea that his future is assured.  Mrs. Robinson’s implicit threats about Elaine.  Everyone seems to have so much faith in him, but Ben himself has to wonder if it is warranted.  He has to convince Elaine of his story rather than her mother’s, though there really is no proof either way.

Ben attempts to approach his difficulties using “disbelief.”  When Mrs. Robinson threatens to tell Elaine everything if Ben sees her again, he refuses to accept that threat and runs to tell her himself.  Even though he has a pretty fair idea that Elaine doesn’t like him after she learns about his affair with her mother, Ben cannot be persuaded that she doesn’t (or won’t) love him.  That’s why he pursues her.  Even when he sees that Elaine is already married, he doesn’t believe it’s over.

Ben is very good at rationalizing his actions and feelings.  When Mrs. Braddock asks what Ben does at night, Ben tells her he just drives around.  He comes up with an elaborate ruse to prevent the hotel clerk from discovering his actual situation.  If he would just keep fabricating excuses for his behavior (like everyone else seems to do), he would probably achieve the goal that has been set out for him.

Unfortunately for Ben, his demeanor undermines his unique ability to achieve the goal.  Virtually everyone in the story misinterprets Ben’s attitude. In an attempt to prevent another date with Elaine, Ben puts on a disinterested, downright rude air, which backfires.  He realizes that his attitude has caused her pain, and she’s probably the only person in the world that he actually likes.  Ben’s parents can’t see past his attitude—unconcernedly wasting his life floating around the pool all summer long.

At first Ben has absolutely no idea what his future will bring, and he’s disturbed by this fact.  When he comes up with the idea of marrying Elaine, his entire future becomes clear.  Though he doesn’t know exactly how to implement his plan, he is certain that it will happen.  And so he sets off to marry Elaine.

Additional Main Character Information →

At school Ben was the editor of the paper, a track star, winner of the Helpingham Scholarship. . . Yet while everything he has done has made his parents proud, Ben finds himself struggling with the fact that he has no idea what is his purpose in life.  Played by Dustin Hoffman in the film.

Ben has spent his entire life playing the role of the ideal son—doing what is expected of him.  When he arrives home from college, however, he is concerned about his future.  He wants it to be different, but doesn’t know in what way.  When Mrs. Robinson propositions him, Ben is at first appalled, but is soon drawn to the idea of an affair with her. Although it doesn’t necessarily make him happy or proud, he carries on the affair by night and floats around in the pool by day, still unsure of what he is to do with his future.  And though he resists for as long as he can, he is finally pressured into going on a date with Elaine, the Robinson’s daughter.  He tries to make it as painful for her as possible, in the hopes that she will never want to see him again.  When he sees how he has hurt Elaine through his insensitivity, he apologizes, and realizes that he is in love with her.  When Mrs. Robinson flatly refuses to allow him to see Elaine again, Ben tells her everything. Elaine makes him leave, but Ben discovers that he finally has a purpose—something he can commit himself to. He intends to marry Elaine. Knowing that she doesn’t like him very much because of what he has done, Ben sets out to change her mind.  He follows her to Berkeley, and ultimately, through his persistence and his refusal to believe that she doesn’t love him, he snatches her away from the jaws of marriage (to another) and together they hop a city bus to their future.

Ben comes from a wealthy background—an ideal student and son. Somewhere along the way, however, Ben grew disillusioned, and started to find that everything he had worked for in his life was completely without purpose or meaning.  At the start of the film, Ben has just graduated from college and now has “his whole life ahead of him.”

Influence Character Throughline

Mrs. Robinson — Ben's Paramour

Mrs. Robinson is interested in little more than getting Ben into bed. She doesn’t want to discuss it; she doesn’t want to explain it. She just wants to shut up and do it. That is until Ben makes the mistake of dating Mrs. Robinson’s daughter. She then puts her entire being into preventing them from getting together, by any means necessary.

At first Mrs. Robinson seems only interested in getting Ben into bed. In fact the way she manipulates Ben is through obtaining (“Ben, would you please get my purse?” “Did you get a room?”) She is very interested in controlling Ben (and Elaine) for herself. When Ben suggests seeing Elaine, Mrs. Robinson makes it very clear that Ben may not have Elaine, ever. When he challenges her, Mrs. Robinson takes Elaine from school, to ensure that he never sees her again.

For the most part, Mrs. Robinson seems to do what she does for purely selfish reasons. She doesn’t seem to really care about Ben, or the issues that he is dealing with (as long as they don’t get directly in her way). There’s a moment that describes this, when Ben has just registered for the room and is calling Mrs. Robinson in the bar from the phone booth outside. Mrs. Robinson asks Ben if there’s something else he wants to tell her. For a moment, Ben thinking that she is doing this for him, begins to tell her how much he appreciates what she’s doing, etc., but Mrs. Robinson cuts him off and says he should tell her the room number. It’s clear that it has nothing to do with him. She’s doing this for herself.

When Ben suggests that he should date Elaine to find out more about Mrs. Robinson, she impresses upon him that he must never ever see Elaine. Ben interprets this behavior as Mrs. Robinson trying to protect Elaine.  It may even be what she thinks she’s doing—looking out for her daughter’s interests.  But is she?

Mrs. Robinson struggles between doing what is best for herself and doing what is best for others.  While she claims to do what she does for the sake of her daughter, it’s more than likely that she really does everything (even “protecting” Elaine) for her own selfish purposes.

Though Ben tries to avoid dealing with people at his coming home party, Mrs. Robinson directly detracts from his efforts for her own purposes.  When Ben suggests that he see Elaine (and in fact does), Mrs. Robinson is driven to stand directly in his way, determined to thwart him by any means necessary.  It is implied that Mrs. Robinson’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy was an obstruction to her own future.

When Mrs. Robinson shows up in Ben’s room the night of the party, she is ostensibly there to enlist his help.  She needs a ride home.  She needs him to stay until Mr. Robinson gets home. She needs him to unzip her dress, get her purse, get the hotel room, get a coat hanger, etc.  As long as he complies, and helps to satisfy her needs, she’s perfectly content.

When Ben suggests enlisting Elaine’s support in order to find out more about the Robinsons, Mrs. Robinson takes this as a direct threat. She insists that Ben not talk about or see Elaine under any circumstances.

Mrs. Robinson strenuously opposes Ben’s dating Elaine. She informs Ben that she will tell Elaine everything if he continues pursuing her.

It’s Mrs. Robinson’s style that has the most impact on Ben.  Standing in front of the door naked, impressing the image of her body on his brain goes a long way toward compelling Ben to set aside all thoughts of his future.

Mrs. Robinson attempts to make Ben swear that he will not see Elaine ever again.  In fact she insists on his accepting this rather one-sided agreement.  Unfortunately for her, Ben is in a stage of personal development where his knee-jerk reaction is to rebel against any edict.  Thus if Mrs. Robinson had perhaps asked Ben to stop seeing Elaine, for all the obvious reasons, she might well have been successful.  But because she demands it without explanation, he refuses to agree.

