This sensitive and emotional film charts the break-up, divorce and fight for custody of Ted and Joanna Kramer (Duston Hoffman and Meryl Streep respectively). Focusing predominantly on Ted and his changing relationship with his six year old son, Billy (Justin Henry), after his wife suddenly leaves him, we witness a very intimate and honest story of the disintegration of a marriage and the strong bond a parent shares with their child.
Beginning slightly unconventionally with Joanna walking out on her husband and child, the film is essentially a two-hander between Ted and Billy as they grow closer and adapt to a life without a wife/mother figure. The film never judges Joanna for leaving, or Ted's own role in potentially alienating her and pushing her away. Instead it simply tries to understand the relationships and pressure brought about by new responsibilities, climaxing in Ted losing his job due to the distraction of his son, and the tense battle for custody.
Writer/Director Robert Benton took a very democratic approach to the film, inviting the actors to contribute with improvisations and rewrites. Keen to get Dustin Hoffman on board, Benton and producer Stanley Jaffe, agreed to work on rewrites with him, as Hoffman was going through a divorce of his own at that time. As a result we get a very honest insight into the strain that the end of a marriage can produce. It is often extremely emotive and distressing but the mood is never manipulated to become sentimental but instead feels very instinctive and real. Streep was also invited to re-write her climactic courtroom testimony, bringing a distinctive woman's voice to the film, and the result is very powerful. Although she didn't have the same personal experience as Hoffman to draw from she had recently lost her partner, actor John Cazale, to cancer, and was able to use this sense of loss and longing when fighting for her child.
Another key relationship in the film is that between Ted and Billy, or just as much between Hoffman and Justin Henry. They spent much time behind the camera forging a strong bond that translated on to the screen, and six year old Henry was encouraged to improvise just as much as Hoffman, employing real emotions or scenes from their everyday lives during their moments together on-screen. Many of the central scenes were improvised, such as the pivotal dinner scene where Billy refuses to eat the dinner prepared for him and instead fetches some icecream from the freezer. What came to represent the ultimate in parental frustration was in fact cooked up from a story Hoffman told Henry a few moments before they shot the scene. Hoffman spoke of how his real feelings for the woman he was actually divorcing, and his relationship with his children, invaded his acting, and there's a very real sense of anger and despair during his scenes with Streep.
The acting is uniformly brilliant. Although the film is mostly between Ted and Billy, Joanna appears in very intense scenes at the beginning and end, whilst the family friend Margaret (Jane Alexander), who is herself divorced, also features as emotional support for Ted. All four were nominated for Oscars although only Hoffman and Streep won, along with Benton twice for Adapted Screenplay and Direction and Jaffe for Best Picture. It was a surprise as it was considered a 'small' film, but the success owed itself to the fact that many people could relate to either being divorced themselves or the child of divorced parents. This also ensure that the film stays fresh today and has dated very little, with the fine performances standing out even today.
This film came at the end of the Seventies when ideas were changing a lot. More women working meant that children had to be looked after by hired help and therefore increasingly became a financial burden, and divorce increased with that. It was also on the cusp of the 1980s where the general mood was that everyone should look out for number one. But Joanna's decision to leave is more one of self discovery after too long being defined as a mother or wife. Within 18 months she is independent with a new lover and earning more than her ex-husband. Already there were differences with the beginning of the decade.
In terms of Seventies cinema, there are some excellent examples of improvisational acting and a director willing to give his actors the space to work with their instincts. The courtroom scenes where the couple are forced to confront their relationship problems and tiny betrayals emerge in order to undermine the other's case is tense and emotional. The brilliant perfomance of Justin Henry also demonstrates that children don't have to be cute and can be as perceptive as parents...I could keep going on about how brilliantly simple and effective this film is, but really it's best just to watch it. I can't think of a better film since to tackle this subject. And it kicks 'The Break-Up's ass!
No comments:
Post a Comment