The Winner Takes It All

This is probably the only Abba song which means a lot to me. I remember when I saw Mamma Mia a few years ago, and there was this scene with Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. You know, they were on some kind of hilltop, the wind blowing, some kind of scarf around Streep's shoulder, never mind. I remember there was some problem between me and my boyfriend at the time, and for this reason I felt the song was for me. You know, "I don't wanna talk about the things we've gone through" and all. We play an Abba medley with the orchestra and each time we are at this song I feel the tears growing inside.
The thing I'll write about is also related to this feeling in the song and actually to Streep as well. We've watched Kramer vs Kramer and I feel like writing about it. The day before we watched Little Big Man, so I'm a bit into Dustin Hoffman now. Just a short note here. Little Big Man was made in 1970, when Hoffman was 33, and he's briliant in it. The film tells the story of a man who lived to be 121, was born into a white family, then was raised by Cheyennes, marched with Custer in the westward movement, took part in the battle of Little Big Horn, and had an adventurous life in short. It's sort of like Voltaire's Candide, though not that parodistic. At times it's funny, at times cruel, and there's a strange shifting between the white man's world and the world of the Cheyennes, who call themselves "human beings." (I mean, that's what they call themselves, so according to this, the other nations are not human.)

Kramer vs Kramer is what Hoffman got his first Oscar for, and the film also won Best Picture in 1979. The situation is I think similar to the one presented in Revolutionary Road. Here we have Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman), a successful man in advertising (he's an art director if I'm right). He's a workaholic, but at the same time he loves his wife and son. Joanna (Meryl Streep) is a housewife but she's not satisfied with her life. One day when Ted gets home Joanna tells him she's leaving and that's it. She leaves everything behind, including her 6-year-old son. Ted is left to face the troubles of housekeeping and taking care of Billy, while at the same time he wants to do his best at work. The real twist is that after one and a half years Joanna comes back and wants to get her son back.
I found it surprising that a film of this kind won Best Picture because it doesn't sound like a blockbuster such as Titanic or The Lord of The Rings. What we have here is a family drama, but I'm not sure how to categorize it. It's very emotional, and in my opinion the sad thing is that it tells a story in which it's nobody's fault that things turn out this way. I mean, one could blame Ted for not paying attention to the wife's needs, or we could blame Joanna for leaving, but I think it's mostly about what this life does to people. This issue is personal experience for me because this is what happened to my parents, I think. Or something similar (but I won't go into it now, don't panic). And it's so cruel this way, people hurting each other despite themselves. The cruelest scenes in the film were those in the courtroom. Both lawyers tried to eliminate the image of the Kramers as liable parents, which is of course typical of American trials.
Another important issue here is the child of course, but I don't want to elaborate on that. It was interesting to watch how this little guy coped with the situation and how the parents treated him. The father was quite frank for me. I don't know the details of my parents' trial but I've thought I can imagine what it was like for Dad. To watch it is a completely different thing, and it's just so sad.
Okay, one more tiny note here on the cast. Streep also got the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. Jane Alexander, who played a friend of the family, was also nominated, and even the little boy, Justin Henry (who was 8 at the time) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. There's more. The director, Robert Benton is also known for Bonnie and Clyde and Superman. Now that's what I call interesting.
Based on minor disappointments in contemporary movie-making I've decided to check the list of Academy Award winners for Best Picture, and watch the great classical movies of the past, especially those starring my idols, such as Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, and so on. If anyone has the likes of these films, feel free to make suggestions.

P.S. Young Meryl Streep is simply gorgeous. They took beautiful shots to decorate the family's flat. And Hoffman is surprisingly good-looking, too.
P.P.S. Cannot wait for the new Streep movie about Margaret Thatcher.