The degree of Mrs. Robinson’s personal concern of “obtaining” can be measured in terms of “understanding.” Mrs. Robinson understands perfectly well what would happen if Ben and Elaine got together (even though Ben doesn’t). When Mrs. Robinson first tells Ben that she doesn’t want him to talk about Elaine, Ben wants to understand why, but Mrs. Robinson doesn’t want to discuss it, allowing him to make whatever of it that he will. But as it becomes clearer to her that he doesn’t understand the ramifications of his actions, she becomes more driven to set him straight. When he shows up at the Robinson house to take Elaine out on a second date, Mrs. Robinson makes absolutely sure that Ben understand exactly how strongly she feels about his dating Elaine.

More Influence Character Information →

Mrs. Robinson is described as Ben’s father’s business partner’s wife, Elaine’s mother, a family friend, and a broken down alcoholic. Played by Anne Bancroft in the film.

When Ben arrives home from college, Mrs. Robinson propositions him, informing him that she is available to him at anytime. Though at first he is appalled at the idea, he eventually comes around. Mrs. Robinson has no interest in chit chat, she merely sees the relationship as a form of physical release.  When Ben pries into her past, she resists, and though the memories were perhaps painful once, she is now merely numb to them. It is only when Ben brings up the subject of Elaine that Mrs. Robinson kicks into gear. She doesn’t want Ben to talk about her daughter, much less see her socially. When Ben disregards her edict, she vows to prevent him from seeing Elaine ever again. When Ben accepts the challenge, Mrs. Robinson is true to her word, and does everything she can to destroy him.

Mrs. Robinson married Mr. Robinson while she was still in college (an art major), because a one night fling in the back of a Ford resulted in the birth of Elaine. She put aside whatever aspirations and dreams she may have had and dealt with her life in the best way she knew how, through alcohol and extramarital affairs.

Relationship Story Throughline

""Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson""

The arena for the relationship (and conflict) between Ben and Mrs. Robinson is in their fixed attitudes. Both Ben and Mrs. Robinson are extremely stubborn individuals, and when they are not agreeing to disagree, they are involved in a battle of wills. For example, while Ben is determined to be left alone at his welcome home party, Mrs. Robinson is just as determined to get him home with her; when Ben wants to talk for a change, Mrs. Robinson is just as determined not to talk; while Mrs. Robinson insists that Ben not see Elaine, Ben is even more determined to disregard her edict and pursue Elaine.

Both Mrs. Robinson and Ben are deeply driven people.  What they disagree about are not surface issues, but deeply rooted drives and desires. Their relationship is certainly sexual, but goes to the much deeper issues of feeling unloved and having (or not having) a purpose in life.

The relationship between Ben and Mrs. Robinson is judged by their aspirations and levels of optimism.  For the most part, Mrs. Robinson is very confident that she will get her way in all things regarding Ben.  It is clear from the moment she arrives in his bedroom, that she fully intends and expects to have an affair with Ben.  She fully expects him to heed her decree that Ben not ever see Elaine.  Even when Ben arrives at their house after Elaine has been pulled from school to marry Carl, Mrs. Robinson is absolutely confident that there is nothing Ben can do about it.

The other side of the subjective story’s thematic coin deals with shattered dreams.  When Ben talks to Mrs. Robinson, he learns that she was an art major, but became pregnant with Elaine and left her dreams behind.  Ben at first has no particular aspirations, but when he goes on his date with Elaine, he realizes that he is in love with her.  His relationship with Mrs. Robinson, however, makes any hope for a long term relationship with Elaine little more than a pipe dream.

Is it better to only aspire to that which you actually have a hope of achieving, or should one hold on to one’s dreams at all costs?  That’s the passionate thematic question that gets played out in The Graduate.  Mrs. Robinson left her dreams in the dust many years ago and ultimately became “a broken down alcoholic,” while Ben goes after his impossible dream (Elaine), and ends up happily running away with her.  The final judgment seems to encourage holding onto dreams.

Ben tries everything he can think of to get out of driving Mrs. Robinson home from his party.  When she has him trapped in Elaine’s room, Ben tries desperately to escape, especially when he hears Mr. Robinson’s car pulling up the drive.  When Ben tries to elicit a conversation from Mrs. Robinson, she avoids answering any of his questions, which frustrates him.  Mrs. Robinson tries to prevent Ben from seeing Elaine, and even tries to make him steer clear of talking about her.  When Ben doesn’t heed her advice, there is great friction between them.

When Ben stops avoiding Mrs. Robinson and takes active steps to pursue her (calling her from the hotel), they are in accord.  There is no conflict between them.  And yet it’s actually the lack of pursuit that would allow Ben and Mrs. Robinson’s relationship to continue to flourish (to the extent that that’s possible).  All that is specifically required is that Ben not pursue Elaine.  If he would simply not go after her, as Mrs. Robinson decrees, the relationship between them would continue along just as it has been (at least until the day that Ben ultimately decides to go on to graduate school or into business).

The difficulties between Ben and Mrs. Robinson seem to center on Ben’s tendency to overthink their relationship.  Mrs. Robinson is just in it for the sex.  Ben is prone to giving much consideration to the whys and wherefores of their relationship, wanting to know for instance, how she gets out of the house every night and what she says to Mr. Robinson.  When Mrs. Robinson tells Ben not to talk about Elaine, he questions her motivations and wants to understand why she insists upon decree.  By the time their conversation is over, they both realize that some issues are better left alone.

Ben and Mrs. Robinson’s efforts are directed toward each making the other reconsider their respective positions.  Although at first Ben seems shocked by the idea of an affair with Mrs. Robinson, he later reconsiders and agrees to meet her at the Taft Hotel.  When Ben half-jokingly suggests asking Elaine out, Mrs. Robinson makes him immediately reconsider that thought.  When Ben actually takes Elaine on a date and makes plans for another, Mrs. Robinson shows up in the rain to demand that Ben reconsider his actions.

Acts of resolution are what acts to move the subjective story forward.  When Mrs. Robinson announces to Ben she is available, he runs off, due in part to the arrival of Mr. Robinson.  But the question is left hanging—until he addresses it, there will be no rest between them.  He calls her from the Taft Hotel, and takes her up on her offer.  When he tries to get personal information from Mrs. Robinson, she gives none.  When he suggests asking Elaine out in order to put the issue to rest, Mrs. Robinson immediately demands that he not discuss Elaine, let alone see her.

Ben and Mrs. Robinson are two extremely narrow-minded people.  It is only when one or the other backs down, even slightly, that any progress is made in their relationship.  At the start, Ben refuses Mrs. Robinson’s advances because of his own preconceptions about her.  She is after all Elaine’s mother, and his father’s partner’s wife.  Initially Ben has a great deal of trouble dealing with her as an object of sexual desire.  They both have very different opinions on the Ben/Elaine relationship.  And when the subject is brought up, there is nowhere for their conversation to go.  Consequently, in these moments they are either driven to silence, or completely away from each other.

