The Graduate (1967)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Director

Mike Nichols

Country

USA

Cast

Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Elizabeth Wilson, Buck Henry, Walter Brooke, Brian Avery, Norma Fell, Marion Lorne, Alice Ghostley, Eddra Gale

Storyline

After successfully completing college, Ben (Dustin Hoffman) returns home where is soon seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The two start an affair, but soon Ben falls in love with Elaine (Katharine Ross), Mrs. Robinson's daughter.

Opinion

Who doesn't know Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"? But was the song made popular by the film or was the film made popular by the song? I don't know, and frankly it doesn't even matter because both the song and the film are great.

That being said, "The Graduate" is a great film that should be watched by everyone, because even though it has lost his relevance today, it still is wonderful and defining film of a generation.

This film is such a classic I doubt there is someone who doesn't know the plot to the film. Anyway, it may appear simple at first sight - in a nutshell a young man has a relationship both with mother and daughter - but the film does go beyond that. It indeed does so much more, like highlighting, in a very beautiful way, the fragility of an American society heavily based on facade values.

At the time of the film's release, back in 1968, "The Graduate" was probably seen as a transgressive movie because it shamed the hypocritical and conformist society where basically everyone lived in, but today, like I said before, it has lost part of his relevance. Unfortuntately, that kind of society still exists nowadays, but there are MILFs and toy-boys at every corner, so it takes a lot more to scandalize - see Lars von Tier's "Nymphomaniac".

On the "technical" side, everything still works beautifully today. Mike Nichols direction is smooth and creates the right balance between drama and comedy. The soundtrack is on of the biggest accomplishments of the film - it is so good saying it's great it's offensive - and it wonderfully enhances Ben's moods throughout the film.

And Dustin Hoffman, man what a performance! In his first big role, he does a brilliant job with the complex character of Ben. And he also manages to be funny. Anne Bancroft is delightful as Mrs. Robinson and handles the whole seduction thing beautifully.

Manhattan (1979)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Director

Woody Allen

Country

USA

Cast

Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Anne Byrne, Michael O'Donoghue, Wallace Shawn, Karen Ludwig

Storyline

The life of Isaac Davis (Woody Allen), a divorced writer of TV shows dating a 17-year-old girl (Mariel Hemingway), is further complicated when he meets Mary (Diane Keaton), the mistress of his married best friend Yale (Michael Murphy).

Opinion

Woody Allen once said, "I'm never happy with my films when I finish them. Just about always. And in the case of Manhattan I was so disappointed that I didn't want to open it. I wanted to ask United Artists not to release it. I wanted to offer them to make one free movie, if they would just throw it away." Isn't life odd? The film that has disappointed Allen so much is one of his most beloved and successful films, acclaimed both by critics and audience.

Beautiful, delightful and humorous, "Manhattan" is one of the best romantic comedies ever made as well as a stunning ode to New York City.

Woody Allen made another masterpiece whose main theme is the crisis of the intellectual and his inadequacy to the society he lives in, the problems of ineptitude and the inability of the protagonist to managed his own inner, sentimental life. Isaac, a writer always looking for inspiration, doesn't seem to find the opening words for his book and spends entire days taking notes, at the mercy of love and of a city he loves so much but seems unable to live in.

What makes "Manhattan" such a great film is also its complex, neurotic and verbose characters, who all just want to love and to be loved in return. Because of its characters, it is a film everyone can identify with: if on the one hand there is the inept, Isaac, on the other hand there is the winner, Yale, who is able to live in the world that surrounds him, that's why he is a winner.

As mentioned before, the film is also a spectacular ode to New York. In fact, the gorgeous black and white cinematography by Gordon Willis manages on several occasions to make the Big Apple look like the most fascinating city in the whole world, beauty even more enhanced by the first minutes of the film, when the city wakes up to the tune of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".

As for the acting, it might be the best of any Allen film. Woody Allen does great with his usual stand-up persona and allowing the character of Isaac to be more than just neurotic and narcissistic. Michael Murphy also does a great job as Yale, able to command our sympathy for the most unlikable character in the film. Diane Keaton gives one of her best performances as the intellectual and whimsical Mary. 

My analyst warned me, but you were so beautiful I got another analyst. - Isaac Davis

Lost in Translation (2003)

Genre

Drama

Director

Sofia Coppola

Country

USA | Japan

Cast

Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris, Fumihiro Hayashi, Akiko Takeshita, François Du Bois, Takashi Fujii, Hiromix

Storyline

Well-known American actor Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is in Tokyo to shot a commercial for a Japanese whiskey. Spending most of his non-working hours at his hotel bar, he meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), the young wife of a visiting photographer (Giovanni Ribisi).

Opinion

After "The Virgin Suicides", Sofia Coppola strikes back, and proves that blood will out. Not a love story, not a comedy, but a story of a brief moment of life, Lost in Translation is a charming, melancholic, slow, moving film that perfectly captures loneliness, and although not much happens, it is worth the time of a watch, or two. 

Sofia Coppola's choice of shooting entirely in sequence in order to get Murray and Johansson know each other at the same time of their character is successful, and the result is brilliant. 

The film is down-to-earth, and allows you to relate to the characters, Bob and Charlotte. Both of them are dealing with a life crisis, and searching for their lost souls. The romance/love affair between Bob and Charlotte, for once in cinema, is not physical, but about souls and minds.

The photography by Lance Acord is stunning, the bright colours evoke the spiritual awakening of the characters, and the Japan-pop music perfectly fits the film.

This film is also the highlight of Bill Murray's career. He gives his strongest performance ever, perfectly playing a middle-aged and depressed guy. Also, his voice is amazing, and he proves when singing Bryan Ferry's "More Than This". However, Scarlett Johansson is the stand-out. She is stunning, and convincing in her role - I wonder what happened to her.

Quotes

Charlotte: I just don't know what I'm supposed to be.
Bob: You'll figure that out. The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.

Charlotte: Let's never come here again because it would never be as much fun.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Genre

Comedy | Romance

Director

Woody Allen

Country

UK | USA

Cast

Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Lionel Abelanski

Plot

Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) is a famous English magician who has dedicated his life to revealing fraudulent spiritualists. Persuaded by his friend, Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney), he plans to uncover a young spiritualist, Sophie (Emma Stone). However, the more time he spends with her, he starts believing she is not a charlatan, but a real psychic. 

Opinion

It may have disappointed me a little bit, still Magic in the Moonlight is a good film. Life might be not just black and white, but also a mixture of shades of gray. 

Dealing with magic and mysticism, Woody Allen poses himself/us a question: is there most than what we see? Does magic exist?

I've been amazed by the bright and shiny colours. The music is great, and I particularly enjoyed listening to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

If until now I've only said good things, had come the time to talk about the bad ones: I didn't appreciate much the script. While it was very promising at the beginning, it ended up into a cliché.

Colin Firth, serious and hilarious as the skeptical Stanley, is terrific. Emma Stone is funny and delightful as always. Eileen Atkins, who plays Aunt Vanessa, is marvelous.