Characterization in The Graduate
The Graduate is one of the landmark films of the 1960’s that initiated a new era of motion pictures. The movie exhibits a satirical tinge in tracing the life of a timid and pitifully ineffectual college graduate from the East Coast. The man finds himself isolated and remarkably demarcated in the new world order marked by shifts in culture, norms, moral standards, and sexual mores that characterized this age. He questions the very nature of the values and ethics of this new society in which he is immersed. The character of Benjamin, played by Dustin Hoffman, stood out in the film. This paper explains the most distinctive elements in the characterization of the actor in the film. It also draws a comparison between his role in this movie with his performances in other films.
Dustin Hoffman fits so perfectly into his role that one could easily conclude that the character was tailor-made for him. This presumption is evident right from the onset of the movie. A close-up shot of his poker face that is blatantly blank with absolutely no expression reveal his conservative nature. Zooming out farther, the camera shows him surrounded by people of the same character in a plane of equally boring and expressionless passengers. His robotic composure serve quite effectively to consolidate his characterization as a person in a daze and someone who does not fit in the loud, activity-buzzed atmosphere he is about to walk into back at home. His facial expression is again something of the legends in the classic scene where he is being seduced by Mrs. Robinson. A shot through the legs of Mrs. Robinson depicts him in a state of panic and shock. He is openly terrified at the seduction of Mrs. Robinson who is the picture of the shifting sexual standards at the time.
His character in this film is not far-fetched from the role he plays in ‘The Marathon Man’. Despite the obvious differences in physique, his facial expressions are pretty much the same in this film where he plays the role of a graduate student and part-time long-distance runner. He appears emotionally distressed thought the movie and his body posture depicts a man living in misery. This film goes on to prove the point that Dustin Hoffman has managed to establish himself in the film industry by virtue of his excellent mastery of body language.