The Graduate Movie Analysis

Based off Charles Webb’s 1963 novel by the same name, The Graduate is an American romantic comedy/drama released in the United States on December 21, 1967 starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, and William Daniels. The film was directed by Mike Nichols, produced by Lawrence Turman and the screenplay written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham. The film was produced by Lawrence Turman/Mike Nichols productions starting in March of 1967. Mike Nichols has also directed other well known films such as Catch-22 (1970), Working Girl (1988), and more recently Closer (2004). The film was distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures nationally and United Artists internationally. AVCO Embassy Pictures studio, founded by Joseph E. Levine, the films executive producer, also claims production/distribution for other hit films such as Godzilla, King of Monsters! (1956), The Fog (1980), and Prom Night (1980). The movie was well received due to its $104 million dollar box office opening tab. The score was produced by Dave Grusin and the songs written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

The 1946 film The Killers is a renowned film noir based off of Ernest Hemingway’s short story of the same title, focusing on the detailed backstory and investigation for the motive of the murder of Pete Lund/Ole Anderson, commonly known and referred to as “The Swede.” A film noir is a term made originally to describe American mystery and thriller movies produced in the time period from 1944-1954, primarily marked by moods of menace, pessimism, and fatalism. Although the film does not focus on the war itself at all, it still puts forth interesting new ways in how gender relations can be stereotypical as well as divergent proceeding the Second World War.

The movie The Mission brought to light many of the issues that the developing world has faced in the past and continues to face today. The indigenous people of Paraguay and Southern Brazil, the Guarani, faced terrifying encounters with the powerful European colonizers during the period of European colonialism. Many innocent people on both sides of the battle lost their lives. The Jesuits were a Christian missionary group that brought the Good News of Jesus Christ, all the while helping to defend the indigenous people by respecting their culture and human dignity, also referred to as “inculturation”. The Jesuit presence paved the way for later ideas such as liberation theology and the post-colonial theory. The Commonweal article, “What We Can and Cannot Fix: Rewatching The Mission prompts viewers to reassess the film and notice other possible issues that were related to the Jesuit’s presence.

If you have not seen Dazed and Confused than you are really missing out. It is a great movie that relates from everything to High School to Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll. With an outstanding cast (from the past) it is a movie that everyone can relate to. Dazed and Confused reflects the lifestyle of kids that are entering high school for the first time, to seniors owning the school and being the "man" on compass. It portrays that freshman must watch their backs at all times and if you think you're as cool as the seniors, then you better watch out. There is a ritual that the seniors do to the freshman that have given so many people in reality a though of. With School being out for summer, in Dazed and Confused, it offers a great soundtrack from

During the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the thought of communism instilled fear within many Americans because it was portrayed in such a way that confined diversity and corroded political culture while the United States was supposed to be the land of the free. This fear of communism was nicknamed the “Red Scare” and was fed by Joseph McCarthy’s accusations of hidden communist in the country. The Manchurian Candidate was a black-and-white American film released in 1962 that depicted the Cold War and the affects of that paranoia had on the nation. It was released at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the spread of communism. This film was about Raymond Shaw, the son of a right-wing political family, who was brainwashed to act as an assassin

Imitation of Life directed by Douglas Sirk, 1959. This movie is a melodrama that shows the love and the hardships between mother and daughter while juggling the tasks of work, love, and personal problems. The French term mise-en-scène is shown throughout the film in different ways through the camera angles, lighting, and costumes. These elements help show the little details about the characters, and their life lessons with themselves and each other.

In 1964, Stanley Kubrick released Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb to both critical and commercial praise. The historical context surrounding the film’s release was at the height of the Cold War, just over a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis as the Vietnam War was beginning to escalate. While based on a more serious book, Red Alert by Peter George, it was soon transformed into a black comedy that parodied the absurdity of global nuclear destruction and the mentality of the Cold War. While not as overtly anti-war as his third film Paths of Glory, Kubrick still manages to show the ridiculousness of nuclear war while linking two basic male instincts together, sex and the desire to kill.

Kathryn Scott’s The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. This movie emphasizes tense racial conflicts that dominated the South during this post-World War era.  Segregation of whites verse blacks was a prevailing and dominating theme of the decade. The Help attempts to depict this time period by focusing on a white woman, Skeeter Phelan, who aspires to become a journalist. Society considered Skeeter as an oddity for wanting to leave her family and pursue an education. She goes against all social norms and secretly asks her maid, Aibileen, to help her write a book about the lives of maids. Despite the overwhelming danger associated with their relationship Aibileen agrees and even encourages other maids to take part. The intention behind Skeeter Phelan’s book was to spark a movement and change the way white people view their help. The Help suggests that education is the only route to social change.

