Photo Credit: Robert Sunnes
Starring renowned retired actor Mike Nichols, the 1967 film The Graduate highlights issues from family dynamics to infidelity. The Graduate has
amassed $104.9 million in revenue and recognition along the U.S. National Film Registry. A household name, audiences may attribute this to the
film’s technical elements. Mainly, screenplay and the soundtrack of Simon and Garfunkel’s classic hits. The soundtrack remarkable embodies
protagonist Jack Braddock’s post-college transition and sense of uncertainty.
A hallmark example lies in scene four, as Braddock flees from his estranged lover Elaine. Braddock speeds down a Los Angeles freeway with Simon
and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” playing overhead. Here, Braddock grips the steering wheel on an otherwise abandoned road.
The combination of soundtrack and screenplay frames Braddock as an outsider amidst an idyllic suburbia. Conversely, audiences may recognize this
trend persists with “The Sound of Silence.” The subdued melody appears in the American drama-comedy’s opening and closing
scenes. Simultaneously, the technical elements argue Braddock’s coping mechanisms and overrule dialogue. “The Sound of Silence” accompanies
Nicholson in his early departure from the Los Angeles airport. Braddock is continuously alone- with merely a briefcase and drawn eyes. Moreover, the
American duo’s song plays as Nicholson departs his childhood home. The iconic ballad simultaneously conveys Braddock’s “flight”
response and nostalgia. Ultimately, Nichol’s cunning production methods allow an earnest framework of both Braddock and
Generation X’s cultural norms.
