NEW ULM – The New Ulm Film Society brings its courtroom drama series into the ’70s with a screening of “Kramer vs. Kramer”

The screening starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9 at the New Ulm Public Library.

“Kramer vs. Kramer” was released in 1979 and is about a child custody battle between Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) and Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep).

The film starts with Joanna walking out on Ted and their son. She feels the need to find herself and is unhappy living with a workaholic husband. Ted, now a single parent, must figure out to be a father to a son he barely knows. However, over time he learns to become a great father at the cost of his job. That’s when Joanna returns seeking custody of their son.

The custody battle is anything but an open and shut case. The two parents each have a case for why they should maintain custody. The custody battle becomes even more heated when Ted and Joanna’s attorneys use ruthless tactics to paint the other as an unfit parent.

The secret to the film’s success is that neither main character is portrayed as the bad guy. Neither Ted nor Joanna are two-dimensional monsters. Both Ted and Joanna as fully formed and sympathetic people.

In his review of the film, critic Roger Ebert said “‘Kramer vs. Kramer” wouldn’t be half as good as it is…if the movie had taken sides.” In a child custody hearing it would have been easy to say one of the parents was in the wrong, but by allowing the audience to see things from each perspective, it makes the drama much more intense. It also makes the film all the more heartbreaking to hear the rival attorneys attack Ted and Joanna as unfit parents when we know that is not true.

One of the main themes of “Kramer vs. Kramer” is what happens when people cannot communicate. At the start of the film, Joanna tells Ted she is leaving him, but he barely hears her because he’s too focused on his work. Later, they use lawyers to communicate, which only makes matters worse. The film’s resolution only comes once the parents learn to stop fighting and learn to listen.

Upon release, “Kramer vs. Kramer” was an instant critical and commercial hit. The film would go on to win five Oscars at the Academy Awards; including awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Hoffman, Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep and Best Adapted Screenplay.

“Kramer vs. Kramer” was also popular with audiences because the story tapped into a cultural shift of the late ’70s. There were greater conversations about the roles of men and women in raising children. The idea that a father could be just as good a parent as the mother was still something of a radical idea. The scenes showing Ted Kramer learning to parent were seen as inspiring. At the same time, Joanna Kramer could also be a capable mother even if she did not want to be a wife to Ted.

The New Ulm Film Society’s screening of “Kramer vs Kramer” is free to the public. Before and after the film, there will be a discussion about the film’s place in film history and its importance as a legal drama.