Classic Cinema

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Yeah, the colours. It was like he...got the contrast of black and white but using colours. Layered, textured.

Another great scene, which I have yet to read anyone bringing up (imdb), and which I thought was absolutely seamless, was the

Spoiler

wife of Stalker speaking with us, transitioning from the others' diatribes to eachother and themselves

...I just never understood what it meant or his intentions with the scene. She seemed so much more human, real.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

Just finished Touch of Evil. Amazing, far before it's time. Suffers from some issues in the last couple scenes, but otherwise it's a great film. Wow - that opening sequence followed by the greatest use of the shaky cam I've ever seen...and the acting, Wells is truly a gifted actor as well as director.

[jacob Raver, sinTempter]

The Graduate is simply the most evolutionary film I've ever seen released in the most revolutionary year of film since sound was introduced.

In 1967, America watched the Graduate, In Cold Blood, Bonnie and Clyde, In the Heat of the Night and Look Who's Coming to Dinner. Four of the five were up for Best Picture, all dealt with darker themes than the usual, all were excellent.

The Graduate has amazing time montage scenes, great acting, the first use of this kind of sound design for a film-later used in Apocalypse Now, visual alagory and symbology - blatant and yet perfect, for the time risqe elements, and a very good scirpt.

Not without it's issues, mainly the famous 70s quick-pullout and rush-in shots, annoying 60s flute music to liven the darker scenes, a last act that doesn't really fit the film too well and wasn't foreshadowed whatsoever (though the very last scene works well), losing the main character we focused on (Hoffman's) in favor of his narrotic behavior, also losing sight of the second main character (the Mother) for a third (the Daughter) we didn't even meet until the middle of the second act.

Overall, though, this film is great for it's time and still a very, very good watch today. I just am amazed at how far ahead of it's time it really is/was. I believe the Graduate is the best of these films that began the new era of film making, an era of writers and directors who wanted to deal with darker, deeper and more realistic, sometimes cynical, issues of life.