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Synecdoche, New York
2008, Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman's latest cinematic puzzle, his directorial debut, is his most ambitious project to date, much like his central character's play within the play within the play within the film. The plot, as indescribable as it is, concerns a man named Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a middle-aged regional theatre director in Schenectady, NY. He has a wife (Catherine Keener) who is an aspiring painter and a young daughter. His career is unfulfilling and unchallenging and he is beginning to be overwhelmed by hypochondria and a general preoccupation with death. Just when things seem to have dead ended he is awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant, giving him a large sum of money to put together his magnum opus, a project which eventually overwhelms the scope of any known theatre production and realty itself.
This is an exceedingly clever and often hysterical hodgepodge of Existentialism, Theatre of the Absurd, homonyms, doubles, constructs, facades, pustules, desire, regret, memory, chaos and order...life and death. Amazing cast that also includes Samantha Morton, Emily Watson, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and Tom Noonan. I'm sure I'll have to watch it many multiple times for the rest of my life to get everything that is crammed into this movie, but on first pass...wow. Intricate, funny, touching, indescribable and unforgettable.
GRADE: A
Synecdoche, New York
2008, Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman's latest cinematic puzzle, his directorial debut, is his most ambitious project to date, much like his central character's play within the play within the play within the film. The plot, as indescribable as it is, concerns a man named Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a middle-aged regional theatre director in Schenectady, NY. He has a wife (Catherine Keener) who is an aspiring painter and a young daughter. His career is unfulfilling and unchallenging and he is beginning to be overwhelmed by hypochondria and a general preoccupation with death. Just when things seem to have dead ended he is awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant, giving him a large sum of money to put together his magnum opus, a project which eventually overwhelms the scope of any known theatre production and realty itself.
This is an exceedingly clever and often hysterical hodgepodge of Existentialism, Theatre of the Absurd, homonyms, doubles, constructs, facades, pustules, desire, regret, memory, chaos and order...life and death. Amazing cast that also includes Samantha Morton, Emily Watson, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and Tom Noonan. I'm sure I'll have to watch it many multiple times for the rest of my life to get everything that is crammed into this movie, but on first pass...wow. Intricate, funny, touching, indescribable and unforgettable.
GRADE: A