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A breakdown of The Graduate ending and the directing techniques that made it so timeless. Mike Nichols classic is a masterclass in directing a movie.

The Graduate Ending Scene Breakdown ►►
Read "The Graduate" Script ►►
View "The Graduate" Ending Storyboards ►►

Chapters:
00:00 What Makes a Timeless Ending
01:28 The Story Beats
05:17 Exercise — The Graduate Ending Explained
09:37 Get The Graduate Script & Storyboards

The Graduate ending might just be one of the greatest conclusions in cinema history. There must be a reason we’re still enthralled with the plight of Ben and Elaine more than five decades later. Part of its greatness can be attributed to just how expected...and then unexpected it plays out. In our contribution to The Graduate video essay conversation, we look at this sequence through the eyes of director Mike Nichols.

In the script, the ending plays out how we might expect: Ben valiantly rescues Elaine from her own wedding and they ride off into the sunset on a public bus. For all of this, the audience is right there with Ben, cheering and championing his extra-romantic gesture. But The Graduate ending wouldn’t be The Graduate ending we still talk about today if it ended there. Sitting at the back of the bus, under the lifeless gaze of the other passengers, Ben and Elaine transform in front of our eyes. In a single, extended two-shot, Mike Nichols shows us the adrenaline (and certainty) drain from the young lovers’ faces as reality sets in.

Ben has been aimless and drifting since his graduation; he has no clue what to do with his life. After an ill-conceived affair with Mrs. Robinson fails to fill Ben’s existential void, he finds love and companionship in Elaine. For Ben, he’s finally found his purpose and he’ll stop at nothing to get her back. And, so, he does. But in that last shot, Mike Nichols poses a follow-up question to Ben, Elaine, and the audience: what now?

Why is The Graduate so timeless? The short answer is that it deals with themes and realities that apply to all of us. In the end of most movies, the protagonists find what they’re looking for but Mike Nichols gave us something else: uncertainty. Perhaps, it is this level of honesty that audiences still resonate with 50+ years later.

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Songs Used:
"Mrs. Robinson (Instrumental)" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Sound of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Lee's Blues" - The Night Train
"Strawberry Afternoons (Instrumental)" - Lonely Benson
"The Singleman Party Foxtrot" - Dave Grusin
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" - Simon & Garfunkel
"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" - Simon & Garfunkel
"Sunporch Cha-Cha-Cha" - Dave Grusin

Music by Artlist ►
Music by Artgrid ►
Music by Soundstripe ►
Music by MusicBed ►

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