The growth of Ben and Mrs. Robinson’s relationship is minimal, however one instance of closeness is illustrated using “memory.”  There’s a wonderful moment in the scene where Ben is trying desperately to have a conversation with Mrs. Robinson.  Having been asked what she might want to talk about, Mrs. Robinson grudgingly suggests art, but then says that she knows nothing about it.  Ben continues to push, trying to elicit stories of her circumstances, past and present.  Throughout the entire scene, although Ben doesn’t see it, Mrs. Robinson’s face has a slightly pained expression, as she is forced to recall her life since meeting Mr. Robinson.  Finally, Ben discovers that Mrs. Robinson was in fact an art major.  He supposes that she probably just lost interest in the subject over the years, but it is clear in that moment her dreams have just been too painful to hold onto.

Additional Relationship Story Information →

When Ben arrives home from college, he doesn’t want to talk with anyone at all.  He tries to hide in his room, but Mrs. Robinson shows up and asks for a ride home.  As reluctant as Ben is, Mrs. Robinson is even more persistent.  He drives her home.  She asks if Ben will walk her to the door and come inside.  He doesn’t want to, but she insists.  He goes inside with her, and tries to leave, but she stalls him with drinks, puts on some music, and tells him that her husband won’t be home for hours.  Ben finally gets it.  “Mrs. Robinson,” he says, “You’re trying to seduce me.”  Mrs. Robinson laughs and Ben apologizes profusely.  She offers to show Ben a painting of Elaine.  Thankful for the distraction, Ben agrees, and they head for Elaine’s bedroom.  Ben starts to leave, but the next thing he knows, Mrs. Robinson has locked the door and is standing before him, stark naked.  Ben asks her to move, but Mrs. Robinson tells him that she is available to him at any time.  Only when they hear Mr. Robinson pull up, does Ben escape.  A few days later, Ben calls Mrs. Robinson from the Taft Hotel, and indicates that he’d like to take her up on her offer.  After a few terribly awkward moments, they get a room and begin their affair.  The affair continues for some time.  One night, Ben wants to talk for a change, instead of just hopping into bed.  Mrs. Robinson doesn’t want to talk.  He eventually finds out a bit about Mrs. Robinson, her marriage to Mr. Robinson, and the circumstances surrounding Elaine’s conception.  When Mrs. Robinson tells Ben she doesn’t want him talking about Elaine, Ben jokingly suggests that he should ask her out to find out why.  Mrs. Robinson nearly hits the roof.  She makes Ben swear that he will never, ever ask Elaine out.  Ben is offended, assuming that Mrs. Robinson doesn’t think he’s good enough for Elaine.  When she confirms his suspicion, Ben calls her a broken down alcoholic and says that their relationship sickens and disgusts him.  After an awkward moment, they decide to put the whole conversation behind them.  After being pressured by his parents and Mr. Robinson, Ben takes Elaine out for a date.  Mrs. Robinson is furious.  When Ben asks Elaine out for a second date, Mrs. Robinson threatens to tell Elaine everything.  Ben goes directly to Elaine to beat Mrs. Robinson to the punch.  Elaine tells him to leave.  The affair with Mrs. Robinson is over.  From this point on, the actual contact between Mrs. Robinson and Ben is minimal, but is still addressed in Ben’s conversations with Elaine and Mr. Robinson.  When Ben arrives at the Robinson’s home searching for Elaine, Mrs. Robinson is extremely nonchalant.  She calmly calls the police, and informs Ben that Elaine is getting married.

Mrs. Robinson is “the partner’s wife.”  She is a long time family friend, and probably the last person in the world with whom Ben ever thought he’d have an affair.  Mrs. Robinson’s marriage to Mr. Robinson has been something of a sham.  They married for the sake of Elaine (this would have happened in the 1940’s), and the timing and the circumstances just happened to be ripe for their affair.

Additional Story Points

Key Structural Appreciations

“There’s a great future in plastics,” Mr. McQuire tells Ben. A particular future is the goal that all of the adults in the story (especially Ben’s parents) have imposed upon Ben. It’s not actually his own goal, and isn’t even one which Ben actively pursues for himself.

The story goal in The Graduate is not actually met. Ben ultimately disappoints everyone by following his heart (his subconscious desires) and going after what really drives him, instead of his once promising future.

Ben has to suffer the humiliation of acquiring a hotel room; Ben (temporarily) loses Elaine; The affair with Mrs. Robinson ends; Ben doesn’t have change to call Elaine after talking to Mr. Robinson; The Robinsons’ marriage ends in divorce; Ben runs out of gas on the way to the church; Carl loses his bride.

On his birthday, Ben’s father refers to him as no longer a boy, but a “young man.”  In the montage that occurs after the affair has begun, Ben has clearly changed (for better or worse) from the brooding kid that he was in the opening scenes to a brooding adult, dealing with adult problems.

If the goal is to be met (and in this case it isn’t) the past must remain where it is.  People must leave behind what has already occurred.  If Mr. Robinson would just let bygones be bygones, as Ben suggests, everything might have worked itself out. If Ben would simply accept the fact that Elaine is already married by the time he arrives at the church, and leave quietly, there might still be a chance that the original goal can be met.  But he doesn’t.

Ben forces Mrs. Robinson to recall how she met Mr. Robinson, how Elaine was conceived, etc., so that Ben might have a better understanding of the past.

Mrs. Braddock wants to understand what Ben does with his nights. Mr. Braddock wants to understand why Ben spends his days drifting in the pool, and why he refuses to ask Elaine out on a date. Although the clerk doesn’t require it, Ben feels he must explain his every action to prevent him from coming to the wrong conclusion.

After Elaine has returned to Berkeley, Ben announces to his parents that he will be marrying her. When they discover that Ben hasn’t even discussed this with Elaine, they question his decision. But Ben has been thinking about it for some time and has clearly visualized its realization. It’s a definite sign that Ben is not thinking rationally about his future. Later, when Ben and Elaine are in Berkeley, and Ben is pressing Elaine for a wedding date, she wonders why Ben doesn’t just drag her away. Ben likes the idea, and says he will.

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Overall Story

Ben arrives home from college and everyone is impressed with his past achievements. He was a track star, editor of the school paper, Frank Helpingham Scholar winner, etc.  His welcome home party is populated with the adults of his past—ready to guide his future.

Ben’s birthday. Mr. Braddock, in showing of his son’s new birthday present, points out that Ben is no longer a boy, but a young man, ready to continue his education as a Frank Helpingham Award scholar. But Ben is resistant.

Ben’s parents are concerned that he doesn’t seem to be making any progress toward his future. As Mr. Braddock puts it, “it’s a fine thing to take some time off and have a few beers but after a few a weeks one might want to start taking stock in himself and his situation and get off his ass.” Ben’s parents confront him about the fact that, despite numerous suggestions, Ben has made no progress in asking out Elaine Robinson. It isn’t until Mrs. Braddock says she has no choice but to invite the entire Robinson family to dinner, that Ben changes his mind.

Although Ben does his best to ruin his date with Elaine, ensuring that this aspect of his life progresses no further, he finds himself falling in love with Elaine. After spending the evening with her, he says he wants to see her again.

Although Mrs. Robinson specifically stands in the way of any future plans that Ben and Elaine may have, Ben, in order to save that future, runs to tell Elaine everything. When she throws him out of the house, Ben tells his parents that he intends to marry Elaine, and goes to Berkeley to win her back. Before long there is the chance, however remote, that Elaine will actually marry him.

