Isolation is a critical theme in the film The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols. The film centers around twenty-one year old Benjamin Braddock who has just graduated from college. Ben is facing adulthood and realizes that he doesn’t fit in with his generation nor does he fit in with his parents generation. He feels so lost that he resorts to having an affair with the wife of his father’s business partner, Mrs. Robinson. Whether it’s moving himself to a separate room or hiding at the bottom of the pool, Ben isolates himself because it’s his way of coping with his inability to connect with those around him and his uncertainty of the future. The director and cinematographer use stylistic techniques such as various camera shots, a unique soundtrack …show more content…
The first song played is “The Sounds of Silence,” which is somber and melancholy with its soft voices and instruments. The song plays along with a dull and repetitive recording while Ben stands alone on the moving walkway at the busy LAX airport. The song’s lyrics reinforce Ben’s feeling of isolation, “And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening” (Nichols 00:01:34). Right away the unhappy music and lyrics give the feeling that Ben is absent from his life and is surrounded by people that have nothing important to say. The song establishes the anxiety that Ben will experience throughout the film which is that of not being able to connect with the generation above him and worrying that his own generation is becoming a superficial and apathetic culture. Later, there is a montage that uses “Sounds of Silence” and transitions into “April Come She Will.” The montage shows Ben going through his monotonous daily routine and then meeting up with Mrs. Robinson for their loveless affairs. The music reminds the audience how detached Ben is even in an activity that should be intimate. “April Come She Will” plays while Ben walks back and forth between the worlds of Mrs. Robinson and his parents, neither of which he is pleased with. This song is about a love burning …show more content…
Along with water, glass is one of the most reoccurring symbols throughout the movie. Shots through glass symbolize Ben’s division from the outside world. He is either physically enclosed in glass such as a telephone booth or he is isolated behind glass barriers. In the last scene of the movie, Ben tries to stop Elaine from getting married while he stands on a church balcony looking down at the ceremony through a large plate-glass. He hopelessly waves his arms around and calls out Elaine’s name, but the ceremony is already concluded. The director purposefully includes glass in the frame as a symbolic implication. Ben can see through the glass but not pass through, limiting his ability to communicate. The mise en scene of Ben’s sexual relationship with Mrs. Robinson is notable for its colors and shape that present a dismal and confined atmosphere. The colors, black and white, are common in the hotel room scenes which signify the sterility of their relationship. Ben’s unhappiness couldn't be clearer than when he comments to Mrs. Robinson, “All we ever do is come up here and throw off the clothes and leap into bed together” (Nichols 50). The serious colors make the audience see that the affair with Mrs. Robinson is formal and alien. Lastly, the cinematographer chose a 2.35:1 aspect ratio for the film. This cuts off part of the image and makes the shots tighter.
The film, The Graduate, tells a story about a new college graduate and his experience upon returning home to expectations of his peers and a fear of his own future. Produced in the 1960’s, The Graduate, depicts topics such as isolationism and alienation through the protagonist, Benjamin Braddock. The main theme of the movie is the idea of Benjamin’s isolation being caused by the pressure from expectations that the older generations lay upon him; he does not know what he wants to do with his future, yet his father and peers continues to hound him and question him on his future plans. A common fear for most college students and newly college graduates, many college students are unsure of where their lives will lead them and without a certain answer, can be nerve racking. Benjamin’s father and peers make this idea apparent to Ben when they often ask him “What are you gonna do now?”. Our protagonist does not seem to have a positive answer for them almost every time. Mr. Braddock also parades Benjamin to his friends by buying him extravagant gifts
We may believe were not in no form of isolation from a single thing but we are all in isolation without notice. In the book “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar wao” by Junot Diaz, he shows isolation in every character in a very distinct way but still not noticeable. Throughout the Brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao, Diaz conveys that there is isolation in every person through his characters that are all different in personalization but are still isolated from something.
Isolation can affect people in many different ways, for example, it could affect someone physically or emotionally. Isolation can drastically affect people in many different areas of their life. Hester is affected by isolation both emotionally and physically. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn Hester becomes alienated, isolated, physically and emotionally because of the red letter that she wears on her chest.
The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was known to be the longest conflict in United States history, where over three million men and women were sent to Vietnam to fight for America's cause. The Things They Carried is a collection of short stories about the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War and what each one of the soldiers carried throughout the war. Tim O'Brien explains how each one of the soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War handled the experience in a number of ways. In the novel, The Things They Carried, O'Brien uses the feeling of Isolation to explain the different responses of the soldiers during the war and how each soldier suffered to heal from the traumatic experiences of war.