Art often represents the challenges overcome by individuals as they search for life meaning. Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, released on12 March 1998, follows the story of protagonist Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, who has Attachment Disorder. Abused as a child, he has trouble developing meaningful and appropriate relationships with adults and women. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, published on 10 April 1925, is a story told by the involved narrator Nick Carraway, who was once Jay Gatsby's neighbour. Over the course of a summer on Long Island, Carraway reflects on the incidents of the roaring 20s. Fitzgerald’s famous romantic tale explores, Jay Gatsby, a financially successful man that is motivated by his intense desire

“The Mission” is a film that gives a historically accurate depiction of the events that took place in South America around 1750, displaying the jesuit missions and their attempt at expanding missionary ventures in the area. These missions foresaw the Jesuits going to uncharted areas of the jungle inhabited by the Guarani people, demonstrating the significance assimilating the Guarani people meant to the Jesuits. Additionally, the Guarani people were accurately displayed as a self-sustained society where basic components such as: productivity, protection, justice regulations and a form of a leader was evident in the form of their King. Nonetheless, the Guarani were an isolated group of individuals who were secluded to the outside world; their only contact with outside personnelles were slave traders who would put them into forced slavery for personal benefits. Not to mention the “Treaty of Madrid”, which resulted in the social and political disputes between the, Portuguese, Spanish and Catholic community; manifesting in the form of territorial conflicts and misunderstandings amongst the three vigorous societies, where each have a different purpose for the Guarani people.

Ben realizes he is doing something wrong. He learns he is the reason why adult life is hard, because he is constantly hiding emotion, blocking people out, and putting up a front. He realizes himself how he has been acting like the lonely, emotionless clown. He finally learns to feel more emotions and relaxes himself. He realizes how he has felt entrapped and this is when Ben is able to change some of his ways and enter into

Film can be a very useful catalyst in teaching how not to treat patients. In Analyze This and Analyze That, we see very extensive examples of this throughout the film. Through farce and lampoon, we see the in this disjunctive way what proper CBT, criminal therapy and combating recidivism is all about.

The Big Short The movie “The Big Short,” directed by Adam McKay shines a light on corruption in Wallstreet. Although corruption was interesting through the movie, the risk of about the loans was more exciting. Perhaps, the most interesting parts of the film are self-enrichment by taking advantage of the desire of others, lack of questioning the system, and lack of empty. I will focus on the three elements illustrated above because I believe a mix of the three caused the “The Big Short.” The lack of empty was astonishing because the salesman bragged about taking advantage of immigrants and other individuals because it benefited their pockets.

Based off of Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 novel, The Help is a movie told from an African American’s point of view during the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. The three main characters include, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia (Skeeter) Phelan. Skeeter is a young writer who has recently returned from the University of Mississippi. She has been advised by the Elaine Stein, who is the head editor at Harper & Row, to write about a topic she is passionate about, that way she can continue her dream of becoming a serious writer. In addition, Skeeter accepts a writing job down at the Jackson Journal where she writes a housekeeping column. Ironically, she has no housekeeping experience as she grew up with in house help. In order to keep her job she goes to Aibileen, her friend Elizabeth Leefolt’s housekeeper. At this point in her life, Aibileen is just trying to get by. She writes out her prayers on a daily basis as a way to clear her mind since she is fairly reserved on the outside. On the contrary, Aibileen’s friend Minny is also a housekeeper, but she has a rather sharp tongue which doesn’t usually work in her favor. Consequently, she is trying to find a new employer, but is having trouble since there is a bit of discord between her and the most influential socialite in Jackson, Mississippi.

In “The Departed”, which takes place in South Boston, State Police are tasked with bringing an end to Irish American organized crime. One of the stars of the movie is the great actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays undercover cop Billy Costigan. The cast is packed with high demand actors; one of them being Irish mob boss, Jack Nicholson, playing Frank Costello. Costigans counterpart is Colin Sullivan, played by Matt Damon. Both men just-graduated from Massachusetts State Police Academy; Sullivan is on the side of the mob, and joined the police force to be an informer for the mob boss. There is a key interplay between each man, and the people they are trying to deceive. The stakes are high, as each operative becomes entrenched in their double life,