I was prompted to see Kramer vs Kramer (1979) when I read an in-depth article on Meryl Streep in Vanity Fair. The writer Michael Schulman paints her as the no-name who fell into luck via Kramer vs Kramer. Schulman's intent is clear as he wishes to build her up in front of the readers eye just as she rose to fame herself eventually turning into the much-admired actress.
Where -I think- he errs is in the meaning her role in Kramer vs Kramer had in the socio-cultural context of the time.
This opinion piece is not to diminish her outstanding performance.
To me the movie transcended the mere time-contextual socio-cultural boundaries and became something bigger, namely something applicable even today, 37 years later.
This is not solely a movie about a man and a woman divorcing leaving a child in-between and it also isn't a case where 'they simply ended up living separate lives getting unhappier in the process'.
The movie tries vehemently to convince us that it is also about a woman's re-birth and realisation of role, that of mother.
But, as a mother myself, having been where she was (unhappy, unfulfilled, bored...) I have to disagree with her right to leave her child - no matter how unhappy she was, no matter how much she wanted to work but her husband didn't listen. Let's be honest all of us are sad, unhappy, bored, unfulfilled at some point in our lives. That is normal, human and part of life.
I find it astonishing that a mother walks away from her child looking him in the eye at bed-time, kissing him good-night while he says he is excited for seeing her in the morning, and she cold-heartedly does not say anything to him but 'I love you' but still walks away.
I am shocked.
As a mother you choose to be responsible for your child. That choice comes with self sacrifice as a given.
Dustin Hoffman who was not painted in the most admirable light by Schulman shines to me here as he personifies a man going through a transformation. Though this is forced upon him, he nevertheless accepts it and turns 360 degrees to become a new mother figure for Billy or rather a new transformed available father.
Fittingly, the movie ends with Billy, the little boy, staying with his father as his mother could simply not man-up to this kind of a responsibility.
Incredible movie. Gorgeous Meryl. Fabulous New York scenes.
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