The first is Kramer vs. Kramer, a wonderful movie starring Dustin Hoffman and child actor Justin Henry as a father and son who are left to build a relationship independent of the boy's mother (Meryl Streep), who left them out of frustration with being trapped in a loveless marriage. At first, they experience a rough patch, but they eventually form a close bond as Mr. Kramer realizes the importance of his role as father in relation to his career in advertising. The situation is complicated when Mrs. Kramer reenters the scene. I won't say anymore, because it'll spoil it for anyone who sees the film, but it's the best movie I've seen in quite a while. So many films, especially those about families are cloying and unrealistic. I know there's something special about Meryl Streep and that she seems to stand out in just about anything she touches, but not only did she stand out, but the entire cast did. Dustin Hoffman, not one to typically impress me, was outstanding, and his relationship with the the boy (who was so nuanced for a child actor that he was nominated for an Academy Award) was so believeable, you'd think that they were really related.After watching the movie, I watched the documentary about the making of the film just to find that they actually did have a very close bond as actors during the making of the film, and that the struggles of divorce played out during the film were so easy for Hoffman to portray because he was going though a divorce at the time. Another thing that really interested me was just how much of the movie had been improvised and how much had been affected by the opinions of the actors, even some of the most important scenes in the film. It really shows that the writer/director, Robert Benton, allowed the actors to bring a sense of real honesty and truth to the film. It's no wonder the movie took away the Best Picture Academy Award as well as statues for Hoffman and Streep, as well as Benton as writer and director.
The second work I wanted to mention was the novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith. After reading her most recent novel, On Beauty, over winter break and being absolutely enamored with Smith's style and sense of specific character, I was intrigued as to the other books that she'd written beforehand. One is White Teeth, the novel that won Smith early acclaim as one of the most promising young British novelists of the new century. Smith was only 25 when her first novel was published, and the deal to publish the book had been formed based on editors having read only a few early chapters.Needless to say, my expectations were extremely high, and they most certainly were met. Though I'd say it's tough to choose between On Beauty and White Teeth as to which novel is "better" or more entertaining, it's obvious that Zadie Smith has real talent and a great way of giving voice to a wide variety of character types.
The story centers on two families, the Muslim Iqbals and the irreligious Joneses, the patriarchs of which met while fighting for the British army during World War II. Over the course of twenty-five years, their stories as intersecting families intertwine. The rifts caused by faith and education and culture and race and age are exposed and, as in life, never fully resolved. A third family, the Chalfens, are introduced in the latter half of the book, adding a new dimension to the equation and ultimately leading up to the emotional denouement of the novel.
The conflicts of the book really should speak to all readers. We've all had differences and rifts with our parents, found ourselves questioning and fearing religion and the importance of our relationships with others. What Zadie Smith does that makes this book so absolutely a must-read is to create a wonderful tapestry out of the vastness of humanity in which all voices are interwoven as equally important and equally vibrant threads. Find a way to read this book if you're intrigued!
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