Cinematic Elements In The Graduate

In the 1967 film, The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols, a recently graduated college student, Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, is struggling to figure out what to do with his life now that he has graduated. In the 1977 film, Annie Hall, directed by Woody Allen, Alvy Singer, played by Allen, is followed through his relationship with Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton. Both films represent the direction of modern films in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The films of these decades were geared towards youth and young adult culture. The cinematic thematic elements of the relationship between Alvy and Annie is an example of the 1960’s and 1970’s film era and the character of Benjamin Braddock reflects the same film era characteristics. The

films demonstrate the new youth directed aspects of offbeat hero’s, the explicitly of drugs and sexuality, and the self-conscious use of cinematic effects.
In the film, The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock is a recent college graduate who does not know what to do with his life. This young graduate is representing most recent college graduates in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, confused and lost. His affair with Mrs. Robinson shows how Benjamin is a youth trying to find his way in a confusing world. Benjamin is a character that has developed throughout the course of the film and is the offbeat hero. At the beginning of the film he is very shy and does not want attention. He overwhelmed by the party his parents have planned and does not want to be there. He is unsure of what he wants to do with his life now that he has graduated. He’s very awkward and shy around people, especially Mrs. Robinson at the beginning of their affair. He is uncomfortable and jittery. He stutters and is unsure about what to do when he is alone with her. This shows that he is very inexperienced, not confident and confused about what he now wants in life. Hoffman is able to brilliantly play this side of Benjamin at the beginning of the film. As the film goes on, Benjamin is more confident he knows who he is after he is more experienced. His demeanor is very confident and cocky as he has matured. He is not uncomfortable around women, especially Mrs. Robinson. He is not socially awkward and he goes after what he wants in his life and doesn’t holding back. He is not the typical graduate who goes and finds a job, he lives with his family without a job and does nothing with his life. He is having a secret affair with this much older woman and ends up falling in love and marrying her daughter. This main character is far from ordinary and from being a hero, but the modernistic films of this era portray Benjamin as someone the audience becomes sympathetic to as he goes through many hurtles in life. The development of his character as he finds himself shows the direct relationship towards youth and youth struggles to find their own way in life and how the hero is not always as perfect as one may think.
In Annie Hall, the relationship between Alvy and Annie is complex and modern. The young couple goes through ups and downs throughout their relationship showing the “real” side of relationships. Alvy is a middle-aged man who has already been through two marriages before he meets Annie. Alvy is the offbeat hero in this film as he is an awkward, nerdy, middle aged man who doesn’t seem to get it right. He is the main protagonist in the film and it is clear that his is very torn and confused in his own life. He tells of his upbringing and his past relationships and the viewer gets a sense that this man has gone through a lot in his life. This offbeat hero becomes the person the audience roots for as he figures out his relationship with Annie. He is unsure of his feelings and sometimes makes the wrong decisions but in the end, the offbeat hero is who the viewer wants to succeed. Annie and Alvy’s relationship models that of youth in the ‘70’s. They are young adventurous and spontaneous. Their conversations flow and it is awkward and uncomfortable at times like what the beginning of a new relationship is really like. This relationship is targeted toward youth as it is a look into the real relationships and conversations that young couples have. Alvy and Annie travel together and do odd things that they enjoy. This includes them people watching in the park and imagining what people are like and sharing a laugh. The little things make their relationship unique and different as these are the little things that couples do and the little things are what matters. This film targets the relationship hardships and good times that young couples go through and it shows the reality of young relationships in this new era of film as well as the underdogs struggles to finding love.
Benjamin Braddock in his “vacation” with his parents begins to pick up bad habits from Mrs. Robinson. He begins to drink all the time where as before, he did not. Mrs. Robinson also smoked and she would always offer Benjamin a cigarette when they would meet up with one another. Benjamin would say no at first as he did not smoke in college due to athletics, but the more and more encounters he had with Mrs. Robinson, the more he picked up on her habits, including smoking. The use of alcohol and drugs in the modern era of cinema defy the norms of film by showing drugs and alcohol. In Annie Hall, the use of drugs by Alvy and Annie is seen as they are with a group of friends who have cocaine. Alvy is looking at the drugs and is amazed at how much it cost, but then he sneezes right on the cocaine spraying it everywhere. The humor in showing drugs is seen in this film as Alvy is clearly inexperienced and make a fool of himself when he sneezes and scatters the expensive drugs. The use of drugs and alcohol in both films defy the limits and norms of films prior to the modern era. These films show obvious uses of these substances, testing the limits and risks that film took in the modern era. Another element of modern film in this era was the openness of sexuality and sex in film. Benjamin Braddock is very unexperienced sexually and struggles to know what to do when he first sees Mrs. Robinson naked. He is very uncomfortable, he is sweating profusely, trying not to look at her exposed self, he stutters and repeats the words, “Oh God!”. In this scene, the camera angle is filming different parts of Mrs. Robinson’s naked body and this in itself changes the way sex and sexuality are shown in film. A naked women’s body is exposed and shown which tests the limits of film and what is allowed to be shown in film. In Annie Hall, the intimate relationship between Annie and Alvy is followed as they work through their relationship with one another. As a young couple, these sexual relations are important in developing their relationship with one another, this is common among many youths during this time. Annie and Alvy go through periods of affectionate love for one another to distance and celibacy. They openly show the sexual relationship of Annie and Alvy as its plays a huge role in their relationship together. The representation of drugs, alcohol and sex shows the film’s ability to relate to the young adults in this era and defy the norms and boundaries of film making up until this point.
The cinematic elements play a huge role in both films as they are both very modern and different from other films.

