In my impression, the most researched part of the Kramers is the narrative technique, which I also think is the most researched part of the whole film. As mentioned above, the whole story is very ordinary: how a family of three changed themselves and faced life anew when they were fighting for custody of their children after the divorce. Stories like this alone won't keep people in a movie theater. So the narrative part is very important. From the script, the storyboard to the later stage, as long as there is a little carelessness in one link, the film will lose all its visibility. The script ditched the two-line narrative that should have been used routinely in favor of a single perspective on the Kramers and their sons. As for Streep, he only appeared as a comparison of the father-son relationship and the help of the plot, which reduced a lot of lengthy emotional descriptions about the couple's divorce; the father and son in the film are worth one shot from the beginning to the end. A large number of double shots, the relationship between closeness and distance is immediately apparent; the extensive use of time-space montage of front and rear contrasts embodies creative emotions in full of fun, and there are various ingenious bridges.
However, the reason why "Mrs. Kramer" became the absolute biggest highlight of Hollywood in that year was a "national plan"--Americans put their feelings into the film completely, trying to find the with his own shadow. The reason for the formation of this groupthink is because "Mrs. Kramer" appeared in 1979.
I don't like to bring politics in when talking about movies, so the movie will never be pure. But some films do have a slightly different meaning from the social context in which they were born. 1979 was a year full of anxiety for the United States. The pain caused by the Vietnam War has not yet subsided, and the arms race with the Soviet Union is at a disadvantage. As the 1980s are about to start, the United States still sees no hope. At this time, social problems in the United States began to increase, and the increase in the divorce rate was a very significant phenomenon. The creation of "Mrs. Kramer" was developed in response to this problem.
From a deeper level, the warmth of "Mrs. Kramer" is also giving hope to the entire United States. There has been too much love between father and son, and husband and wife can't be reunited, but these can't stop a hopeful heart - as long as there is hope, the family will still be warm, and the United States will move forward firmly . Maybe this statement is a bit far-fetched, but such hope may also be what the United States needed at the time.
The last thing to note is that American films released a lot of family ethics films around 1980, most of which were handled in a warmer way, such as "Mother-Daughter Love", "Golden Pond", etc.; but there are also a large number of war films and shootout films. , and most are more somber themes like "The Deer Hunter," "Platoon," "The Godfather," and "Bonnie and Clyde." Such a strong contrast between the two types of films has been eliminated today, so what is the significance of "Mrs. Kramer" for Hollywood at that time?
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