The Graduate
卒業
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
Mrs Robinson, the stocking, and a bus with no plan; the older-woman fantasy that still names itself.
Benjamin Braddock comes home to his parents' house in Pasadena with a new degree and no idea what to do next. At his graduation party Mrs Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, asks him to drive her home, tells him she is an alcoholic and tries to seduce him. He refuses, then later invites her to the Taft Hotel, where he signs in as Mr Gladstone. All summer he floats in his parents' pool by day and meets her at the hotel by night. She tells him she married her husband because she was pregnant with their daughter, Elaine, and when he jokes about asking Elaine out, she angrily forbids it.
Pushed by both families, he takes Elaine out anyway and tries to wreck the evening: he ignores her, drives recklessly and takes her to a strip club. She runs off in tears; he goes after her, apologises and kisses her, and over a meal at a drive-in they find they share the same uncertainty about the future. When the hotel staff greet him as Mr Gladstone, Elaine guesses he is having an affair, and he tells her it is over. Mrs Robinson threatens to tell her everything, so he tells Elaine himself that the married woman was her mother. Elaine throws him out and goes back to college at Berkeley.
He follows her. She turns him away and sees a medical student, Carl, then learns that her mother had falsely told her Benjamin raped her, and makes up with him. He keeps asking her to marry him; she is unsure. Mr Robinson, now divorcing his wife, threatens to have Benjamin jailed and takes Elaine out of college to marry Carl. Learning that the wedding is that day in Santa Barbara, Benjamin races there, runs out of petrol near the church and sprints the rest of the way. He arrives as the ceremony ends and shouts Elaine's name from the glass gallery above. She defies her mother and runs to him. He fights off Mr Robinson, holds back the guests and bars the church doors with a cross, and they jump onto a passing bus, Elaine still in her wedding dress. They sit among the staring passengers, laughing, until the smiles slowly fade into uncertainty.
Starring
Dustin Hoffmanas Benjamin Braddock
A new graduate adrift in his parents' Pasadena home, who slides into an affair and then falls for Elaine.
Benjamin Braddock’s story
Benjamin was a track star and ran the paper at his college, and comes home unable to say what he wants to do. He resists Mrs Robinson, then books the room at the Taft and drifts through the summer between the pool and the hotel. Pushed into a date with Elaine, he tries to ruin it and falls for her instead; when her mother threatens to tell, he tells Elaine himself, and she throws him out. He follows her to Berkeley and keeps asking her to marry him. Mr Robinson threatens him with jail, and Mrs Robinson calls the police on him. On the wedding day he races to Santa Barbara, runs the last stretch, shouts Elaine's name from the gallery and escapes with her, barring the doors with a cross. On the bus his smile fades.
Anne Bancroftas Mrs Robinson
The wife of Benjamin's father's law partner, trapped in a marriage made because of a pregnancy, who seduces him.
Mrs Robinson’s story
Mrs Robinson asks Benjamin to drive her home from his graduation party, tells him she is an alcoholic and offers herself. All summer she meets him at the Taft. She tells him she married because she was pregnant with Elaine, and when he jokes about asking Elaine out, she forbids it. When he does it anyway, she turns up in Elaine's place for their second date and threatens to tell her daughter everything; he tells Elaine first. She then tells Elaine that Benjamin raped her, a lie, and her husband begins to divorce her. When Benjamin comes to the house looking for Elaine, she tells him he cannot stop the wedding and calls the police. At the church in Santa Barbara Elaine defies her and runs to him, and she is left behind the doors he bars with a cross.
Katharine Rossas Elaine Robinson
Mrs Robinson's daughter, a student at Berkeley, who falls for Benjamin even after she learns of the affair.
Elaine Robinson’s story
Elaine is home from Berkeley when Benjamin, pushed by both families, takes her out and tries to make her hate him, ending up at a strip club. She runs off in tears; he apologises, and at a drive-in they find they share the same uncertainty. When she learns that his affair was with her mother, she throws him out and goes back to college. She turns him away when he follows her and dates Carl, a medical student; then, learning that her mother lied about Benjamin raping her, she makes up with him. He keeps asking her to marry him; she cannot decide. Her father takes her out of college to marry Carl. As the ceremony ends she hears Benjamin shout her name, defies her mother and runs to him. On the bus, in her wedding dress, her smile fades.
Murray Hamiltonas Mr Robinson
Benjamin's father's law partner, who turns on Benjamin and hurries Elaine into marrying Carl.
William Danielsas Mr Braddock
Benjamin's father, who, with his wife and the Robinsons, presses his son to ask Elaine out.
Why it matters
The Graduate is remembered for its seduction, but its subject is drift: a young man with every advantage and no idea what he wants, in a world of adults who seem to him to have wanted the wrong things. Mrs Robinson, often reduced to a fantasy of the older woman, is written as someone trapped in a marriage made because of a pregnancy, who tells Benjamin she is an alcoholic, and her false accusation of rape is the cruellest act in the film. Anne Bancroft was less than six years older than Dustin Hoffman. The film was the highest-grossing of 1967 in North America, won Mike Nichols the Academy Award for best director, and made the songs of Simon & Garfunkel part of its meaning. Its last shot is its argument. Nichols let the smiles on the bus fade because he wanted to suggest that the couple's future was not simply bright.