He seems to be able to grasp the details of the parties in the abnormal relationship between men and women.
The movie is full of womb imagery. From Benjamin's constant desire to stay immersed in his parent's swimming pool, to the slow close-up shot of the hips of Katherine's roommate as she brings the "Dear John" letter to Benjamin, to returning to the actual womb of the elder and maternal Mrs. Robinson. The
film has a lot of uterine intentions: Benjamin immersed in the swimming pool at home many times, Elaine's roommate slowly walks towards the camera with a letter to Benjamin, and Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson's sexual relations.
When Benjamin is shown banging on the church window with his arms raised and extended, many reviewers felt he was portrayed as a Christ-like image. In actuality, this was a compromise with the minister of the church. The minister had threatened to throw everyone out when the scene was rehearsed with Benjamin pounding his fists on the fragile window, which had been a gift to the church.
When Benjamin was pounding on the church glass, many thought he was imitating the image of Jesus. In fact, during the church rehearsal, the pastor of the church was very excited when he saw Hoffman knocking on the glass, and threatened to kick everyone out, because the glass was given to the church as a gift in the past. .
Two interesting camera techniques are used in the film. In the scene where Benjamin is running, he is shown at some distance running straight at the camera, an effect which makes him look as if he getting nowhere as he's running. (This technique is accomplished with a very long telephoto lens, which foreshortens distances in relation to the camera.) In another scene, Benjamin is walking from the right side of the screen to the left, while everyone else in the scene is moving from left to right. In western culture, things that move left to right seem natural (think of the direction you read words on a page), those that move right to left seem to be going the wrong way. These two visual techniques echo the themes of the film, Benjamin is going the wrong way, and getting nowhere in life.
The two camera stunts in the film are intriguing. One is Benjamin running towards the camera. Due to the telephoto, Benjamin seems to be in ignorance. Another shot shows Benjamin walking from right to left, and people walking from left to right. In Western culture, left to right is considered the normal order (related to the habit of reading). These two shots also make sense for the film's theme: Benjamin's direction is wrong, and he has achieved nothing in life.
None of the older characters has their first name identified in the film; only the younger characters of Benjamin, Elaine and Carl do, increasing the sense of a generation gap.
All the older characters in the film have no first names, only last names. And Benjamin, Elaine and fiance Carlo only have their full names. This adds to the sense of a generation gap.
I have almost become a professional translator of IMDB. But I'm enjoying it.
Hoffman was really nothing when he made this film. A legend is born.
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