Synecdoche, New York
"A miracle movie." -Richard Corliss, Time
Oscar-winning writer Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, "one of the best films of the year" (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times), follows the life of regional theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) as he struggles with romantic relationships (Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams and Catherine Keener), as well as the problems of aging, and a mysteriously degenerative medical condition. He develops all this into a monumental theater piece. Building a full-scale replica of New York City inside an impossibly large warehouse and populating it with thousands of actors, Cotard spends the remainder of his life creating a piece so personal and epic in scope, that the line between reality and art collide, and the universe that he has created swallows up everything within it.
Member Reviews
You die then life begins? - owen8
This movie was wierd even for me. I am not sure if it was an actors excersize, like a musician would practice a difficult scale. Or if it was more like a depresing symphony with really difficult solo parts for the actors. I am hoping the former because otherwise it was just way to depressing on an existential level. Which ever it was Seymour Hoffman was on the top of his game. And each supporting actor did there part in what was a very difficult job. You really have to pay attention to what is going on in the back ground all the time. What's on the radio, the TV and even on the walls, or behind the, as actors walk by. The Realestate broker showing a house on fire to a prespective buyer is inspired cinema. Wierd and depressing if you like that sort of thing.Painful - StrbrryShtcake
I think this movie took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. The premise is interesting, but it seems like too much energy was centred on making it 'artsy' rather than making it 'watchable'. Wish I hadn't wasted my time on this one. If you're into the obscure or over-analyzing your movies, this one just might be for you.Masterful - RobBC
Caden Cotard is a modestly successful stage director obsessed with death. It doesn’t help that his mailbox is filled with cancer magazines, his newspaper is filled with obituaries and the cartoons his child watches seem to mock his fears. Even the milk in the fridge is long past its expiry date while the wallpaper in his cluttered kitchen bears a ghostly, half-emerged figure. Between interminable visits to specialists who take a bleak interest in his intermittent lumps, bumps and bloody stools he works on an ironic production of Death of a Salesman while at the same time trying to save his failing marriage. But when he receives a huge arts grant he decides to embark on his biggest project yet; no less than rewriting his life on a huge set of New York City with a cast of hundreds of anonymous extras standing in for everyone he’s ever known. But you can’t change the past and all people, no matter what their station in life, arrive at the same final destination. Kaufman’s brilliant script is constantly catching you off guard with its unexpected turns and sly allusions (google “Cotard Delusion” and “synecdoche” for starters). He then fills his elaborately layered sets with tantalizing clues and visual tropes, whether it’s the briefly glimpsed title of a book or a chronically smoldering house. Puzzling, enigmatic and impossible to fully appreciate with one viewing; we may not grasp all the finer tricks, but Kaufman’s sympathetic portrayal of a painfully flawed everyman can’t help but strike a chord.
Member Reviews
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You die then life begins? - owen8
This movie was wierd even for me. I am not sure if it was an actors excersize, like a musician would practice a difficult scale. Or if it was more like a depresing symphony with really difficult solo parts for the actors. I am hoping the former because otherwise ...Painful - StrbrryShtcake
I think this movie took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. The premise is interesting, but it seems like too much energy was centred on making it 'artsy' rather than making it 'watchable'. Wish I hadn't wasted my time on this one. If you're into the obscure ...Masterful - RobBC
Caden Cotard is a modestly successful stage director obsessed with death. It doesn’t help that his mailbox is filled with cancer magazines, his newspaper is filled with obituaries and the cartoons his child watches seem to mock his fears. Even the milk in ...