The Invisible Cut Read online

Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate, has left the party his parents threw in his honor, because Mrs. Robinson (Ann Bancroft), a friend of his parents, has pressured him into driving her home.

  INT. MRS. ROBINSON’S HOUSE - NIGHT.

  Master shot, dollying with Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson through hall to the bar.

  Mrs. Robinson goes behind the bar.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  What do you drink, bourbon?

  BENJAMIN

  Look, Mrs. Robinson – I drove you home. I was glad to do it. But I have some things on my mind. Can you understand that?

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Yes.

  BENJAMIN

  All right, then.

  He turns and starts to leave.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  What do you drink?

  He stops, takes a half step back, and turns. She fixes drinks.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Benjamin, I’m sorry to be this way, but I don’t want to be alone in this house.

  BENJAMIN

  Why not?

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Please wait till my husband gets home.

  Camera settles in, shooting over Benjamin to Mrs. Robinson at the bar.

  FRAME GRAB #1

  CUT TO:

  Reverse master shot to Benjamin over Mrs. Robinson.

  FRAME GRAB #2

  BENJAMIN

  When is he coming back?

  MRS. ROBINSON

  I don’t know.… Drink?

  BENJAMIN

  No.

  She thrusts a drink in his hand.

  BENJAMIN

  (con’td)

  Are you always this afraid of being alone?

  She lights a cigarette.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Yes.

  BENJAMIN

  Well, why can’t you just lock the doors and go to bed?

  She turns to him, her back to screen.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  I’m very neurotic.

  He makes a feeble attempt to swat at the smoke from her billowing cigarette. As she turns and exits right, he sits down, awkwardly. Dramatic, seductive piano music comes on off screen. (She’s turned on the phonograph.) Benjamin reacts, sitting suddenly upright.

  FRAME GRAB #3

  CUT TO:

  Medium long shot to Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin as she returns to bar.

  FRAME GRAB #4

  MRS. ROBINSON

  May I ask you a question?

  (she sits down)

  What do you think of me?

  CUT TO:

  Medium shot of Benjamin in profile, seated.

  BENJAMIN

  What do you mean?

  CUT TO:

  Medium shot of Mrs. Robinson seated at bar.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  You’ve known me nearly all your life.

  You must have formed some opinion.

  CUT BACK TO:

  Medium shot of Benjamin.

  BENJAMIN

  Well… I always thought that you were a very…nice…person.

  He starts to take a drink.

  FRAME GRAB #5

  CUT BACK TO:

  Medium shot of Mrs. Robinson.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Did you know I was an alcoholic?

  FRAME GRAB #6

  CUT TO:

  Close-up of Benjamin.

  He’s drinking…

  FRAME GRAB #7

  He looks up, gulping drink.

  BENJAMIN

  What?

  CUT TO:

  Close-up of Mrs. Robinson.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Did you know that?

  FRAME GRAB #8

  CUT BACK TO:

  Close-up of Benjamin

  He starts to stand up.

  BENJAMIN

  Look… I think I should be going…

  His torso moves across the screen.

  FRAME GRAB #9

  CUT BACK TO:

  Medium long shot to Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin.

  FRAME GRAB #10

  He plunks down drink on bar.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Sit down, Benjamin.

  BENJAMIN

  Mrs. Robinson … if you don’t mind my saying so … this conversation is getting a little strange. Now I’m sure that Mr. Robinson will be here any minute and…

  MRS. ROBINSON

  No.

  BENJAMIN

  What?

  MRS. ROBINSON

  My husband will be back very late.

  He turns around and walks away, facing camera.

  BENJAMIN

  Oh my God.

  Camera dollies with Benjamin as he moves into room for a combination long shot with Benjamin in foreground, Mrs. Robinson at bar in background.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Pardon?

  BENJAMIN

  Oh no, Mrs. Robinson, oh no.

  Benjamin is pacing back and forth in foreground, in silhouette, as Mrs. Robinson is seated seductively on bar stool, smiling.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  What’s wrong?

  BENJAMIN

  Mrs. Robinson, you didn’t… I mean you didn’t expect…

  MRS. ROBINSON

  What?

  BENJAMIN

  I mean… you didn’t really think that I would do something like that.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Like what?

  BENJAMIN

  What do you think?

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Well, I don’t know.

  She props her foot up on the bar stool, parting her legs.

  BENJAMIN

  For God’s sake Mrs. Robinson, here we are, you’ve got me into your house. You give me a drink. You put on music, now you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband won’t be home for hours.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  So?

