From the very beginning of the film, Benjamin's sluggish face was featured in the film, and with the cooperation of the protagonist's words, he revealed his worries and wishes for the future after graduation. He was surrounded by people, but he was worried and lost alone. It also paved the way for a later emotional episode with Mrs. Robinson. If there's one shot that represents Ben's initial resistance and rejection of Mrs. Robinson, it's that she bends her legs, and the camera is arranged to capture Benjamin's stature and expression from the space between her legs. One of Mrs. Robinson's legs is in the foreground of the picture, while Ben's entire body and legs are out of proportion under the deliberately created visual effect. It alludes to the "deranged love" that he will have with Mrs. Robinson.
Ben's confused melancholy was more intense and obvious at another house party. Ben was wearing a heavy diving suit, as if he was carrying the family's expectations. He looked at the outside world through the diving goggles. There was silence in his world, only exaggerated physical expressions. The only source of sound was his heavy breathing. From his first perspective, it is not difficult to see that he walked forward step by step, sometimes looking down at the ground, sometimes looking up at the lively relatives and friends, and then plunged into the dark blue unknown.
This kind of psychological activity was perfectly demonstrated by the director with a subjective lens, and it also gave birth to the behavior of actively contacting Mrs. Robinson. This is very inconsistent with his previous resistance. The director seems to let the voice of the next scene (Ben calling Mrs. Robinson at the phone booth) in advance in order to explain the connection between the two more accurately, resulting in a very misplaced voice. one scene. When the next scene was cut, Ben was already sweating nervously in the phone booth. Ben walked out of the phone booth and took off his clothes anxiously, accompanied by nervous breathing. The two-act scene achieves a near-perfect docking. His loneliness, confusion, and irrational solutions made the audience on this end of the screen sigh and laugh for the boy. Maybe we all have those days when we are surrounded by people and praised, but we don't know where to go.
Therefore, even in the absence of a corresponding social background, Benjamin's series of activities in the film can easily capture the audience's sympathy and understanding. Because no matter what era, graduation will always exist, youth will always be an important and precious stage in one's life, and confusion has always been an immortal theme and psychological form on the screen and in life. There are obvious transition marks and obvious audio-visual language skills in the film. Over the years, it has also been used in various film studies textbooks as an example of the use of audio-visual language.
In addition to the use of the camera, the setting of the comedy effect within the text also adds a light flavor to the heavy theme of the film. While dating Mrs. Robinson's daughter Irene, Benjamin gradually developed a love for Irene, and later proposed I still want it when I get home, I can find another place to have a drink later. The shot is of Ben driving on the road with Irene in a red car, but the voice of the characters' dialogue still exists. Ben's red car crashed into the curb when Irene said the name of a nearby hotel. Uncover the tension in Benjamin's heart. Because of that name, it was the place where he and Mrs. Robinson often dated. Including the fact that the hotel staff greeted Ben when he entered the hotel later, which was also a comedic effect deliberately added by the director. Life has always been a process of joys and sorrows, not to mention youth.
Benjamin finds love, Irene, but is bound to be punished by impulsiveness. All this is known by the innocent girl Irene who is ignorant of the world, and what greets him is a decisive rejection. But in the whole process of how Ben treats the love that is about to collapse, he seems to be slowly saying goodbye to the timid big boy with a heavy diving suit in the first half of the movie. He first made a joke to his parents, and when things were still He confided his "marriage news" without a full chance of happening, and then followed to the university where Irene was in order to seek forgiveness. At the end of the film, he even used all possible methods to find out where Irene was holding the wedding. , I really played a "robbing marriage".
But the theme of the movie is not to tell the transformation process of a person from ignorance to happiness on the basis of confusion, but to be consistent and confused. When Benjamin and Irene jumped on a moving bus, the two laughed happily regardless of the surprised passengers on the bus. As the car drove, the ecstasy gradually faded from their faces, and their faces were expressionless. Look ahead..
Where is the ultimate happiness, what is ahead in front of you?
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