克莱默夫妇英语影评

Kramer vs. Kramer is one of these quiet, real-life dramas which seem to be a rarity today. It remains as powerfully moving today as relevant today as it was when released in 1979, simply because its drama by director Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, this is perhaps the finest, most evenly balanced film ever made about the failure of marriage and the tumultuous shift of parental roles. Kramer vs. Kramer succeeds where most familial dramas of this sort fall short—it plays like an honest, warts-and-all documentation of a family in tumultuous transition.

Most divorce/custody films deal with the mother gaining custody of her child after the father’s abandonment. Kramer vs. Kramer asks the question:” What if it were the father who had to raise the child?” This may not be the newest concept, but back in 1979 audiences had never seen a film dealing with this subject matter.

"Kramer vs. Kramer" is the kind of movie which grows on you. It is so well made that you may not be aware at the time how much skill and artistry have gone into it.

It takes familiar people, familiar situations and then treats them with a mixture of intelligence and art rarely combined on the screen.

It is that last aspect of "Kramer vs. Kramer" which make all the other aspects come together in something other than the soap opera the ingredients suggest.

The film says much without preaching, is a product of our times without being trendy.

Screenwriter-director Robert Benton has managed to strip away everything from the story except what really counts.

Nestor Almendros' photography zeros in on people in a way to stress their isolation, their moods. The spare music, bits of Purcell and Vivaldi, add to the atmosphere.

The mother, Joanna, she is an woman with strong consciousness of independence. After married she found life is not a poet or a picture ,it fulls of trivialness and troubling housework. She wants to pull her woes to her husband ,but her husband is too busy to listen to her .She is suffocated to her life, while her husband is preoccupated into his work

Most of all, "Kramer vs. Kramer" is blessed with one of the best casts ever assembled for a movie.

Dustin Hoffman plays Ted Kramer, a successful ad agency executive with success-bent workaholic habits.

The movie opens on the isolated image of the sad faced mother saying

good night and, as it turns out, goodbye as well to her sleeping son, Billy (Justin Henry).

In spite of her action, some sympathy will be with her in the beginning because of her husband's unawareness, his we'll-talk-about-it-tomorrow attitude.

There is a gradual transition from awkwardness to harmony, from independence to mutual dependence. Ted Kramer changes from ad man to father, and as priorities shift, his career goes down the drain.

One particularly moving moment occurs when the father assures his son that the boy's mother did not leave because of dislike for the boy, but that it was his, the father's fault.

When Joanna Kramer re-enters the movie two-thirds of the way through to claim her son, sympathy will have shifted entirely to the father. The ensuing court battle has its moments of nastiness, but there are indications -- a look, a half phrase -- of a lingering affection and respect if not love.

The ending may seem contrived, an attempt to make everyone happy. But it is also an ending which goes full circle with its image of sadness and frustration.

Hoffman has never been better. All the nuances are there--cockiness, anger, worry, determination, sadness --without giving the impression of overacting.

the film looks at different aspects of divorce. Divorce became more normal compared to formal time. Woman has her own career and be more independent than before.

shift gender roles: Women are determined in purchasing their own careers. All they had to do was devote their lives from earliest girlhood to finding a husband and bearing children. They fright for their feminity. their adjustment. In 60% of marriages the wife works too, compared with 44% in the late 1960s.Man became more closer to their kids. You are seeing the beginnings of change in the corporate workplace.

Meryl Streep, in a brief role, once again shows what a skillful actress

Jane Alexander is perfect as the neighbor with affection for both parties. Howard Duff as the attorney manages to let you know that he's a high priced lawyer even before he mentions his fee.

But it is young Justin Henry who Is the miracle of the movie. His mood, his actions and reactions, his laughter, his tears are right for every scene. He gives the impression that the camera was eavesdropping on real life.

But I can think of no other of the growing group of movies about marital relationships which treats each of the parties with greater objectivity, with fewer attempts at setting up a good vs. evil situation.

Kramer vs Kramer is a film about a divorced couple dealing with their family, career and child. It is a little like the film The Revolutionary Road. The hero of Kramer vs Kramer is Kramer. The heroine isJoanna. They have a lovely child named Billy. Kramer has a job as a clerk in a company to support his family. He is very busy in his work and has little communication with his wife and son. Joannais a housewife. She doesn’t have a job and what she does everyday is to do the housework and take his son care. WhileJoannaonce had a job and it was after she got married that she quit her job. Without Kramer’s little care about his inner thought.

So Joanna feels very upset about her present life. Billy is a very clever and sensible child. When he realized the truth that his mother had gone, he tried his best to be a good boy.

At last, Joanna can’t stand her lifestyle. What makes her disappointed is that when she turns Kramer for help, Kramer refuses to listen to her. She feels that there is something with her. Though she loves Billy very much, she leaves away alone. So Kramer has to take his responsibility of taking care of his son.

At the very beginning of living with his son, they don’t get on well with each other. Kramer both have to work and take care of Billy. From the first scene he prepares breakfast for his son, he gives us an impression of an unqualified father. He knows little about his family. One night, Kramer does his work while Belly is playing his new plane. But he is only concentrated on his work and doesn’t take notice of Billy. It is because Billy turns the stuff over with careless. It spills in his father’s papers. And his father feels angry about it and asks Billy to go to bed. There is another scene that shows the bad relationship between them. On their dinner, Billy doesn’t like eating Salisbury steak, but his father doesn’t realize that he is just a child, Billy should be cajoled not only rebuke him. Feeling dissatisfied with his father, Billy stop eating to get chocolate chip ice cream, which makes his father upset. So Kramer throws him into his bed and locks him. At that time, Billy says to his

father that he hate his. Kramer also says that he hate Billy too. Billy cries for a long a time and gradually gets to sleep. On this night, Billy asks his father is it because he was bad that his mother went away. Kramer tells Billy that it is because of himself ignoring of his mother’s real mind that drive his mother away. They start to have a communication with each other. From this night, they seem more harmony than before. And Kramer teaches his son how to ride a bike. Once, Billy falls off the jungle gym and hurts his face badly and takes several stitches. Billy behaved bravely. After this time, they really build a good relationship between them. Kramer gradually knows how to be a good father and how to take care of Billy.

The film received positive impact from critics, receiving 88% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film four stars, giving praise to the screenplay by Robert Benton, "His characters aren't just talking to each other, they're revealing things about themselves and can sometimes be seen in the act of learning about their own motives. That's what makes "Kramer vs. Kramer" such a touching film: We get the feeling at times that personalities are changing and decisions are being made even as we watch them.

At the same time,Joannacomes back, she feels much better and more confident than before. She also gets a high salary job. She wants to take care of Billy. Obviously, Kramer doesn’t agree with her. So they decided to have a case about the raise of their son. Unfortunately, because Kramer spends large of his time staying with his son, he doesn’t do well in his jo b, which makes his boss let him go. So he looses his job. Through he gets another job; it is a low -salary job. And it also leads to his failure in the case.

At last, the judge goes for motherhood right down the line. Kramer looses. It is hard for him to accept the fact. What a surprising end it is! Joanna doesn’t take away Billy. The last scene of the film is that Joanna stands in the lift with her eyes holding tears. Many people thought that they would remarriage, but they didn’t, which is a little di sappointing according to audience. But there is also some happiness that father can stay with his son forever.