Citizen Kane | MovieBrando

The Movie That Invented The Coming of Age Genre

Posted on March 7, 2018 by G Virdee for MovieBrando

When a flake of snow hits UK soil – the whole island is put on hiatus. So it was pretty befitting that I’d catch up on my AFI challenge and watch a classic movie this weekend (as the inch of snow forced me to stay in), plus I haven’t posted on here for a year and a half – so it’s about time I attempt at doing this bloody list again.

As it was Oscars weekend I thought I’d check out ‘The Graduate’ (1967: ‘98 #7, ‘03 #17). One of the most iconic coming of age movies that was the last to win only for Best Director at the Academy awards (bit of trivia for you). And when I say this film is iconic, I mean it in every sense of the word. Even though I never had seen it before this weekend – I pretty much knew the whole plot, some of the key quotes and the soundtrack, which is why it is ranked so highly in on the 1998 and 2007 lists. But other than having a huge cultural impact, does the film have the credentials to be ranked so highly with ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941) and ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)?

The Graduate (1967)

The storyline is pretty straight forward; a talented graduate (Dustin Hoffman) from a middle class family, but with no sense of direction, begins an affair with an older family friend (Anne Bancroft) only to fall in love with her daughter (Katharine Ross). A tame plot by today’s standards, but Bancroft’s nude scene raised a few eyebrows at the time and age difference of 20 years between her and Hoffman’s character made the movie pretty controversial at the time. People probably wouldn’t have battered an eye lid if the male character was 20 years senior than the female. No one seemed to care when Grant was wooing a much younger Hepburn in ‘Charade’ (1963) and despite a twenty-five year age gap, Bacall and Bogart’s romance celebrated romance on and off the screen. Hypocrisy is today still prevalent as Best Picture nominee ‘Call me By Your Name’ (2017) has been criticised (by mostly straight white males, including James Wood) for the age gap of just a six years between the two gay characters. But star of the Academy Award winning film Armie Hammer brilliantly highlighted our double standard society by kindly reminding Woods that he dated a 19 year old when he was 60.

Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman

But back to ‘The Graduate’; yes, it was a risky plot at the time and yes, it perhaps invented the coming of age genre. But Hoffman’s character comes across as such a self-absorbed selfish brat who doesn’t seem to have the slightest concern his actions are destroying a family – that he is hard to like. That being said Hoffman plays the part brilliantly and his awkwardness brings in subtle comedy to the movie. He even at times, when not being an arrogant punk, displays endearing and charming qualities of the arguably the greatest literary character of the twentieth-century; Holden Caulfield from ‘Catcher in the Rye’ (1951). In fact I’m almost certain that Benjamin Braddock was inspired by the protagonist in J.D Salinger’s masterpiece.

It’s hard to think of anyone other than super seductive Anne Bancroft playing the role of Mrs. Robinson. Her iconic husky and commanding voice brought some of the most memorable one liners to modern cinema, it’s crazy that the role could have gone to Joan Crawford or ‘Murder She Wrote’ star Angela Lansbury. At times Mrs. Robinson can be a bit annoying and her nonchalant attitude at the beginning of the movie makes it hard for you to have empathy for her. But toward the end of the film, you definitely see her more as a victim and can sympathise with her for having a loveless marriage.

‘The Graduate’ trailer

The unforgettable ending, which has probably been recreated by every soap in the last fifty-years (as well as famous Renault Clio advert from the 90s) alone qualifies the classic to be in AFI top 100 films of all time, but it is suited to its 2007 ranking of #17 rather than top ten position in the 1998 list.

For its superb cast, iconic quotes, invention of the coming of age genre and soundtrack that sets the mood for the movie – I give ‘The Graduate’ 4 out of 5.

Kubrick Asks Can You Cure An Psychopath ?

Posted on September 17, 2015 by G Virdee for MovieBrando

I thought I’d probably seen every episode of ‘The Simpsons’ to date, so I pleasantly surprised when I came across a Halloween Special that I’d never watched before. In my opinion the show is the king of parodies and they have put their yellow magic on some of the prominent films featured in the American Film Institute’s top 100 films of all time – from ‘Rear Window’(1954: AFI 1998 #42, 2007 #48) to ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941: AFI 1998 #1, 2007 #1). This time they took their spin on classic horror ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971: 1998 #46, 2007 #70) with the programme’s darkest character Moe befittingly playing disturbed Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick’s terrifying British (but partly funded by an American studio which explains why it is eligible for the AFI list) masterpiece.

For the American Film Institute to consider a movie for their 1998 and 2007 coveted list it has to have significant and lasting cultural impact – ‘A Clockwork Orange’ definitely fits into this category with artists like Kylie Minogue (yup, it doesn’t get more commercial than that), My Chemical Romance and Blur paying homage to the terrifying villain played so well by Malcolm McDowell. The film which is set in a futuristic London centers around lead character Alex and his group of thugs called ‘ Droogs’ who perform violent crimes including rape whilst high on drugs. When his luck runs out and he gets caught for murdering a woman the sociopath is sent to prison where he is a participant of an experiment to cure his bad behaviour. This involves him being subjected to hours of violent footage and images whilst having his eyes clamped open.

‘A Clockwork Orange’ movie trailer from 1971

Unsurprisingly the film was surrounded by controversy when it was released and it’s still pretty shocking by today’s standards – the rape scene is pretty gruesome, only Kubrick can take an innocent and cheery song like ‘Singing in the rain’ that is beloved by millions of people including me and totally change the mood of the song as McDowell eerily sings it whilst torturing his female victims. Apparently Gene Kelly was so disgusted by Alex DeLarge’s rendition of the classic musical number he ignored MacDowell when he approached him at some showbiz event they both attended.

Alex DeLarge and his ‘Droogs’

But violence is key to explaining the plot of the movie, without it you will never get a sense of how twisted the lead character is. We are in an age where films are brutal for the thrill or shock factor without adding anything particularly to a piece – take for example ‘American Psycho’(2000). For years my friend told me the film was a masterpiece and it was a must see (although he did use to show me some disturbing violent videos on his computer when I went around to his for tea after school – the film must have been pretty tame by his twisted standards) so this weekend me and my brother, Sati decided to watch it. It was highly entertaining and Christian Bale did a fine job playing disturbed Patrick Bateman but the ending of the movie left us feeling unsatisfied. Did he or did he not really kill those people in the over the top, unrealistic fashion or was it in his imagination? If it was the latter than the gory violence seems pointless and the film appears to be lazy because there are so many things left unexplained – it all seems rather pointless.

Malcolm McDowell speaks on the genius of Stanley Kubrick

With ‘American Psycho’ you begin to question whether the villain is in fact a victim of capitalist society, but in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ the answer more definite especially with Alex’s final words. The movie feels more complete, there are no loose ends and hence the piece has more purpose than a majority of the bloodstained and brutal flicks that have been released in recent years. For the gripping plot and Kubrick’s attempt to answer the ever relevant question ‘can someone be cured of evil?’ I give this movie a 5 out 5.