Review of Synecdoche, New York (2008) by Paul D — 15 Jul 2013

This is one of the most difficult and complex films I have seen...but there is much to enjoy, if you want it...and it rewards repeated viewings. What you get out of it will depend much on how you choose to interact with it. Take for example the following (nicked from imdb), which I found hilarious when it appeared in the film:

Caden Cotard: I won't settle for anything less than the brutal truth. Brutal. Brutal. Each day I'll hand you a paper, it'll tell you what happened to you that day. You felt a lump in your breast. You looked at your wife and saw a stranger, et cetera.

Needleman Actor: Caden?

Caden Cotard: What?

Needleman Actor: When are we gonna get an audience in here? It's been seventeen years.

Caden Cotard: All right, I'm not excusing myself from this either. I will have someone play me, to delve into the murky, cowardly depths of my lonely, fucked-up being. And he'll get notes too, and those notes will correspond to the notes I truly receive, every day, from my God! Get to work!

It's about a theater director's struggle with life. He struggles to effectively manage his personal life and his work and as the film unfolds, the two become more and more intertwined. As a result the central character and the viewer find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two. This raises one of many interesting philosophical points in the film.

I found that Synecdoche, New York (who gives a fuck how it's pronounced) could be intensely depressing, but also extremely funny. There are many very entertaining scenes in their own right, even for the less analytical viewer, but most will find it hard to keep up.....as the film seems to veer off the tracks and become weirder and weirder...and we delve deeper into the fucked up mind of Charlie Kauffman which, as Mark Kermode put it 'isn't necessarily a good thing'!

However, the fact that Phillip Seymour Hoffman, one of the best actors around, wanted to do this, can only be a positive...and if anyone can pull it off it's him. Needless to say his performance is fucking brilliant, while Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener and Jennifer Jason Leigh provide admirable support.

I have a feeling I'll come back round to this a few more times.

Great soundtrack as well. Check out 'Little Person' by Jon Brion.