Just when it looks as though Ben and Elaine will have a future together, Mr. Robinson shows up in Ben’s room in Berkeley. He informs Ben that he has spent the afternoon taking steps to ensure that Ben will never see Elaine again, and furthermore, “as far as Elaine is concerned, you’re to get her out of your filthy mind right now.”  This has the effect of turning the focus from the future to an immediate need to set things right.

Ben races to find Elaine. When he arrives in L.A., Mrs. Robinson informs him that Elaine is getting married. Ben races back up to Berkeley and learns that Elaine and Carl, “the Make Out King,” are at that very moment getting married in Santa Barbara. Ben arrives to find the wedding having just concluded, and calls out to Elaine. When she sees him, she calls out his name. Ben grabs her, and the two of them hop a city bus and run away.  For the moment at least, Ben and Elaine have defied their parents and are happy to set out for a future that is of their own making.

Main Character

Ben is trying very hard to visualize his future. It is clear that everyone else has a definite plan for him, but Ben finds himself wondering what it is he wants. When Mrs. Robinson comes into the picture, it offers Ben an opportunity to imagine an alternative to the plans and goals set forth for him by his parents.

When Ben and Mrs. Robinson are in the hotel room for the first time, Ben stops them.  “Can you imagine what my parents would say if they saw us here in this room together?”  Mrs. Robinson asks if this is his first time, commenting that the fear of being inadequate is perfectly understandable.  At that moment, Ben realizes that he has to change.  He must commit to becoming a man.  And he does.

Ben is aware that he is changing, though he fears it is for the worse. He interprets Mrs. Robinson’s refusal to let him near Elaine as confirmation that he is not good enough for Elaine. He is becoming something that he is not proud of at all. Yet he knows that he can’t go back.

At the drive in, Ben tells Elaine that he has changed since he graduated, that he’s had this compulsion to be rude all the time. It is somewhere during this revelation that Ben realizes that Elaine is the first person that he has liked and could stand to be with in a long time. He knows at that moment that he must see her again.

After much soul searching (moping around) Ben has come up with the idea that he must marry Elaine, and spends the better part of his time in Berkeley trying to convince her of this.  She doesn’t see how the idea can possibly be implemented, but that doesn’t concern Ben.  He just wants to know when they can be married.

When Mr. Robinson shows up in Ben’s room, Ben’s concern shifts from trying to get Elaine to accept the idea that they should be together, to the awareness that Elaine is being forced into becoming something that she is not. Yes, she is getting married, but Ben knows that if she were to get married to Carl, she would spend her life living under the same kind of pretense that Mrs. Robinson has lived for most of her adult life. That’s why he has to go to Santa Barbara, to prevent her from having to live a lie, and to take on the role of bridegroom for himself.

Ben, to find out where Elaine is getting married, pretends to be a friend of Carl’s (the Make Out King), and later, on the phone with Dr. Smith’s answering service, he pretends to be Dr. Smith’s brother, Reverend Smith.

Influence Character

From the first time we see her, Mrs. Robinson is on the prowl. She is clearly after Ben. Though she tells Ben that she needs a ride home, and that she is afraid of being in her own house by herself, it’s simply a ruse. She is in fact trying to seduce Ben, and she doesn’t really even deny it.

Now that Mrs. Robinson has Ben’s attention, she engages in sexual relations with him almost nightly.

Mrs. Robinson isn’t interested in talking or discussing anything. She simply wants to engage in the physical activity of sex.

Mrs. Robinson’s affair with Ben comes to a halt when she learns he wishes to pursue a relationship with her daughter.  To stop this from happening, she informs Elaine that Ben had taken advantage of her drunken state and raped her.  The falsehood effectively compels Elaine to sever her ties to Benjamin.

Mrs. Robinson learns that Ben has transferred his affections from her to Elaine.

The damning information about Mrs. Robinson’s affair with Benjamin is only temporarily effective in stopping the relationship between him and her daughter.  When Elaine runs out of the church, Mrs. Robinson tells her it’s too late.  Elaine’s response is “Not for me, mother.”  With that, both mother and daughter appreciate that Mrs. Robinson’s experiences in affairs (and affairs of the heart) will not be passed on to her daughter.

Despite her anger, Mrs. Robinson understands that Elaine is not willing to make the same mistakes that she has.  Elaine is willing to follow her dreams.

Relationship Story

Ben entreats Mrs. Robinson to forget that he suggested she may have tried to seduce him; When she appears naked in front of him, she makes certain Benjamin will not forget her offer to be available to him, anytime.

While he is shaving, Mrs. Braddock queries Benjamin about what he does with his nights, and if he sees someone.  His reflex is to lie about his relationship with Mrs. Robinson.  His physical reflex is to cut his neck.  Mrs. Robinson’s kneejerk reaction to Ben’s joke about seeing Elaine is to make him promise never to do so.

When Mrs. Robinson threatens Benjamin with telling Elaine the truth, his immediate response is to beat her to the punch.  Both Ben and Mrs. Robinson are driven to protect and love Elaine, but it is this drive that destroys the relationship between the two of them.

Ben shifts his desire from fulfilling his physical lusts with Mrs. Robinson to romantic love with her daughter.

Ben is now flying in the face of logic.  He races into Elaine’s bedroom, absolutely driven to rescue Elaine, but instead finds himself face to face with Mrs. Robinson.  The tide turns quickly as Mrs. Robinson calmly announces that Elaine is getting married.  She calls the police and tells them that Ben is a burglar.  The stakes are high—if Ben continues to cross Mrs. Robinson, he will end up in jail.

Although dealt with rather sparsely in the film, in the fourth subjective story signpost, both Ben and Mrs. Robinson are completely aware of the consequences of what they are doing, and have both given great consideration to their actions. Although they don’t say a word to each other, this is their moment of greatest conflict. Ben has decided, no matter what the consequences, to go completely against Mrs. Robinson’s suggestions and demands, and takes Elaine from the church.

