Director
Mike Nichols
Leading Actors/Actresses
Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Buck Henry, Elizabeth Wilson, Murray Hamilton, Brian Avery, Norman Fell
Genre
Comedy/Drama
Language
English
Awards
Won the Academy Award for Best Director; Nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay
Date of Release
December 22, 1967
Producer
Lawrence Turman
Setting and Context
Los Angeles, CA; Berkeley, Santa Barbara
Narrator and Point of View
An omniscient narrator, but exclusively focused on the protagonist Benjamin Braddock's POV
Tone and Mood
Darkly comic, witty, absurd, dramatic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: Benjamin Braddock; Antagonist: Mrs. Robinson
Major Conflict
The major conflict occurs when Benjamin begins an affair with his parents' friend, Mrs. Robinson, and soon after falls in love with her daughter, whom Mrs. Robinson has forbidden him from dating.
Climax
The climax occurs when Ben disrupts Elaine's wedding to Carl in Santa Barbara and they run away together, escaping the disapproving protestations of the Robinsons and the congregation.
Foreshadowing
When Benjamin sinks to the bottom of the pool in his scuba suit, this foreshadows the ways in which he will feel "drowned" and submerged by his complicated circumstances later in the film.
Understatement
When Benjamin tells his father he is drifting, he understates the complicated scenario he finds himself in.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
The Graduate is touted as making innovative and creative use of cinematography, often telling the story through perspective shifts, close shots, and zooming.
Allusions
Paradox
Mrs. Robinson's seduction of Benjamin is often paradoxical, as she behaves in startlingly provocative ways, but makes Benjamin feel foolish when he questions her behavior, insisting that it is all his idea.
A paradoxical situation also occurs when Mrs. Robinson forbids Benjamin to date Elaine, but his parents encourage him to ask her out.
Parallelism
Benjamin's submersion in the pool in the scuba suit is paralleled later when he submerges himself again in the mask, after being pressured to ask Elaine out.
Mrs. Robinson and her daughter are parallels for one another. They both have relationships with Benjamin, but where Mrs. Robinson is worldly and sexual, Elaine is innocent and romantic.
