Synecdoche, New York Review
I sometimes wonder if Charlie Kaufman is a really depressed guy. The themes of his Adaptation and Synecdoche, New York, awkward failed romances, paralysis by analysis, introspection to the point of obsession, meta upon meta upon meta, it’s all very melancholy…but it’s beautiful.
Really the guy is an extraordinary talent, and he makes all us screenwriters feel bad about ourselves with his creative daring.
In this dizzying mindblower of a film, Kaufman takes meta so far you start to lose your mind.
His lead, Caden is a depressive neurotic mess similar to the Kaufman character (who was named Kaufman) in Adaptation.
He somehow wins a the Macarthur grant, and gets to put on his dream play.
So in his search for truth and honesty this guy basically hires seemingly hundreds of actors to play people in his life.
As he watches these actors reenact scenes from his own life it changes him, and the actors, and the people in his life who the actors are playing (who are sometimes themselves the actors).
Eventually the real people and their acting impersonators start to blend, much as reality does, performances become identities which then shift again.
And running throughout is this slight bemusement, a sort of dark humor that carries through.
When Caden tells a doctor that the eyes being part of the brain doesn’t seem right the doc responds, “As in morally, or accurate?”
One of Caden’s love interests is given the tour of a home by a realtor. The house is perpetually on fire. This doesn’t seem strange to anyone. The love interest Hazel finally comments at the end of the tour, “I’m a little worried about dying in the fire.” to which the realtor responds, “Well, it’s a big decision, where to die.”
There’s also a man who has been following Caden for 20 years. This is never explained. He shows up at rehearsal one day and asks to play Caden, since he knows him better than anybody. Caden agrees.
Kaufman’s theme of sexual frustration continues to play out here as well. Caden almost never has happy sex, and the one time he does it ultimately ends in tragedy.
This movie is wacky and out-there and weird and challenging, it makes you think, it jolts you out of your multiplex stupor.
And for writers it’s really inspiring, this is the type of stuff that makes you believe in the power of art.
It has been criticized as self-indulgent but…
So what? May Kaufman keep self-indulging himself if the results are so strong.
It’s pretty depressing but…
In a way that’s not overwhelming, rather familiar. Even in this madness there are moments of genuine human emotion and interaction.
Bottom line….
It’s worth seeing even if you end up not liking it, this is an experience you won’t have many times at the movies.
One response to “Charlie Kaufman Wants to Play With Your Brain”
This movie did not help with the seasonal depression we are all experiencing right now (I mean we already have no sunlight, it’s cold, we are all digging deep into our pockets this time of year…) and on top of all that, there is this movie, ay yay yay!
Depressing as it was, upon conclusion of the film, I said to my movie buddy, “I liked it, how about you?” To which, he replied, “Me too.” Or something to that effect. Point is, the movie is gloomy, but it is truly piece of art and much different than any other movie I have seen, at least recently. Conduct a thought experiment, step out of your mind and your body and look at yourself and your life and your interactions. Weird, huh? That is what this movie did, sort of. I couldn’t have said it better myself, “…it jolts you out of your multiplex stupor.”
Nice review, I think you really captured its essence.