Paul Simon’s songs give screen characters feelings they cannot quite explain. We rate his work in The Graduate highly, with one reservation: even songs this good cannot supply what a screenplay has left out.
Fi1m perspective
In the early hotel scenes of The Graduate (1967), Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s songs make Ben’s drifting feel uncomfortably familiar. We felt closer to him because the music made his aimlessness recognisable without making it admirable. Director Mike Nichols lets the songs work alongside the comedy, and Simon’s reflective writing suits a young man unsure what to do with himself. His accessible melodies make room for thoughts that are harder to settle. We rate this contribution highly, though it is worth remembering that the film uses existing and adapted songs.
The reservation comes when The Graduate begins asking the music to do too much. As the writing gives its women less to play, the songs have to supply feeling that the drama has not earned. That is a weakness in the film rather than a failure of Simon’s songwriting. It also shows how easily a director can lean on a good song: we may respond to the music while remaining unconvinced by the people underneath it. Nichols gets much more from the early hotel scenes, where the songs fit the behaviour we can actually see.
Simon & Garfunkel reformed in 1964, and their folk-rock brought acoustic guitar together with introspective and observational lyrics. Mrs. Robinson, heard in The Graduate, appeared in completed form on Bookends (1968). After the duo split following Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), Simon’s solo work explored different rhythms and international influences. His film contributions belong within that songwriting career; treating him simply as a composer for hire would miss what Nichols was drawing on.
One-Trick Pony (1980) put him more directly inside a film: he wrote the screenplay, starred as a musician and composed its music. The songs also formed an accompanying album. Those responsibilities make it a useful companion to The Graduate for anyone interested in the practical difference between supplying songs and building a film around them. For a first encounter with Simon’s screen work, choose The Graduate and listen closely in the hotel scenes.
Biography
Paul Simon is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Born Paul Frederic Simon on 13 October 1941 in Newark, New Jersey, he formed the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel with Art Garfunkel in the 1950s.
The pair achieved commercial success in the 1960s with albums including Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). Simon later pursued a solo career, releasing albums such as Graceland (1986).
As an actor, he played Tony Lacey in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977). He also wrote and starred in the 1980 film One-Trick Pony.
