The Graduate (French Import)

Is there anything left to say about 'The Graduate' that hasn't been said before? In the thirty years since its original release, the film has been discussed, analyzed, referenced and regurgitated to death. From classic lines like "Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson" and "plastics" to the iconic image of Benjamin Braddock framed through the leg of his seducer, the film is a true pop culture touchstone. In fact, 'The Graduate' may be so famous and so oft-quoted that you may think you've already seen the movie even if you haven't.

I won't try to deny the film its hallowed place in cinema history, because it really is that good. Like all true classics, it doesn't matter if its clothes are out of style or if its dialogue is dated. 'The Graduate' is a true zeitgeist film -- as 'Rebel Without a Cause' was to the '50s, 'American Graffiti' to the '70s and the John Hughes movies to the '80s, 'The Graduate' doesn't just reflect its era -- it has virtually become it.

For those who haven't seen the film, here's the quick plot summary. Just out of college, young Benjamin Braddock(Dustin Hoffman) finds himself back home without a clue of what he wants to do with his life. Over the course of the film, he'll be seduced by an older housewife named Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft), only to fall in love her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) and ultimately stage the most celebrated, bring-the-audience-to-its-feet acts of rebellion ever conceived.

It's important to note that at the time of its original release, 'The Graduate' was the rare film where the mere act of buying a ticket was in and of itself an act of protest for the young generation. A challenging of the status quo seethed through every pore of the film, with its style, humor, performances, direction and upending of traditional romantic comedy conventions being one big, defiant, glorious middle finger pointed directly at the bourgeois and the regressive.

Yet what elevates 'The Graduate' from simply being a quaint polemic of its era and turns it into grand entertainment is that it is not overtly didactic. Adapted for the screen by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham (from the novel by Charles Webb), the script is so sublimely clever because it couches its more subversive ambitions as a simple generational comedy. Even thirty years later, we all recognize our friends, our neighbors, our family and ourselves in the film's characters. Though some have opined that Ben is a bit of a sad sack in the film's first half, that's precisely what makes his triumph in the second half so exhilarating. Like a Caterpillar to a Butterfly, Ben's rite of passage is universal -- and that's what makes it so ultimately poignant, and such a truly landmark reading of the culture clash that continues to divide the generations.

'Of course, The Graduate' would not have worked without great performances, and they are indeed perfection. A then-unknown Dustin Hoffman because an instant star after his immensely likable, utterly inspired turn as Ben. Likewise, Anne Bancroft landed the role of her career as Mrs. Robinson -- her performance is a tour-de-force of nuance, humanity and barely-constained rage. And though Katherine Ross would suffer an erratic career following 'The Graduate,' she's ideally cast here as Elaine -- beautiful but not vapid, and so pure that we immediately understand Ben's willingness to risk everything just to be with her.

There's more. Mike Nichols direction is among the decade's finest, and he wastes not a single shot. The camerawork by the legendary Robert Surtees is impeccable, and the music by Simon & Garfunkel is timeless -- the song "Mrs. Robinson" remains a staple on just about ever classic rock station in the world, as are "The Sounds of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair." Simply put, there is not an aspect of this movie that steps wrong, or rings false.

If nothing else, you should see 'The Graduate' just to mark another flick off your film-buff syllabus. But unlike so many classics that often feel like obligations to watch, 'The Graduate' is an immensely entertaining, fantastically crafted piece of mainstream entertainment. The rare example of art and commerce not just co-existing but combining to create lightning in the pop culture bottle, 'The Graduate' is one for the time capsule.