The Graduate (1967) Written December 13th, 2017 -- The Graduate is a peculiar romance/drama film directed by Mike Nichols released in December 1967, stars fresh out of college 21 year old Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) wanting some time to his own while many adults twice his age try to push him towards a career, meanwhile family friend Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) seduces the easily impressionable Benjamin into having an affair with him. At first Benjamin is not swayed but soon enough submits to the older woman and does not mind the affair, all seems to be swell as Benjamin gets to spend his days lying in the pool during the day and sleeping in a hotel room with Mrs. Robinson during the night until his parents suddenly urge Ben to go out with the one person Mrs. Robinson told him to stay away from, her daughter. Aside from its notorious one-liner quote such as "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me!" and, "I just want to say one word to you. Plastics." The Graduate is also best known for featuring a soundtrack made almost entirely by the folk-rock duo Simon and Garfunkel, some of the songs featured had by made prior to the film's release such as "The Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair", but other songs most notably "Mrs. Robinson" were written exclusively for the movie. "The Sound of Silence" is the most prominent song out of the entire soundtrack as it plays during key moments the movie, with each time having a different meaning. The first instance we hear it is in the opening credits when Ben arrives at the Los Angeles airport, the haunting melody and somber lyrics seem to fit the appearance of Ben when we're first introduced to him, a blank faced boy who's completely detached from everyone and everything around him. The next instance we hear the song is after Ben sleeps with Mrs. Robinson for the first time, this time around the song feels much more lighthearted as we see a montage of Ben cutting back and forth between his house and the hotel room, it feels like Ben has now found himself a purpose in life thanks to Mrs. Robinson. The final and most notable instance of "The Sound of Silence" is right at the end of the film when Ben crashes Elaine's wedding and runs away with her, it now has a bittersweet feeling to it that represents how Ben and Elaine feel, they're both happy to be with each other again but once that euphoria dies down they come to realize... what's going to happen now...? The Graduate was definitely not a film I thought would resonate so deeply with me. I didn't think I would find myself easily relating to Benjamin, a poor young adult just trying to figure out his life while being pushed by adults in several different directions (fortunately I'm not being seduced by a friend of my parents). Perhaps it may not be a film suited for everybody but if The Graduate were to make a comeback in theatres for its 50th anniversary, I would feel certain that this year's generation of young adults would end up enjoying it and relating to it as much as I did.