Congrats to Ms. Trista DeVries, blogger of one of my fav sites 10 Movies to See Before You Die, for correctly guessing the answer (very quickly) to PLOT PUZZLE # 4! And the answer is...
I mostly picked The Graduate as a PLOT PUZZLE because I was looking for an excuse to talk about it. Not only is one of my favorite films of all time, it's one of most people's favorite films of all time. Over the years it hasn't lost any of it's wit, vision or relevance. Every May as new droves of teens leave college to discover the perils of the real world, they watch The Graduate and sympathize with Benjamin's plight. Even sinking to the bottom of the pool can't seem to break him of quiet panic. But upon meeting Mrs. Robinson (my hero Anne Bancroft), Benjamin at least finds something to keep him busy. And when he meets Elaine, he finally finds something to give him meaning... maybe (gotta love the ambiguous ending). There are so many reasons to love The Graduate. For one, it's beautiful. Every shot in perfect, and how often can you say that? The Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack has become so iconic, I can't even hear the songs without seeing Benjamin's lost face. And then there's the fact that it launched the career of one of my favorite people, ever, Dustin Hoffman. I'm sure a lot of you have heard that they originally wanted to cast Robert Redford in the part, can you imagine? Hoffman made Benjamin relatable and lovable in a way that handsome blonde haired blue eyed Redford never could have. This is one of the films that every person should see. This is one of the films that makes you love movies. This is one of the movies that makes you realize what film can do. And best of all, it has Mr. Feeny in it.
Plastics.
I could go on and on about this movie, I'm like an idiot savant for The Graduate. Best story from Hoffman about getting cast: He tells Mike Nichols that in the book and script Benjamin Braddock is tall and blond, but Hoffman is short and Jewish, so why cast him? And Mike Nichols says, on the inside, Benjamin Braddock is short and Jewish.
ReplyDeleteThat's an extremely awesome story. I love 'making of' stories. Thanks for the shout out Ivy, even if I did guess right. I NEVER guess right, but the window gave it away.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Anne Bancroft being your hero. Although, I was pretty down with just plain Mrs. Robinson. If I can be that awesome at that age, I'll be plenty pleased.
inside everyone is short and jewish.
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