The Graduate (DVD)

The Graduate (1967) starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross. Hoffman's first major film role finds him playing Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who is searching for direction in life. Seduced by the wife (Bancroft) of his father's business partner, he in turn falls in love with her daughter, Elaine (Ross). Truly a landmark film of the late 1960s, enhanced by Simon and Garfunkel's soundtrack. Oddly enough, the most poignant part of this film, for me, was Benjamin's visit to Berkeley to find Elaine. I lived in Berkeley in the late '60s, and the Berkeley in this film bears little resemblance to the living, breathing, hippie-fied place that I experienced. The landmarks are the same, but the people are different. Still, a great film. Only flaw is the DVD's lack of subtitles for the hearing-impaired. Grade: A-