The Graduate (1967)

Newly graduated Benjamin finds himself standing on the airport travelator, staring emptily into the distance. With a blank expression, he moves forward, seemingly without purpose - merely a passenger on the travelator that controls his path rather than himself doing so. Ben appears lost, adrift in the aftermath of a significant event: his graduation. As the haunting melody of Simon and Garfunkel’s "The Sound of Silence" begins to fill the air, the lyrics echo the silent turmoil inside his mind.

Benjamin and Elaine hastily climb onto a bus, their faces beaming with the excitement of their elopement and the thrill of the unknown. Taking their seats, they exchange knowing glances, smiles illuminating their faces. Soon, this thrill turns into doubt as the reality begins to sink in and their smiles slowly transform into furrowed brows. The familiar strains of "The Sound of Silence" begin to play once again, manifesting their ‘silent’ apprehension towards the uncertain path that they have set themselves up for.

The two scenes described above, though appearing at different ends of the spectrum – at the beginning and at the end – have striking similarities. The film appears to have made a full circle, perfectly capturing its central theme: uncertainty.

Right from graduating college, to having an affair with his father's business partner’s wife, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and ultimately eloping with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross), Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is somehow right where he started - at the onset of a queasy, uncertain future.

Let’s delve deeper: The beginning of the film attempts to give us a feel of how it is to be a promising young man in America. Benjamin, with his privileged background and high class education, bears the burden of potentiality that comes with the turf. During the graduation party scene, director Mike Nichols uses a handheld camera fixed tightly on Ben hurdling past a long line of adults congratulating him; perfectly capturing their insatiable obsession with success and making the audience as uneasy as him. His discomfort, with the constant cheek pinching and hair tousling compounded with anxieties about his future and of fulfilling expectations, is palpable.

The only way out seems to be by finding solace in submerging himself at the bottom of his parents’ pool; that is until he meets his fathers’ business partners’ wife: Mrs. Robinson.

Throughout the film every decision in Benjamin and Elaine's lives is heavily influenced, and often dictated by their parents. The end of the movie begins with the couple embarking on a journey of rebellion and breaking free. However, as the initial excitement fades, they question the true impact of their rash decision. In the scene on the bus, Ben’s face mirrors the expressions he had at the beginning of the film. Doubt ridden, again.

'The Sound of Silence’ in the background exacerbates this dilemma of his during both the times. Was their rebellion meant to be a path towards marrying each other or was it simply a means to rebel against their parents' wishes? The film challenges the notion that ending up together against their parents' desires is the ultimate form of rebellion. The questioning stares of the old passengers on the bus contrasts their excitement and the generational gap further amplifies the divide.

“Whether this divide will persist forever or whether Benjamin and Elaine are destined to become like their parents” is a question that remains.

We can only hope for a sequel (extremely unlikely) 60 years later. Where we see them fall into the traps of their parents' dissatisfying suburban life. With sweet Elaine eventually transforming into a version of her calculative mother.

Until then, enjoy the timelessness of this film.