The Graduate

Released at the beginning of the New Hollywood era, The Graduate encapsulates the aimlessness felt by the youth of the late 60s and 70s America, and feels all the more relevant to the general aimlessness and uncertainty felt in life. Immaculately shot by Robert Surtees (who was also the cinematographer for 1959 epic Ben-Hur), The Graduate uses the medium of cinema to perfectly capture the subjective perspective of Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock, a disillusioned college graduate who finds himself unsure of his place in life and torn between the love of two women: the older Mrs. Robinson and her daughter Elaine. A satirical view on the romantic-comedy and the early years of adulthood, the film makes you laugh and reflect on your existence in the same hour and forty-six minutes of its run time, walking out with you as you begin to wonder how similar you are to Benjamin.

Daksh Banerjee