Released in 1967 at the height of the Swinging Sixties, ‘The Graduate' burst onto cinema screens, helped to define a generation and later bagged Mike Nichols a Best Director Oscar. Although he made quite a few more decent movies, he never quite hit the zeitgeist again the same way that he did with ‘The Graduate'. With its odd, deliberately stilted dialogue and offbeat humour, this coming-of-age story is as appealing now as it was for the generation who first whistled the Simon and Garfunkel theme music.
Now ‘The Graduate' gets a lavish treatment in Studiocanal's new Collector’s Edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray set. For fans, it’s a dream package; for newcomers, this is an immersive dive into one of 1960s cinema’s most iconic and talked about entries.
Fresh from college, aimless Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, whose rise to stardom was helped in no small measure by this film) returns home to California and finds himself trapped between parental expectations and his own uncertainty about the future. Everyone has advice (“I just want to say one word: plastics!”) but Benjamin would rather drift around on a lilo in his parents' swimming pool. When he is seduced into an affair with the older, married Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the liaison quickly spirals into secrecy and guilt. In an unequal relationship, he is never in control. His life grows more complicated when he unexpectedly falls in love with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross)…
‘The Graduate' will always be a striking depiction of generational alienation. It's the next generation's ‘Rebel Without a Cause'. It also covers sexual politics. Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson, form the most part a cold, manipulative predator, is one of the most memorable supporting characters in cinema history. “Did you know I was an alcoholic?” The cuts to her body during the seduction scene and the look on Hoffman's face create an effect that is both tense and hilarious. The atmosphere is maintained by the superb songs of Paul Simon, which he sings will long-time collaborator Art Garfunkel. “And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson; Jesus loves you more than you will know, whoa, whoa, whoa…”
Measured against Bancroft's heady and sometimes toxic mixture of allure, bitterness, risk-taking and vulnerability, Katharine Ross shines as her daughter Elaine. She offers a tender and understated counterpoint to her mother’s acidic world-weariness. Both Benjamin and Mrs Robinson are selfish characters, so Elaine provides the film's much-needed moral centre.
The extensive location filming in Los Angeles and Pasadena give the film an authenticity that belies the stylised direction and dialogue. It has striking visual moments, such as Benjamin breathing heavily into the diving suit, deaf to the voices of his parents and adults, falling into the pool and drifting to the bottom. It starkly illustrates his isolation and refusal to engage with the adult world, wishing it would all just go away. The dangling leg during the seduction and the climax at the church and on the bus have often been aped, influencing filmmakers ever since. The world of the story is surprisingly tight and claustrophobic. Benjamin thinks of nothing other than the relationships he is caught between. There are surprisingly few actors in the cast.
Moments that became culturally significant are testament to Mike Nichols' masterclass in style and subtext. There's no doubt that his visual storytelling elevates what may have been, in a lesser director's hands a simple romantic comedy, into a biting cultural landmark. Nichols' pacing balances dry humour with melancholy, while the gentle folk strains of Simon and Garfunkel's beloved soundtrack fuses the film with its music in an innovative way that other filmmakers built upon. Nichols crafts a film that is both timelessly funny and quietly devastating, perfectly capturing the uncertainty of youth at the edge of adulthood.
This 3-disc Collector’s Edition is impressively stacked with extras. Alongside a pristine 4K UHD presentation of the film, the set includes the iconic Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack, a 64-page booklet featuring new essays from Christina Newland, David Jenkins, Helen O’Hara and Simon Brew, and two posters showcasing both the original theatrical artwork and a brand-new design. Supplementary features are extensive: no fewer than three audio commentaries (including contributions from late director Mike Nichols, Steven Soderbergh, Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross), as well as documentaries and interviews such as ‘Meeting with an Author: Charles Webb', ‘One on One with Dustin Hoffman', and ‘The Graduate: Looking Back'. Fans will also find archival gems like ‘The Graduate at 25'. There are screen tests, scene analyses, and featurettes on the film’s music and iconic seduction sequence, making this a definitive package for collectors and those who enjoy delving into movie analysis.
The success of ‘The Graduate' is that it remains a funny but uncomfortable film. Even up to the very final moment of the last scene, Nichols is willing to subvert audience's expectations. That little flicker of uncertainty on their faces… my goodness, it's devastating, and profoundly clever. ‘The Graduate' perfectly captures the horrible transition into adulthood, when everything you hoped would never have to apply to you all of a sudden threatens to drown you. That's what makes Benjamin Braddock such a universal character.
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Elizabeth Wilson Director: Mike Nichols Writers: Calder Willingham, Buck Henry (screenplay), Charles Webb Certificate: 15 Running time: 106 minutes Released by: Studiocanal Release date: 15 September 2025 Buy ‘The Graduate'
This article contains an affiliate link. Purchases through this link may result in us earning a commission.