In the film The Graduate, the film’s most interesting cinematic element is the music and composition throughout the film. The soundtrack from Simon and Garfunkel include the songs, “The Sound of Silence”, “Mrs. Robinson”, “Scarborough Fair”, and “April Come She Will”. Benjamin is experiencing the “Sound of Silence” because he’s living in a mental trap, drifting off in the pool and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson, but not really connecting with anybody. Even though he seems bright on the outside who should be thriving but on the inside, he is unsure, conflicted and inert. The final images of the film capture Benjamin and Elaine on the bus that is slowly driving away from their preordained, conservative lives. Simultaneous to their facial expressions turning from happiness to anxiousness, “The Sound of Silence” starts to play, a song which speaks Benjamin’s feelings of dissatisfaction, disillusionment and isolation indicated earlier in the film. Only through sound and its powers of suggestion, that the film closes on an anxious, confused note. The soundtrack of this film was specifically written to show the emotions that Benjamin Braddock was going through throughout the film and each song represented a different change or emotion in his life. Another cinematic element that was used in the film was the transitions between scenes. They were smooth and often times overlapped one another. For example, when Benjamin is jumping onto the pool float the scene quickly and smoothly transitions to him jumping on Mrs. Robinson instead. This transition technique shows that Benjamin is going day by day doing the same things, laying by the pool, relaxing and sleeping with Mrs. Robinson. The transition sequences will continue as they show the thoughtless routine that he goes through every

day.
In the film Annie Hall, the most notable cinematic element was that of Alvy as he broke the fourth wall by talking to the audience. Woody Allen uses the expansion as reaching through the fourth wall to connect with the audience. At the beginning of the film, Alvy is talking to the audience about his life growing up and looks directly at the camera. Breaking of this wall creates a humorous effect and allows the audience to, in a way, interact with the film. Allen’s technique points out the audience as being an important and active member of the film. Another cinematic technique is the use of surrealism through animation and flashbacks. In a portion of the film, animation is used to show Alvy and Annie having a conversation but instead Annie is the wicked Queen. This use of animation brings back Alvy’s childhood as he remembers going to see the movie and falling for the Queen. This technique ads a different element to the film as it adds an odd yet funny comparison of him falling for the Queen and him now falling for Annie. Another cinematic technique is the use of flashbacks. Throughout the film, both Annie and Alvy go back in time to their childhood memories or their past relationships. They would observe the interaction or memory and sometimes they would interact with their past self and others in the memory. This of course is un realistic, but this flash back shows them thinking about the memories and thoughts they have and how they might have wished to change them. Flash backs are used frequently in this film and are used to tell the story as a whole as the beginning starts with Alvy saying he once dated a girl named Annie. The cinematic element of each of the films plays an important role in the films as they define the film. They are unique cinematic elements that help the viewer understand and see what is going on in the minds of the characters.
In the 1967 film, The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols, and in the 1977 film, Annie Hall, directed by Woody Allen, both films represent the direction of modern films in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The films of these decades were geared towards youth and young adult culture. The cinematic thematic elements of the relationship between Alvy and Annie is an example of the 1960’s and 1970’s film era and the character of Benjamin Braddock reflects the same film era characteristics. The films demonstrate the new youth directed aspects of offbeat hero’s, the explicitly of drugs and sexuality, and the self-conscious use of cinematic effects by the directors.