Revisiting Classics-9

 

Today we revisit the classic, 1979 release Kramer vs. Kramer. Kramer vs. Kramer is a painful movie, where it becomes very difficult for the audience to take sides. The young boy Billy Kramer (Played by Justin Henry that earned him a nomination for best supporting actor for Oscar) is stuck between the warring parents and the trials and tribulations that the young boy goes through is indeed very heartbreaking. At the end, you are unable to choose sides. As parents they are both wrong in their own way. The mother (a brilliant and melancholic and my favorite Meryl Streep) at the start of the film leaves her husband and child behind only to come back somewhere in the middle to reclaim her rights. And the father (the maverick and the method actor Dustin Hoffman) who has wronged his family till then is suddenly left to fend for himself and the child. In the process he loses his job and has to compromise and accept a new one with pay cut. In the process he has developed a relationship with his son. 

Kramer versus Kramer could have had the usual trappings of parents and the child caught in a quagmire. There are films and films where this type of plot is often a sub context or as a parallel one. But to make that as a central is indeed a matter of courage. And the plot and film works for an absolute powerhouse performances from all the three leads. Meryl Streep is pained and hurt and the melancholy in her eyes is so disparate. Hoffman, at the start is the usual Madison Square hot shot art director who does not listen to his wife even, when she says about leaving (as he is so caught up in his own world). And then the young Justin Henry is so brilliant in his role, that earned him an academy nomination. Apparently, the scenes of him and Hoffman where all unscripted and it was more of impromptu interactions. The chemistry between them is amazing and Hoffman, the method actor he is, leaves no stone unturned. Especially, at the fag end of the movie, when the court decides that the custody of the boy will be with the mother and before the D-Day, father and son decide to head out for a walk and ice cream. 

Those moments are the best part of the movie. Hoffman has very little dialogue and he has to use a lot of body language, to express and suppress his pain. He needs to keep the child in good humor and yet has to bear the pain the small boy is going through. The boy is crying and yet he needs to keep a happy face. Those expressions are what makes Kramer versus Kramer such a treat to watch. Infact, much of the scenes in the movie uses body language and facial expressions to heighten the scenes and the moments. There is a time when the young boy falls from the jungle gym and Ted (Dustin Hoffman) has to rush him to the hospital. With the young Billy in his lap, Ted simply sprints. And that moment captures the transformation that Ted has had through those months he and Billy have spent together. 

Early on in the film and it is the first day of Ted and Billy together. Ted tries to make breakfast and is a complete mess. And then at the end of the film, when the two are making breakfast and Billy helps his Dad, the scene sums up the relationship. Infact, one can see, Billy virtually chucking the breads into the egg and that has a sense of despair and hopelessness and sadness. It needs to be watched carefully to relate to the scene and moment.

Kramer versus Kramer gives limited screen time to Streep but she is rock solid. You sense that she is so vulnerable and early on when she is all set to leave, never for one did you as an audience thought she could leave. And later when she comes back to stake claim, you again feel she will never get the custody. I think, it is Streep's underplay which works so well. This was also visible when she starred with Clint Eastwood in Bridges of Madison County. There are enough trivia on IMDb about how Hoffman and Streep prepared for their roles and how Hoffman helped or rather pushed Streep into those reactions. I leave the readers to explore them too. 

Kramer versus Kramer has to be seen many many times to appreciate the finesse and the subtlety of the film. It remains Robert Benton's finest to me and Hoffman and Streep's best amongst the many gems they have played.

Go watch. It's on Netflix.