I enjoyed “The Graduate” way more than I would have thought.
It was funny and it was well executed with and interesting premise. What I
found intriguing was that so much happened in the movie, yet it ended almost on
the same not of when it started. In the beginning Ben had no plans, he didn’t know
what to do. Everyone was asking what he would do with his life, and he just didn’t
have a plan. At the very end of the film he gets the girl of his dreams, but pretty
much ruins every other relationship of his in the process. They end up getting
on a bus because his car has no gas. They take a seat on the back of the bus
with a window behind them and just stare. This shot has a boatload of
symbolism. The back of the bus has a window behind it, and as the bus is moving
it shows all of what they are leaving behind, and how they can only move forwards.
Another thing is that he has no plan. There is a comfortable silence between
the characters at first know they escaped all of the drama. After realizing the
heat of the moment is dying down, they start realizing they have no plan. Similar
to the beginning of the movie when Ben doesn’t have a plan, and I believe this
shows that many things can happen but some things just stay the same.
