Post-Graduate

Gen X-er filmmaker Kevin Smith makes movies for a new generation.

LYNNE KONSTANTIN STAFF WRITER

Kevin Smith continues speaking to a generation with Chasing Amy.

The 25th anniversary of The Graduate was cel-
ebrated by the film's release on video, includ-
ing interviews with some of the film's major
players.•Here, from that video, are some ob-
servations:

Dustin Hoffman (Benjamin Braddock):

(On his feelings at his screen test) "It's not
the part for me. I'm not supposed to be in
movies. An ethnic actor is supposed to be in eth-
nic New York in an ethnic off-Broadway show,
and I know my place. [Then] Katharine Ross
comes in and she's really beautiful. The idea
that the director was connecting me with some-
one as beautiful as her ... became an even ugli-
er joke. It was like a Jewish nightmare."
(On the final scene at the church, where Ben-
jamin bangs on the glass window and screams
Elaine's name) "In every piece of film criticism
I've seen ... Nichols has Benjamin in a Christ-
like position [and it's] somehow a Jesus thing
and that's why his arms are outstretched. [In
fact], spreading my arms was the only way I
could knock on the glass without breaking it."

Lawrence Turman, producer:

"Mike Nichols had done a single Broadway
play (Barefoot in the Park) when I hired him.
I remember coming out of the Russian Tea
Room, taking a walk down Fifth Avenue and
talking about what the style and theme should
be. 'Maybe it's about a boy who saves himself
through madness,' Nichols said."

Buck Henry (real name, Buck Henry Zucker-
man), co-screenwriter who also appears as the
hotel clerk in The Graduate:

(On the casting) "It was clear from the

screen test that Dustin was really interest-
ing. Our dilemma was that we'd conceived
of [Benjamin] and all the major characters as
prototypical Southern California ... big, blonde
people (Robert Redford, Candy Bergen, Ronald
Reagan and Doris Day). We wanted a family
of surfboards. Here comes Dustin, clearly not
a surfboard. We realized he's a genetic throw-
back ... Ronald Reagan and Doris Day have
had this mutt."
(On the love story) "I was always taken by
the love story part of it ... a story of one guy's
desperation and connection to one person."
(On the music) "Mike Nichols wanted Paul
Simon's songs for the music. He said 'Sounds
of Silence' was the perfect selection for that
time and place."

tion," says Smith. "I remember the
first time I saw it. The [trailer] didn't
look like a comedy; they showed the
scene with [Benjamin] banging on
the window, screaming 'Elaaaaaine.'
"When I finally saw it, I was 14 or
15; it was very emotional for me. It
was a movie about a point of life that
I hadn't gotten to yet, and when I got
to that point, I was like, 'Oh, wow.' It
left such an impact, so much so that
there's a huge joke in Dogma (the
film on which he's beginning pro-
duction in August) that relies heav-
ily on knowledge of The Graduate.
It's the only time God speaks in the
movie."
References such as that have come
to be Smith's trademark in film-
making. He began his career with
a brief stint at a Vancouver film
school. "The only thing I learned in
film school," he says, "was that I
didn't like film school." He lasted
there for four months.
`They'll teach formatting," he ex-
plains. "But I think either you can
write or you can't. No one can teach
this to you." He admits he still doesn't
know how the camera works.
According to Smith, writing a
screenplay comes down to speaking
from perspective, telling a story and,
he says, 'there's a lot of egoism."
Appropriately, Clerks, shot on lo-
cation in his New Jersey hometown,
was based on his four years' experi-
ence clerking at a New Jersey Quick
Stop convenience store. The film is
jam-packed with bizarre characters,
.edgy whip-smart wit and slacker tid-
bits.
So is Mallrats, Smith's follow-up
film in his New Jersey Trilogy, which
chronicles snippeteofrom the lives
of the three Jones sisters. Mallrats,

with a broader budget, starred Shan-
nen Doherty — with a cameo by
Marvel Comics' creator Stan Lee:
The film again focused on Smith's
strengths: slick, Gen X dialogue and
sight gags.
Now, Smith has concluded his tril-
ogy, and worked his way up to a
$250,000 budget, with Chasing Amy.
"In Clerks," says Smith, "[the pro-
tagonist] Dante freaks over the fact
that his girlfriend has had sex with
37 guys. I thought that his obsession,
that basic insecurity, was worth ex-
ploring in greater depth with more
mature characters."
A love story between two seem-
ingly incompatible lovers, Chasing
Amy speaks of homosexuality, friend-
ship and comic books. Alyssa is a les-
bian comic-book artist who befriends
Holden, and their friendship devel-
ops into an affair
"As a straight male, I may have no
business putting words in the mouth
of a culture that I am not a part of;
however, if you stick with the movie
long enough, you'll find [Alyssa's] ra-
tionale is pretty solid. It's not politi-
cal, and one man didn't turn her
around. It's about connecting with
someone, regardless of gender.
"The lesbian angle is really just
a red herring," Smith continues. "If
you view the movie with your head
and look for some political angle,
you'll get caught up in the lesbian
thing. It should be viewed with your
heart with a focus on the relation-
ship."
So, from the mouth of a '90s film-
maker, what's the signature line for
this generation? Says Smith, " Plas-
tics' (from The Graduate) is such a
dead-on killer line, you can't do that
any better. It's just brilliant. ❑

PHOTO BY LORENZO BEVILAOUA

K

evin Smith never intended to
be a mouthpiece for his gen-
eration. His debut film, 1994's
Clerks — was made with a
$27,000 budget when the screen-
writer/director was a mere 23 years
old; his film went on to win that
year's Filmmakers Trophy at the
Sundance Film Festival.
'When Clerks opened and started
playing, and a bunch of people were
laughing, I was really surprised. I
thought this was something I made
for me and my friends to laugh at.
When other people found it funny,
I was like, wow ... suddenly you just
don't feel so alone anymore in the
world."
And, suddenly, his little venture
had a cult following. "Oddly enough,"
says Smith, "I always wind up being
that [spokesperson], because I guess
we all have the same kind of shared
experiences." Thirty years ago, in-
novative films such as the recently
re-released The Graduate were
telling American slice-of-life, com-
ing-of-age stories that the masses
were flocking to.
"The Graduate spoke to a genera-

• The Graduate was nominated for seven
Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Direc-
tor (Mike Nichols), Best Actor (Dustin Hoff-
man), Best Actress (Anne Bancroft), Best
Supporting Actress (Katharine Ross), Best
Screenplay (from another medium) (Buck
Henry and Calder Willingham) and Best Cin-
ematography (Robert Surtess). Mike Nichols
won for Best Director and also captured that
honor from the Directors' Guild and New York
Film Critics.

N-
o)

a)

• The Graduate soundtrack went gold, and
the song "Mrs. Robinson" was No. 1 on the
charts for four weeks. It went on to sweep
awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop
Performance by a Vocal Group at the Gram-
mys.

—Gail Zimmerman

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Kevin Smith, right, joined by Jason Mewes, resurrects his Clerks and Mallrats cameo as
Silent Bob in Chasing Amy.

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