Broadcast on Arte this Wednesday March 27, 2024, the film “Kramer versus Kramer” is a masterpiece of cinema. However, the filming was tense between the two main actors.
It’s a masterpiece of American cinema that viewers can (re)see this evening. Kramer vs. Kramer is broadcast on Arte this Wednesday March 27, at 8:55 p.m. This five-Oscar drama, released in 1979, follows Ted Kramer, a man who has abandoned his family life to focus on his career, who finds himself forced to take care of his son alone when his wife, Joanna, who can no longer take it to bear the burden of her home and the education of their son alone, leaves him and disappears. At first awkward, Ted Kramer ends up getting used to his new life and developing a tender relationship with his son… Until his ex returns and demands custody of their child.
Thanks to the masterful interpretation of Dustin Hoffman and (especially) Meryl Streep in the main couple, this feature film questions women’s rights, divorce, the life of single parents in American society in the 1980s, far from being Manichean or dependent. However, the filming experience was painful for Meryl Streep.
Tensions emerged between the two main players in Kramer vs. Kramer, notably because of Dustin Hoffman’s methods. During one take, he notably slapped Meryl Streep, before throwing his glass of wine against a wall during an argument scene without the cameraman or the actress being aware.
“We forgive each other”
Worse still, in order to push her to her limits and give her the best possible performance, Dustin Hoffman often spoke to her about his companion, John Cazale, who had just died from lung cancer, reveals there unauthorized biography Becoming Meryl Streep written by Michael Schulman. Nearby New York Times in 2018, Meryl Streep looked back on this filming experience, and in particular on the slap she suffered: “It was my first film, and it was my first take and he just slapped me. was not in the script and it remained in the film [on ne voit pas la gifle, mais on voit sa réaction choquée, ndlr]. He crossed the line.”
However, she clarified: “It’s tricky, because when you’re an actor and you’re doing a scene, you have to feel free. I’ve definitely hurt some people unintentionally during physical scenes. And we forgives himself, in a way.” If the famous slap does not appear on screen, Meryl Streep’s shocked reaction is clearly visible. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, while Dustin Hoffman won the Best Actor prize. This drama will also win the statuettes for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Adaptation.