When reading ghost stories, a common occurrence or idea often takes place in all these stories. This occurrence is the repeated idea of the female character as either the victim of the supernatural occurrence or is the ghostly victim. The female characters are often the victim either in life, death, or both. This idea often coincides with the theme of isolation, as isolation is often a strong factor in the cause of the female character’s often untimely demise. Isolation in the ghost story genre is common as the mental isolation or physical isolation is from society and impacts emotional connection to others. The isolation mentally, physically and in some case both, causes the female character’s ultimate destruction in the end. Isolation is
...melodies which made this musical so memorable and great. The song “Rent” at the beginning of the musical is a rock song which explains the struggle to get money to pay for rent and how the residents at the building will not pay the rent. Another choral number “Seasons of Love” is probably the most famous song from the musical and it talks about how the seasons are changing and life will still go on. Also the last choral number “Finale B” is also very renowned and it expresses the remaining friends’ joy of being together and realizing that they have this moment and that their lives will continue on. The musical also has many solo numbers including Roger’s heartfelt ballad to write that one song to be his “One Song Glory” and Maureen’s “Over the Moon” which attacked on the idea of building the Cyber Studio and expressed to her audience how corrupt those investors are.
From the sounds to the actual music itself, everything in the film had a point. The sounds play a major role when a either Madeline or Helen are supposed to die. This can be seen when Madeline attempts to kill Helen. While Madeline is preparing to murder Helen and she scrapes her nails down the post, the sound of her nails scratching the post sounds extremely real to the point the viewer can feel like he or she is actually there with them. This can also be seen with the gunshot that knocks Helen into the pool. Using real life sounds makes the reader feel like they are a part of the movie with the characters. The soundtrack of this movie also provides the same ideas. While at Dr. Ernest funeral sad music was playing in the background signifying that the people there are sad about his passing. As soon as Madeline and Helen leave, the music becomes happy and exciting again signifying that neither Madeline or Helen cared much about Dr. Ernest, leading back to the over -all theme of this
Why can Isolation be deadly? Many people who are isolated or have isolated themselves suffer a higher risk of mental health issues such as anxiety, loneliness, paranoia and depression, which can lead to more serious feelings about yourself like committing suicide. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, it was found people with fewer human contacts had a 26% greater likeliness to die, regardless of age and sex. Social Isolation is the absence of social relationships and can in fact be deadly. The amount of social relationships humans need to be happy varies from person to person, but it is vital that everyone has meaningful relationships and social interactions on a regular basis. A study performed by Holt-Lunstad
The shot is a medium shot. Mrs. Robinson and Ben are shown from waist up. This medium shot tells us that a conversation is going on between the two characters and it gives us some cues to pick up on their body language and emotions.
The Graduate is a 1967 film that stars Dustin Hoffman. He plays the role of a recently graduated college student named Benjamin Braddock. This film uses an exceptional amount of different aspects of cinematography. It ranges from multiple different camera angles, focal points, lighting, and shot compositions that are all used to allow the audience to create a deeper emotional connection with the move and story rather than just watching it. In the beginning of the movie for example, the camera is zoomed in very closely to Ben’s face allowing the audience to assume he is alone, yet he is on an airplane with many other people.
Every time somebody rents a video or watches a movie on television there is always that little blurb right before they begin viewing about the picture being formatted for the screen. Usually, it is ignored or merely taken as a cue that the film is about to start. That little forewarning actually holds a lot of significance, for when one views a movie in its original, wide screen version, a whole new world opens up. When a movie is altered from its initial state, and cropped in the editing room for home viewing, an overwhelming amount of the film is unsuspectingly missed. This has become extremely obvious when viewing any movie, and in The Graduate a lot of innovative things are adjusted and lost. There are various shots edited, cut off, and many dynamic camera techniques lose their effect when The Graduate is transformed from the intended wide screen version to the formatted television edition.
and his need or desire to be alone all the time, he doesn’t like to be
In this movie, much emphasis is placed on simplicity, spontaneity and directness, so we can focus on the true story without being distracted from the normal every day routines these characters have. A degree of realism is achieved in this movie, because the fact remains that Ben is an alcoholic, although he does drink in extremes where the normal human being would be unconscious, and Sera is a prostitute, so the intense situations and decisions in this movie are reasonably depicted. One of the first scenes is an extreme long shot of the city of Las Vegas, because this sinful city was very carefully chosen as the setting of the story to preserve realism. Full shots are often used to show the protagonists on their daily routine, such as when Ben goes shopping at the supermarket for liquor. Figgis mainly used multiple shots to emphasize the two protagonist’s interactions with each other. The two shot and the over-the-shoulder shot were used often to build a sit...
Williams brilliantly illuminates the idea of isolation through the symbolic use of glass. The symbolism of the glass is directly connected with the character of Laura. Similar to glass Laura is extremely fragile, her soul and image faces the possibility of being easily damaged and destroyed. Her character is tragically transparent as it is simple to decipher. However, glass objects, unlike a painting or photograph, have three dimensions. It is possible to examine every side of Laura’s fragile character, just as it is a glass figurine. Laura is trapped into a mold of glass, unable to move or break from its pattern; she is trapped in her own world of alienation. Yet, in a different light, glass reflects a rainbow of personality and beauty. Similar to the rainbow given off by glass Laura aids characters in achieving a sense of beautiful and colorful self-awareness.
Isolation is bad(Haven’t found a quote yet” This concept is especially true in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, isolation is thoroughly utilized, in order to portray the lingering physical, social, and emotional consequences of a poor decision.