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Kramer Vs. Kramer Director Owns a Blu-ray Player
February 19, 2009

I tend to mistakenly assume that only youngish, tech-savvy folks are taking to Blu-ray. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that legendary filmmaker Robert Benton - who not only directed Kramer vs. Kramer but also was involved in writing Bonnie and Clyde and Superman: The Movie - owns a Blu-ray player.
And the guy really likes it!
Speaking to reporters prior to a Kramer vs. Kramer screening Benton said of its Feb. 17 Blu-ray release, "It looks better than how it looked [originally] on film. I think it's amazing. The resolution is extraordinary. I never thought anything would look better than film."
Besides the Blu-ray improvement, Benton also believes that the movie itself has held up very well since its original 1979 theatrical bow. He especially remains impressed with Dustin Hoffman's character relating to his son, after Mom Meryl Streep deserts the family.
"It's about loving someone more than you love yourself... and he's forced to do something that he doesn't want to do," said Benton. "In the scene where [son] Justin [Henry] and Dustin say I'm sorry, you see the pain in the dad's face for the first time. And that's the only time in working with Dustin, when he said, 'I can't do this anymore.'"
Henry, also part of the discussion prior to the screening, added, "Dustin is accepting that he's not a good human being. And that's the hardest thing to show. It's not an easy thing to do."
A Q&A with Benton and Henry, following the screening, will soon be posted to Sony's BD-Live network. It can be accessed by about 35 of the studio's BD-Live releases upon updating them in Web-enabled players.

Posted by Susanne Ault on February 19, 2009 | Comments (2)