  FRAME GRAB #11

  CUT TO:

  Medium long shot to Benjamin through Mrs. Robinson’s leg.

  BENJAMIN

  Mrs. Robinson… you’re trying to seduce me.

  FRAME GRAB #12

  CUT TO:

  Close-up (pick up shot) of Mrs. Robinson.

  She’s laughing.

  FRAME GRAB #13

  CUT TO:

  Reverse master (pick up shot) shot to Benjamin over Mrs. Robinson.

  FRAME GRAB #14

  BENJAMIN

  (weaker)

  Aren’t you?

  CUT BACK TO:

  Medium long shot to Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin.

  MRS. ROBINSON

  Why no, I hadn’t thought about it.

  She turns away, closing her legs, and stubs out her cigarette.

  The scene continues with a mortified Benjamin apologizing for misreading her. She forgives him, and encourages him to finish his drink.

  DECONSTRUCTION

  Scene edited by Sam O’Steen

  The following shots were used:

  > Master shot, dolly with Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson through hall to bar

  > Reverse master shot to Benjamin over Mrs. Robinson

  > Reverse master shot (pickup) to Benjamin over Mrs. Robinson

  > Medium long shot to Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin then dolly back with Benjamin as he moves into room, for combination long shot with Benjamin in foreground and Mrs. Robinson at bar in background

  > Medium shot of Benjamin, seated in profile

  > Medium shot of Mrs. Robinson, seated in profile

  > Close shot of Benjamin

  > Close shot of Mrs. Robinson

  > Close shot (pickup) of Mrs. Robinson

  > Medium long shot to Benjamin through Mrs. Robinson’s leg

  The following shots were not used:

  > Slate #15: Medium shot to Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin

  > Slate #109: Insert of Mrs. Robinson’s hand to turn on phonograph

  > Slate #14: Medium long to Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin, camera booms down with Benjamin as he sits on ottoman
r />   > Slate #106: Close shot of Benjamin, seated

  > Slate #21: Close-up of Benjamin over bar, seen through Mrs. Robinson’s leg, variable focus

  > Slate #22: Medium long shot to Benjamin

  > Slate #23: Big close-up Benjamin

  In this key scene, Mrs. Robinson pulls Benjamin in, first with her neediness, then with her increasingly candid confessions, and ultimately with her sexuality. As the editor, Sam O’Steen, explained, “The theme was a jungle. You can see it in the plants, in the furniture, she was even wearing a jungle print. She was like an animal trying to devour him.”8

  We, the audience, know that Benjamin is way over his head, and we can pretty much see what’s coming, which makes it painfully funny to watch and wait for him to “slip on the banana peel.” The approach is not completely objective, however, since we identify with Benjamin and see some of what she’s doing through his eyes as well. As a result, the conniving Mrs. Robinson is always one step ahead of Benjamin and even a bit ahead of the audience.

  In the shooting of The Graduate the filmmakers paid a great deal of attention to composition within the frame, which was not only visually innovative but had dramatic and comedic resonance. In this particular scene, there’s an unusual amount of foreground and background emphasis, with great discrepancy shown in the size and height of the two actors within the frame, symbolizing Benjamin’s insecurity and discomfort relative to Mrs. Robinson’s power over him.

  There are four comic/dramatic arcs in this scene:

  The first arc comes after Benjamin tells Mrs. Robinson he’s leaving. In this shot (shown in Frame grab #1), Benjamin is in the foreground, the larger figure, when he still has some control over the situation. But then she says, “Please wait till my husband gets home,” and now Benjamin is thrown, because if she’s afraid to be alone, how can he say “no”? The editor makes the first cut here, because it’s a turning point, the first step to Mrs. Robinson’s entrapment of Benjamin. He cuts to a shot (the “in” frame is Frame grab #2) where her back is to the camera, in the foreground, with Benjamin in the background, looking much smaller than she. The focus is also on him, putting him on the spot visually and psychologically.

  frame grab 1

  frame grab 2

  The second arc occurs when she says “I’m very neurotic,” which throws him even more. The editor holds on this shot, where she dominates the foreground and he’s in the background, while she blows smoke in his face, and he ineffectually tries to swat it away. When he sits down and she leaves him alone, the editor decides to stay on him at that distance in the long shot to underline his discomfort. The editor could have cut to a medium long shot of Mrs. Robinson over Benjamin, which booms down with him as he sits down [Slate 14] but his isolation and impotence wouldn’t have been felt as much. The editor continues to hold on Benjamin, who’s looking small and helpless, as Mrs. Robinson plays the dramatic, seductive music (the “out” frame of that shot is Frame grab #3).