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The Graduate

• A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
• Benjamin Braddock returns home to California after successfully completing college. He gets a hero's welcome from his parents but Ben isn't quite sure what to do with the rest of his life. He is soon seduced by Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's partner, who methodically pursues the inexperienced young man. Soon, they are meeting regularly in hotel rooms. Warned by her to stay away from her daughter Elaine, his father goads him into taking her out on a date. He finds he quite likes Elaine but when she learns he's been having an affair with her own mother, she'll have nothing to do with him. He's smitten however and pursues her. — garykmcd
• After a successful stint away at an eastern college, twenty-one year old Benjamin Braddock returns to his parents' Los Angeles area home a graduate. Although the world should be his oyster, Ben is instead in a state of extreme anxiety as he has no idea what to do with his life, which is made all the more difficult since everybody asks him what he plans on doing or tells him what he should do. In his confused state during which he would rather be alone to wallow in self-pity, he is easy prey for the aggressive Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner who he's known all his life and who seduces him. Thinking about and then eventually succumbing to her advances only adds to his anxiety and confusion as he hides what they're doing from the rest of the world, and as he needs more than just sex in a relationship, sex which is all she wants from him. His confusion is lessened but his life becomes more complicated when he is reacquainted with Elaine Robinson, the Robinsons' daughter who too is home from college at Berkeley and who he has not seen since high school. Despite a rocky start directed largely by the wants of Mrs. Robinson, Ben and Elaine start to fall for each other. In this complicated situation, Ben has to try to figure out how at least to start to strive for what he believes should be that successful post-graduate life. — Huggo
• Benjamin Braddock has just finished college and, back at his parents' house, he's trying to avoid the one question everyone keeps asking: What does he want to do with his life? An unexpected diversion crops up when he is seduced by Mrs. Robinson, a bored housewife and friend of his parents. But what begins as a fun tryst turns complicated when Benjamin falls for the one woman Mrs. Robinson demanded he stay away from, her daughter, Elaine. — Jwelch5742
• During a party given by his parents to celebrate his graduation, Benjamin Braddock (Hoffman) is seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft), the wife of one of his father's closest friends. They have an affair, but Benjamin then falls in love with her daughter, Elaine (Ross). Jealous and angry, Mrs. Robinson does everything to keep the young couple apart.
• The film explores the life of 21-year-old Ben Braddock ( Dustin Hoffman ) shortly after earning his bachelor's degree from an unnamed college in the Northeast. The school is widely believed to be Williams College, Webb's alma mater (in the opening sequence of the movie, Dustin Hoffman, playing Benjamin Braddock, is wearing a Williams College tie). Benjamin is seen arriving at LAX International Airport over the opening credits. The movie really begins at a party that same evening celebrating his graduation at his parents' house in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles. Benjamin is visibly uncomfortable at the party attended by his parents' friends. He remains aloof while his parents deliver accolades and neighborhood friends ask him about his future plans. Benjamin escapes from each person who comes to congratulate him, exposing his seeming embarrassment at all the honors he had won at college. Mrs. Robinson ( Anne Bancroft ), the neglected wife of his father's law partner, asks Benjamin to drive her home, which he reluctantly does. We never learn Mrs. Robinson's first name (or, indeed, the first names of any of Benjamin's and Elaine's parents) during the course of the film (in the novel, we are told that the initial of Mrs. Robinson's first name is G). Arriving at her home, she pleads for Benjamin to come inside, saying that she doesn't like to enter a dark house alone. Once inside, she forces a drink on him, and later exposes herself to him offering to have an affair with him. This scene, known as the "Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me" scene, as said by Benjamin, is said to be one of the most iconic scenes in the film. She, for no clear reason, does attempt to seduce him, removing her clothing. Mr. Robinson arrives home a few minute later, but does not see or suspect anything. Initially flustered and shocked by her advances, Benjamin flees into the night. A few days later Benjamin contacts Mrs. Robinson and clumsily organizes a tryst at a hotel beginning their affair. A now confident and relaxed Benjamin spends the summer drifting around in the pool by day and seeing Mrs. Robinson at the hotel by night. Benjamin is clearly uncomfortable with sexuality, but he is drawn into the affair with the older, but still attractive, Mrs. Robinson. Their affair appears to last most of the summer. All of their scenes pass in a musically-backed montage, showing the endless pass of time. One scene is edited so that it appears Benjamin is walking directly from his parents' dining room into the hotel room he shares with Mrs. Robinson. This seems to accent the separation of he and his parents, though they still live under the same roof. Benjamin discovers that they have nothing to talk about but, she refuses to talk and only wants sex. After pestering her one evening, Mrs. Robinson tells Benjamin that she was forced to give up college and marry someone she didn't love when she became pregnant with her daughter Elaine. Meanwhile, Benjamin is hounded by his father to select a graduate school to attend. Benjamin, clearly not interested in pursuing his studies, shrugs off his father's wishes and spends his time lounging about and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson. His affair may serve as an escape from his lack of direction or ambition, and his fear and anxiety of his impending future. Mr. Robinson, unaware of his wife's budding affair, encourages Benjamin to call on his daughter, Elaine ( Katharine Ross ). Benjamin's parents also repeatedly encourage him to date her. During one liaison, Mrs. Robinson forces a promise from Ben to never date Elaine. Whether out of fear of Mrs. Robinson, or sensing that getting involved with the daughter of his lover could be disastrous, he tries to avoid it. However, because of the three parents' persistent intervention, he is essentially forced to date her. Therefore, he tries to ensure his date with her will be a disaster so she would not want to pursue a relationship with him. He drives recklessly, practically ignoring Elaine, and then takes her to a strip club where she is openly humiliated and silently begins to cry. After making her cry he relents and explains he was mean only because his parents forced him to ask her out. He awkwardly kisses her to try and cheer her up and they go and get a burger at a drive-in. Benjamin discovers that Elaine is someone he is comfortable with and that he can talk to her about his worries. From here, Benjamin's life falls apart. The jealous Mrs. Robinson threatens to reveal their affair to destroy any chance Benjamin has with Elaine, so Benjamin rashly decides he has to tell Elaine first. Upset over hearing about Benjamin's tryst with her mother, Elaine returns to Berkeley refusing to speak with Benjamin. Benjamin decides he is going to marry Elaine in order to have a future with her and goes to Berkeley where he rents a room in a local flop house, and begins to stalk her. He contrives a meeting on a bus while she is on her way to a date with her classmate Carl. The next day, an angry Elaine bursts into Benjamin's room and demands to know what he is doing in Berkeley after he "raped" her mother by taking advantage of her while she was drunk that evening of his graduation party. Shocked by what Elaine said, Benjamin tells her it was her mother who seduced him that night, but Elaine refuses to believe him and doesn't want to hear the fact that her mother is a crafty vixen. Benjamin says he will leave Berkeley and go somewhere else for her sake. Elaine tells Benjamin not to leave until he has a definite plan at what he wants to do with his life. The next day, Elaine comes into Ben's apartment in the middle of the night and asks him to kiss her. Over the next few days, the two hang out in Berkeley while Benjamin keeps pressing her to get blood tests so that they can get married. Elaine is unsure about this and tells him she had told Carl she might marry him. Mr. Robinson, who has found out everything about Benjamin and his wife's affair, goes to Ben's apartment in Berkeley where he threatens Benjamin with violence and forces Elaine to drop out of school and takes her away to marry Carl. Benjamin tells Mr. Robinson that his wife is the bad person and she manipulated him into having an affair with her. But Mr. Robinson also is skeptic and refuses to belive Benjamin. Benjamin is left with just a note from Elaine saying that she loves him but that her father is really angry and it can never work out. Benjamin drives back to Pasadena and arrives at the Robinson house that evening looking for Elaine. After getting no response by knocking on the front door, goes around to the back of the house and forces open a screen door. Benjamin quickly sees that Elaine is not there, but finds Mrs. Robinson instead. She coldly tells him he won't be able stop Elaine and Carl's wedding and she immediately calls the police and play-acts by claiming that a man broke into her house and is assaulting her. Finally seeing the sociopath that Mrs. Robinson really is, Benjamin flees and drives back to Berkeley to hide out there. The next morning, Benjamin goes to the Delta Chi Fraternity house to look for Elaine or Carl where he learns from Carl's frat brothers that the wedding is in Santa Barbara that very morning. Benjamin then speeds off towards Santa Barbara, stopping only at a gas station to ask for directions to the church. Benjamin is in such a hurry that he rushes off without refueling. Consequently, Ben runs out of gas and must sprint the last few blocks. He arrives at the church just as the bride and groom are about to kiss. Thinking he is too late, he bangs on the glass at the back of the church and screams out "Elaine!" repeatedly. Elaine turns around, hesitates by looking at her parents and her would-be husband, but then screams out "Ben!" and starts running towards him. A brawl breaks out as everyone tries to stop her and Benjamin from leaving. Elaine manages to break free from her mother, who claims "It's too late!" for Elaine apparently already said her marriage vows, to which Elaine replies, "Not for me!" Benjamin holds everybody off by swinging a cross ripped from the wall, then using it to jam the outside door while the pair escape. They run down the road and flag down a bus. The elated and smiling couple take the back seat. But in the final shot, Benjamin's smile gradually fades to an enigmatic, neutral expression as he gazes forward down the bus, not looking at Elaine. Elaine also seems unsure, looks lovingly across at Ben but notices his expression and turns away with a similar expression as the bus drives away, taking the two lovers to an uncertain future.

