The title has nothing to do with the Italian gentleman who crossed the ocean blue in 1492. It refers to the fact that one of the characters studied at Ohio State University in Columbus; upon graduation he and his classmates were presented with a record nostalgically recalling their student days and ending with the words "goodbye, Columbus". The film is based on a novella by Philip Roth, but as it is a long time since I read it I will not make any comparisons.
The story deals with a romance between two twenty-something Jewish New Yorkers, librarian Neil Klugman and Brenda Patimkin, a Radcliffe student from a wealthy family. The main obstacle to their love is a difference in social class. Neil is intelligent and well-educated, but originally from a working-class background, and Brenda's nouveau riche social-climbing parents do not see him as a suitable husband for their daughter. (Some branches of Neil's family, however, are presumably wealthier, as his cousin Doris belongs to the same exclusive country club as Brenda). Other issues discussed include (unsurprisingly for a film which appeared in 1969 during the so-called "sexual revolution") include premarital sex and contraception; Neil is horrified to discover that Brenda does not intend to take any precautions to avoid unwanted pregnancy.
I was surprised to see so many reviews on this board comparing this film, sometimes favourably, to "The Graduate", which I have long regarded as one of the greatest American films of the era. Certainly, there are some similarities- both came out in the late sixties, both are boy-girl romances and in both the main male character is a university graduate. (Neil is a graduate of Rutgers University; it was Brenda's brother Ron who was at Columbus).
The main themes of the two films, however, are different. "The Graduate" is a brilliant analysis of the "generation gap", a particularly pertinent topic at a time when relations between a conservative older generation and their radicalised sons and daughters were looking increasingly strained in many Western societies, particularly in America. "Goodbye Columbus" is mainly about social class, a theme which plays no part in "The Graduate", but does not deal with it in any great depth. It is an amiable comedy-drama, and Richard Benjamin and a pre-"Love Story" Ali MacGraw play their parts reasonably well as the two young lovers, but it lacks the depth and power of Mike Nichols's drama. 6/10.
The story deals with a romance between two twenty-something Jewish New Yorkers, librarian Neil Klugman and Brenda Patimkin, a Radcliffe student from a wealthy family. The main obstacle to their love is a difference in social class. Neil is intelligent and well-educated, but originally from a working-class background, and Brenda's nouveau riche social-climbing parents do not see him as a suitable husband for their daughter. (Some branches of Neil's family, however, are presumably wealthier, as his cousin Doris belongs to the same exclusive country club as Brenda). Other issues discussed include (unsurprisingly for a film which appeared in 1969 during the so-called "sexual revolution") include premarital sex and contraception; Neil is horrified to discover that Brenda does not intend to take any precautions to avoid unwanted pregnancy.
I was surprised to see so many reviews on this board comparing this film, sometimes favourably, to "The Graduate", which I have long regarded as one of the greatest American films of the era. Certainly, there are some similarities- both came out in the late sixties, both are boy-girl romances and in both the main male character is a university graduate. (Neil is a graduate of Rutgers University; it was Brenda's brother Ron who was at Columbus).
The main themes of the two films, however, are different. "The Graduate" is a brilliant analysis of the "generation gap", a particularly pertinent topic at a time when relations between a conservative older generation and their radicalised sons and daughters were looking increasingly strained in many Western societies, particularly in America. "Goodbye Columbus" is mainly about social class, a theme which plays no part in "The Graduate", but does not deal with it in any great depth. It is an amiable comedy-drama, and Richard Benjamin and a pre-"Love Story" Ali MacGraw play their parts reasonably well as the two young lovers, but it lacks the depth and power of Mike Nichols's drama. 6/10.