The Graduate

"The Graduate" remains a personal favorite. Mike Nichols cinematic masterpiece conveys the generational conflict of the time. The film contains little to no reference to the Vietnam War. Instead of focusing on political and military controversy, Nichols demonstrates the cultural isolation felt by the youth of 1960s. Nichols utilizes the camera angles to intensify the claustrophobia experiences by Ben. Ben remains a detached individual even though people constantly surround him. The film illustrates the a cutural disbelief and disconnect. The use of water emphasizes the youths function as objects. Finally, the film ends in ambiguity, a lack of moral rightness, and the realization that our hero knows not what he wants, which acts as a metaphor for the current and future generations.