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Resources – how to write a film analysis, introduction to the topic.

While most people watch films for entertainment, those who study film focus on the elements of a film that combine to create the ultimate product. Behind the scenes production editing that occurs before, during, and after filming contribute to the images that people see on screen. A formal analysis of a film asks you to break a film down into its different components and discuss how those pieces work together to create an overall experience. Here is a checklist to help you write a film analysis.

Sections of a Film Analysis with Tips

The introduction to the paper.

Begin by  briefly  summarizing the film. You should not rehash the entire plot, but instead give the most critical information about the film to the reader. Then, introduce the formal elements that you will be discussing. Finally, your thesis should connect the elements you will discuss to their importance to the film as a whole.

The Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs of a film analysis are similar to those found in other analytical essays.  Each paragraph should discuss a different small component of the film and how the component serves the entire film. In these paragraphs, you should give concrete examples to support your claims. These examples can include scenes or quotes from the film itself, but you can also include different editing techniques or other behind the scenes work. Connect your examples to the overall film and try to answer the question, “Why does this element ultimately matter for the viewing audience?”

The Conclusion

Briefly summarize what you have talked about in the essay. Be careful not to make generalizations about the film that are not supported by the effects of the specific elements you discussed. In this section, you can discuss the overall importance of the film its historical context or address any lingering questions the film leaves.

Tips for Film Analysis

• Understand the vocabulary of filmmaking. Knowing how to talk about elements such as lighting, special effects, framing, focus, and screenwriting are critical to writing a film analysis.
• Try to watch the film more than one, if possible. After you decide which element(s) to write about, watch the film again, keeping those ideas in mind.
• A film analysis is not the same of a film review. Avoid making pedestrian judgments about the film’s entertainment factor. If you wish to criticize the film, do so by referencing formal elements.
• Unless the assignment asks you, do not try to cover every single element the film uses. Try to narrow your focus as much as you can to one or two salient elements.
• If you are referring to the actions of a person in the film, refer to the scene using the character’s name. If you are referring the acting itself, use the actor’s real name.

Exercise: Which Sentence Belongs in a Film Analysis?

Sentences and instructions.

When writing a film analysis, many students have to fight the urge to incorporate the components of a film review into their essays. In each of the following exercises, one sentence could be a part of a film analysis, while the other is better suited for a review.

See if you can tell the difference:

1.      (a.) In  Winter’s Bone , Jennifer Lawrence gives the performance of the decade. (b.) For her role in  Winter’s Bone , Jennifer Lawrence had to learn a West Virginia accent in order to portray an authentic character.

2.   (a.) The editors of  Hocus Pocus  use special effects to create magic on screen. (b.) The editors of  Hocus Pocus  used a green screen to give the appearance that the witches were flying over the city.

 3.    (a.) The lack of shadows in  V for Vendetta  gives the viewer the impression that the editors forgot to add in some special effects. (b.) The lack of shadows in  V for Vendetta  gives the viewer the impression that the scenes are occurring in a futuristic world.

Developed by Ann Bruton, with the help of Alexander Waldman

Adapted F rom:

Dartmouth Writing Program’s “Writing About Film” 

Duke University’s Thompson Writing Program “Writing About Film”  

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Film Analysis of "The Graduate" Essay

"The Graduate," directed by Mike Nichols, is a quintessential film of the 1960s, renowned for its exploration of societal disillusionment and the search for meaning amidst the turbulence of post-war America. Released in 1967, the film encapsulates the spirit of a generation grappling with conformity, alienation, and the pursuit of authenticity. Through its protagonist, Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, the film navigates themes of identity crisis, generational conflict, and the complexities of love and desire.

Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate, finds himself adrift in a world of privilege and expectations. His affluent suburban upbringing contrasts sharply with his internal sense of dissatisfaction and disconnection. The opening sequence, set to Simon & Garfunkel's iconic song "The Sound of Silence," sets the tone for Benjamin's existential journey, as he floats listlessly in the family pool, cocooned in uncertainty. This visual metaphor of isolation and detachment sets the stage for Benjamin's rebellion against societal norms and expectations.

Central to the narrative is Benjamin's affair with Mrs. Robinson, the seductive wife of his father's business partner. Their clandestine relationship serves as a catalyst for Benjamin's awakening, challenging him to confront his own desires and confrontations with authority. Mrs. Robinson represents both temptation and disillusionment, offering Benjamin a glimpse into the forbidden fruit of adulthood while simultaneously reinforcing his sense of alienation and moral ambiguity.

The film's iconic imagery, from Benjamin's aimless drives to his desperate pursuit of Elaine Robinson, Mrs. Robinson's daughter, captures the restlessness and uncertainty of a generation on the brink of change. Nichols employs a combination of intimate close-ups and wide shots to convey Benjamin's internal conflict and the vastness of the world he seeks to navigate. The climactic scene, set in a church during Elaine's wedding, is a masterclass in tension and emotional ambiguity, as Benjamin's impulsive declaration of love disrupts the carefully constructed facade of societal expectations.

In conclusion, "The Graduate" endures as a timeless masterpiece, resonating with audiences across generations for its poignant exploration of youth, rebellion, and the search for meaning. Through Benjamin Braddock's journey, the film captures the essence of a tumultuous era and the universal struggle for authenticity in a world defined by conformity. Nichols' direction, coupled with Hoffman's captivating performance, ensures that "The Graduate" remains a seminal work of cinema, inviting audiences to ponder the complexities of identity, desire, and the pursuit of happiness.