  An insert was shot of Mrs. Robinson putting the record on the phonograph [Slate 109], but this would not have been as effective for two reasons. First: holding onto him as the seductive music comes on — and he jumps to attention — is a very funny, awkward moment; to cut away would have weakened its impact. Second: if the editor showed her actually turning on the phonograph, he would have had to let this scene play out more in real time. The audience doesn’t notice or care that in real time Mrs. Robinson could not have left Benjamin, turned on the music, and headed back to the bar (the “in” frame is Frame grab #4) in the three-and-a-half seconds of screen time it takes. The tension and humor is more effective because the editor made this cut in movie time.

  frame grab 3

  frame grab 4

  The editor sets up the third arc with extra beats. Mrs. Robinson provocatively asks Benjamin what he thinks of her. When he answers that he thinks she’s a nice person, the editor holds for a beat on Benjamin, letting him start to sip his drink, relax, and let his guard down (the “out” frame is Frame grab #5). When the editor cuts to Mrs. Robinson, he gives her a beat before she responds, showing her dissatisfaction with his polite answer, and her mind turning while she chooses what to say. This beat also sets up the impact for the third arc, when she says, “Did you know I was an alcoholic?” (the “out” frame is Frame grab #6). This line is shockingly intimate and throws Benjamin off guard even more.

  frame grab 5

  frame grab 6

  After her dialogue, when the editor cuts to Benjamin (the “in” frame is Frame grab #7), his head is all the way down; he’s in the middle of innocently swallowing his drink. That gives him a chance to look up, gulp his drink, and do a double take, thereby milking the moment. This is the first time the editor has chosen to use a close-up in this scene; he’s saved it for when it really counts. The dialogue is also the tightest on this cut, from her “alcoholic” line to him, almost overlapping, because it’s such a tense moment. In fact, the close-up is the only head-on angle used in the scene. When Benjamin was in the more distant medium shot previous to this (Frame grab #5), the editor could have used a head-on angle [Slate #106] instead of the profile, but he saved the double intensity of the straight-on close-up for Benjamin’s significant reaction. For the next shot, the editor chooses the first close-up of Mrs. Robinson (the “out” frame is Frame grab #8) to reinforce the startling intimacy of her confession: “Did you know that?”

  frame grab 7

  frame grab 8

  In the next shot, which again starts close on Benjamin, he’s reacting strongly, but this time he’s in a panic. He bolts out of his chair and says, “I think I should be going.” In the “out” frame of this shot (Frame grab #9) the editor violates the action-cut rule that says that when an actor is standing up, cut out before the actor’s face leaves the screen and definitely before we see only his midsection (which is the case here) because the shot will seem stale. In this instance, however, the editor is using the momentum of his motion to effectively cut out of that shot. Benjamin has just started standing up straight, and then in the next shot (the “in” frame is Frame grab #10) he’s already at the bar, even though he was some distance away. (Note the distance between where Benjamin is sitting and Mrs. Robinson’s bar stool in Frame grab #3.) Also, in Frame grab #9 he’s facing the camera, his arm by his side, and in Frame grab #10 his back is to the camera with his arm outstretched.

  frame grab 9

  frame grab 10

  This mismatched action and potentially awkward cut feels smooth because the editor cut out and then in to the next shot when Benjamin’s energy is at its peak. And even though we don’t see his glass, the sound of it being plunked on the bar at the beginning of that second shot gives the cut better flow.

  Also, the audience’s eyes follow Mrs. Robinson rather than Benjamin in the second shot, because we see she means business when she says, “Sit down, Benjamin.” The result: the audience doesn’t notice the jump cut from Frame grab #9 to Frame grab #10, due to the visual momentum the editor created and our desire for him to be there at the bar right away to keep the tension going in the scene. Within the same shot, Benjamin walks away toward the camera, trying to get away from Mrs. Robinson, and he ends up in silhouette in the foreground (we can’t see his face). He paces and confesses his suspicions of her (the “out” frame is Frame grab #11). The editor could have cut to any number of shots: a big close-up of Benjamin [Slate 21], a medium long shot to Benjamin [Slate 22] or close shots of Mrs. Robinson that were already used. But the editor chose to stay with this shot through quite a bit of dialogue, because it’s working so well, the composition and staging perfectly capturing the situation. The visual emphasis is on Mrs. Robinson in the background when she is at her most seductive, poised on the bar stool with her legs parted, while Benjamin in the foreground is a shadowy figure, nervously pacing.