Dustin Hoffman (The graduate, Kramer v. Kramer, rain man) I just wanted to say one word to the huge crowd that came out to see it at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) in the Czech Republic on Saturday: plastic.
Sorry, I got carried away because of the iconic line The graduatea special presentation presented by Hoffman on Saturday. No, the Hollywood legend had plenty to say to the adoring crowd in the Grand Hall of the Thermal Hotel, the legendary “home” of the Czech festival, which welcomed him with a standing ovation.
Asked how it was cast The graduateHoffman replied: “It was an accident. Mike Nichols was the director of the moment. He was like Steven Spielberg today.” But the director faced a challenge in choosing the actors. “He spent almost two years looking for this person who was going to be the graduate, and after two years, I know this because he later wrote it in his autobiography: He was willing to say we couldn’t make it, and he wasn’t going to direct the movie.”
Lucky timing then? “Literally, the last day he went to see people, it was my turn and Catherine Ross’s turn,” the actor recalls. “If we had been there two years ago, we wouldn’t have gotten this role.”
Since the movie came out in 1967, can it still provide inspiration for people in their 20s today? “It’s actually the same thing,” Hoffman said, highlighting that Charles Webb’s novella, on which the film is based, was written in 1964. That was “before the Vietnam crisis, which divided America as it is divided today.”
Regarding the mental state of people in their twenties, the Hollywood legend offered: “I don’t think we know who we are when we’re in our early twenties. The idea is that we spend years trying to figure out who I am, and I think I’m still trying to figure that out.”
Hoffman on Saturday also highlighted the key social and community aspect explored The graduate. “The parents were coming out of the Great Depression in the 1930s when no one could get a job, and suddenly now, because of the war, they were able to work, and instead of giving of themselves, they gave things away. So the generation that was living then wasn’t given love — they were given things.”
During Friday’s double-anniversary opening ceremony of KVIFF, its 60th edition in the 80th year, Hoffman was honored with the festival’s Crystal Globe Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema.
He is one of many stars attending the Czech festival, which runs from July 3 to 11 this year. Maggie Gyllenhaal (Bride!, Missing daughter, secretary, The honorable woman) received the President’s Award on Friday night, followed by Jesse Eisenberg (Social network, Real pain) on saturday. Harvey Keitel (I mean the streets, Taxi driver, Reservoir dogs(He was also among the famous names who walked the festival’s expansive red carpet in the Czech spa town on Friday. Also scheduled to visit the festival over the next week are the likes of Juliette Binoche, cinematographer Robert Richardson, Jeffrey Wright, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.