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Film Analysis: Scarface vs The Departed When it comes to the genre of crime films, two iconic movies stand out: Scarface and The Departed. Both films explore the dark and gritty world of organized crime, showcasing the rise and fall of their respective protagonists. While Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma, was released in 1983, The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, hit theaters in 2006. Although these films were made in different eras, they share common themes and offer unique perspectives on the criminal underworld. In this film analysis, we will delve into the similarities and differences between Scarface and The Departed, exploring their narratives, characters, and stylistic choices. Firstly, let's examine the narratives of both films. Scarface follows the story of Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who rises to power in the drug trade of 1980s Miami. The film depicts his ruthless pursuit of wealth and power, ultimately leading to his downfall. On the other hand, The Departed takes place in the gritty streets of Boston, revolving around the lives of two men: Billy Costigan, an undercover cop infiltrating the Irish mob, and Colin Sullivan, a corrupt cop working for the mob. The film explores the dangerous game of deception and loyalty, as the characters' paths intertwine and their true identities are revealed. While Scarface focuses more on the rise and fall of one individual, The Departed presents a complex web of characters and their interwoven stories. Next, let's analyze the characters in both films. Scarface is known for Al Pacino's iconic portrayal of Tony Montana, a larger-than-life character driven by ambition and greed. Montana's transformation from an ambitious immigrant to a ruthless drug lord captivates audiences, showcasing the consequences of unchecked ambition. The Departed boasts an ensemble cast, with standout performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson. DiCaprio's portrayal of Billy Costigan, a conflicted undercover cop, highlights his internal struggle and the toll it takes on his psyche. Damon's portrayal of Colin Sullivan, a man torn between his duty as a cop and his loyalty to the mob, adds depth to the film's exploration of morality and betrayal. Lastly, let's consider the stylistic choices of Scarface and The Departed. Scarface is known for its vibrant and stylized depiction of Miami's drug trade, immersing viewers in a world of excess and violence. The film's use of colorful visuals, intense action sequences, and a memorable soundtrack contribute to its iconic status. In contrast, The Departed adopts a more gritty and realistic approach, capturing the dark underbelly of Boston's criminal underworld. Scorsese's masterful direction, coupled with the film's atmospheric cinematography and tense editing, creates a sense of unease and suspense throughout. In conclusion, Scarface and The Departed are both masterpieces in the crime genre, each offering a unique perspective on the criminal underworld. While Scarface focuses on the rise and fall of one man, The Departed weaves a complex narrative involving multiple characters. Both films showcase exceptional performances and explore themes of ambition, loyalty, and betrayal. Whether you prefer the vibrant and stylized world of Scarface or the gritty realism of The Departed, both films leave a lasting impression and continue to captivate audiences to this day. (Word count: 429)...

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Remember The Titans Film Analysis Essay

"Remember The Titans" Film Analysis Essay "Remember the Titans," directed by Boaz Yakin and released in 2000, is a compelling sports drama that delves into themes of racial integration, teamwork, and leadership. Set in the early 1970s, the film portrays the true story of the integration of T.C. Williams High School's football team in Alexandria, Virginia, and the challenges faced by the players, coaches, and community members as they strive to overcome prejudice and build a cohesive team. At its core, "Remember the Titans" explores the power of sports to bridge divides and foster unity among individuals from diverse backgrounds. The film highlights the transformative impact of football in breaking down racial barriers and fostering mutual respect and camaraderie among teammates. Through the shared pursuit of athletic excellence, the players learn to see past racial stereotypes and recognize each other as equals, ultimately forming lifelong bonds that transcend race and ethnicity. Central to the film's narrative is the portrayal of Coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, as a charismatic and visionary leader who inspires his players to greatness. Coach Boone's unwavering commitment to equality and discipline challenges the status quo and serves as a catalyst for change within the team and the community. His ability to instill a sense of purpose and pride in his players, regardless of their race, exemplifies the transformative power of leadership in overcoming adversity. Furthermore, "Remember the Titans" explores the broader socio-political context of racial tensions and civil rights struggles in 1970s America. Against the backdrop of desegregation efforts and protests against racial injustice, the film underscores the importance of confronting prejudice and discrimination head-on, both on and off the football field. By portraying the personal struggles and triumphs of its characters, the film encourages viewers to reflect on their own attitudes towards race and identity, and to strive for greater empathy and understanding in their interactions with others. In conclusion, "Remember the Titans" is a timeless film that continues to resonate with audiences for its powerful portrayal of courage, resilience, and the human spirit. Through its depiction of the integration of a high school football team and the transformative journey of its characters, the film inspires viewers to confront prejudice, embrace diversity, and work towards a more inclusive and equitable society. As we remember the Titans, we are reminded of the enduring legacy of unity, teamwork, and the pursuit of justice....

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The film "Hungry" offers a poignant portrayal of societal issues surrounding food insecurity, utilizing various rhetorical strategies to evoke emotion, raise awareness, and advocate for change. Through the lens of rhetorical analysis, we can delve into how the film effectively communicates its message to the audience. One notable rhetorical strategy employed in "Hungry" is the use of visual imagery. The filmmakers skillfully depict scenes of poverty, hunger, and despair, showcasing the harsh realities faced by individuals and families struggling to put food on the table. These vivid images serve to evoke empathy and compassion in the audience, compelling them to confront the pervasive problem of food insecurity. Furthermore, "Hungry" utilizes powerful testimonials and personal narratives to convey its message. By featuring interviews with individuals directly affected by food insecurity, the film humanizes the issue, giving a voice to those often marginalized and overlooked. These personal stories serve as compelling evidence of the systemic injustices that perpetuate hunger, effectively engaging the audience on an emotional level. Another rhetorical strategy employed in "Hungry" is the use of statistics and factual information. Throughout the film, viewers are presented with alarming statistics about the prevalence of food insecurity, its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, and the systemic barriers that perpetuate hunger. By grounding its arguments in data and evidence, "Hungry" strengthens its credibility and persuasiveness, urging viewers to confront the harsh realities of food insecurity. Moreover, "Hungry" employs rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively persuade its audience. Through appeals to ethics and morality, the film calls attention to the injustice of hunger and the moral imperative to address it. Emotional appeals elicit empathy and compassion, while logical appeals appeal to reason and rationality, urging viewers to take action to combat food insecurity. In conclusion, the film "Hungry" employs a variety of rhetorical strategies to effectively communicate its message and advocate for change. Through visual imagery, personal narratives, statistical evidence, and rhetorical appeals, the film engages the audience, raises awareness about food insecurity, and inspires action. By analyzing the rhetorical techniques employed in "Hungry," we gain insight into how media can be a powerful tool for social advocacy and change....

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Film Analysis

What this handout is about.

This handout introduces film analysis and and offers strategies and resources for approaching film analysis assignments.

Writing the film analysis essay

Writing a film analysis requires you to consider the composition of the film—the individual parts and choices made that come together to create the finished piece. Film analysis goes beyond the analysis of the film as literature to include camera angles, lighting, set design, sound elements, costume choices, editing, etc. in making an argument. The first step to analyzing the film is to watch it with a plan.

Watching the film

First it’s important to watch the film carefully with a critical eye. Consider why you’ve been assigned to watch a film and write an analysis. How does this activity fit into the course? Why have you been assigned this particular film? What are you looking for in connection to the course content? Let’s practice with this clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958). Here are some tips on how to watch the clip critically, just as you would an entire film:

• Give the clip your undivided attention at least once. Pay close attention to details and make observations that might start leading to bigger questions.
• Watch the clip a second time. For this viewing, you will want to focus specifically on those elements of film analysis that your class has focused on, so review your course notes. For example, from whose perspective is this clip shot? What choices help convey that perspective? What is the overall tone, theme, or effect of this clip?
• Take notes while you watch for the second time. Notes will help you keep track of what you noticed and when, if you include timestamps in your notes. Timestamps are vital for citing scenes from a film!

For more information on watching a film, check out the Learning Center’s handout on watching film analytically . For more resources on researching film, including glossaries of film terms, see UNC Library’s research guide on film & cinema .

Brainstorming ideas

Once you’ve watched the film twice, it’s time to brainstorm some ideas based on your notes. Brainstorming is a major step that helps develop and explore ideas. As you brainstorm, you may want to cluster your ideas around central topics or themes that emerge as you review your notes. Did you ask several questions about color? Were you curious about repeated images? Perhaps these are directions you can pursue.

If you’re writing an argumentative essay, you can use the connections that you develop while brainstorming to draft a thesis statement . Consider the assignment and prompt when formulating a thesis, as well as what kind of evidence you will present to support your claims. Your evidence could be dialogue, sound edits, cinematography decisions, etc. Much of how you make these decisions will depend on the type of film analysis you are conducting, an important decision covered in the next section.

After brainstorming, you can draft an outline of your film analysis using the same strategies that you would for other writing assignments. Here are a few more tips to keep in mind as you prepare for this stage of the assignment:

• Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment, so your thesis should answer what the prompt asks. Check with your professor if you are unsure.
• In most cases, the director’s name is used to talk about the film as a whole, for instance, “Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo .” However, some writers may want to include the names of other persons who helped to create the film, including the actors, the cinematographer, and the sound editor, among others.
• When describing a sequence in a film, use the literary present. An example could be, “In Vertigo , Hitchcock employs techniques of observation to dramatize the act of detection.”
• Finding a screenplay/script of the movie may be helpful and save you time when compiling citations. But keep in mind that there may be differences between the screenplay and the actual product (and these differences might be a topic of discussion!).
• Go beyond describing basic film elements by articulating the significance of these elements in support of your particular position. For example, you may have an interpretation of the striking color green in Vertigo , but you would only mention this if it was relevant to your argument. For more help on using evidence effectively, see the section on “using evidence” in our evidence handout .

Also be sure to avoid confusing the terms shot, scene, and sequence. Remember, a shot ends every time the camera cuts; a scene can be composed of several related shots; and a sequence is a set of related scenes.

Different types of film analysis

As you consider your notes, outline, and general thesis about a film, the majority of your assignment will depend on what type of film analysis you are conducting. This section explores some of the different types of film analyses you may have been assigned to write.

Semiotic analysis

Semiotic analysis is the interpretation of signs and symbols, typically involving metaphors and analogies to both inanimate objects and characters within a film. Because symbols have several meanings, writers often need to determine what a particular symbol means in the film and in a broader cultural or historical context.

For instance, a writer could explore the symbolism of the flowers in Vertigo by connecting the images of them falling apart to the vulnerability of the heroine.

Here are a few other questions to consider for this type of analysis:

• What objects or images are repeated throughout the film?
• How does the director associate a character with small signs, such as certain colors, clothing, food, or language use?
• How does a symbol or object relate to other symbols and objects, that is, what is the relationship between the film’s signs?

Many films are rich with symbolism, and it can be easy to get lost in the details. Remember to bring a semiotic analysis back around to answering the question “So what?” in your thesis.

Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. This type of analysis considers the entirety of the film and the story it seeks to tell.

For example, you could take the same object from the previous example—the flowers—which meant one thing in a semiotic analysis, and ask instead about their narrative role. That is, you might analyze how Hitchcock introduces the flowers at the beginning of the film in order to return to them later to draw out the completion of the heroine’s character arc.

To create this type of analysis, you could consider questions like:

• How does the film correspond to the Three-Act Structure: Act One: Setup; Act Two: Confrontation; and Act Three: Resolution?
• What is the plot of the film? How does this plot differ from the narrative, that is, how the story is told? For example, are events presented out of order and to what effect?
• Does the plot revolve around one character? Does the plot revolve around multiple characters? How do these characters develop across the film?

When writing a narrative analysis, take care not to spend too time on summarizing at the expense of your argument. See our handout on summarizing for more tips on making summary serve analysis.

Cultural/historical analysis

One of the most common types of analysis is the examination of a film’s relationship to its broader cultural, historical, or theoretical contexts. Whether films intentionally comment on their context or not, they are always a product of the culture or period in which they were created. By placing the film in a particular context, this type of analysis asks how the film models, challenges, or subverts different types of relations, whether historical, social, or even theoretical.

For example, the clip from Vertigo depicts a man observing a woman without her knowing it. You could examine how this aspect of the film addresses a midcentury social concern about observation, such as the sexual policing of women, or a political one, such as Cold War-era McCarthyism.

A few of the many questions you could ask in this vein include:

• How does the film comment on, reinforce, or even critique social and political issues at the time it was released, including questions of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?
• How might a biographical understanding of the film’s creators and their historical moment affect the way you view the film?
• How might a specific film theory, such as Queer Theory, Structuralist Theory, or Marxist Film Theory, provide a language or set of terms for articulating the attributes of the film?

Take advantage of class resources to explore possible approaches to cultural/historical film analyses, and find out whether you will be expected to do additional research into the film’s context.

Mise-en-scène analysis

A mise-en-scène analysis attends to how the filmmakers have arranged compositional elements in a film and specifically within a scene or even a single shot. This type of analysis organizes the individual elements of a scene to explore how they come together to produce meaning. You may focus on anything that adds meaning to the formal effect produced by a given scene, including: blocking, lighting, design, color, costume, as well as how these attributes work in conjunction with decisions related to sound, cinematography, and editing. For example, in the clip from Vertigo , a mise-en-scène analysis might ask how numerous elements, from lighting to camera angles, work together to present the viewer with the perspective of Jimmy Stewart’s character.

To conduct this type of analysis, you could ask:

• What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose?
• How does this scene represent the theme of the movie?
• How does a scene work to express a broader point to the film’s plot?

This detailed approach to analyzing the formal elements of film can help you come up with concrete evidence for more general film analysis assignments.

Reviewing your draft

Once you have a draft, it’s helpful to get feedback on what you’ve written to see if your analysis holds together and you’ve conveyed your point. You may not necessarily need to find someone who has seen the film! Ask a writing coach, roommate, or family member to read over your draft and share key takeaways from what you have written so far.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Aumont, Jacques, and Michel Marie. 1988. L’analyse Des Films . Paris: Nathan.

Media & Design Center. n.d. “Film and Cinema Research.” UNC University Libraries. Last updated February 10, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/filmresearch .

Oxford Royale Academy. n.d. “7 Ways to Watch Film.” Oxford Royale Academy. Accessed April 2021. https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/7-ways-watch-films-critically/ .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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