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Obsession and identity are recurring themes in screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's work, and he draws on them again in his directorial debut, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. Kaufman's film focuses on the wiles of Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a regional theatre director who has won a MacArthur grant to help produce his next project. Cotard's artist wife, Adele Lack (Catherine Keener), subsequently departs with their daughter to Berlin, and he begins a flirtation with box office clerk Hazel (Samantha Morton). Much of the movie revolves around Cotard's ambitious next project, based around his life, which is being constructed in an enormous industrial space in New York City. As the years pass and the project is mired in endless rehearsals that replicate Cotard's existence, the tortured director obsesses over Adele, Hazel, his daughter, his health, and myriad other topics.
The complex and often highly inventive narrative of SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is typical of Kaufman's screenplays for features such as BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and ADAPTATION. The film draws heavily on the kind of visual trickery that director Spike Jonze has often used in his adaptations of Kaufman's works, and features a strong performance from Hoffman as Cotard. Occasionally the film is abstract and surreal: Hazel lives in a house that is permanently on fire, while the actors Cotard casts in his play often blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Moviegoers will theorize about the true meaning behind Kaufman's feature: it offers no easy answers. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is a film that requires as much work from its viewers as it does from the resolutely excellent cast that brought it to life, and as the film careers from hilarity to sadness in the blink of an eye, there's little doubt that this is another superlative entry in Kaufman's canon.
- Revolver Entertainment
- 124 mins approx.
- Charlie Kaufman
- 15
- Dianne Wiest
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Emily Watson
- Tom Noonan
- Samantha Morton
- Catherine Keener
- Hope Davis
- Michelle Williams
- Jennifer Jason Leigh
- 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
- 2008
- English
- 1
- B
- 40-49
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4 instalments of £6.24 with clearpay Learn more
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Obsession and identity are recurring themes in screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's work, and he draws on them again in his directorial debut, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. Kaufman's film focuses on the wiles of Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a regional theatre director who has won a MacArthur grant to help produce his next project. Cotard's artist wife, Adele Lack (Catherine Keener), subsequently departs with their daughter to Berlin, and he begins a flirtation with box office clerk Hazel (Samantha Morton). Much of the movie revolves around Cotard's ambitious next project, based around his life, which is being constructed in an enormous industrial space in New York City. As the years pass and the project is mired in endless rehearsals that replicate Cotard's existence, the tortured director obsesses over Adele, Hazel, his daughter, his health, and myriad other topics.
The complex and often highly inventive narrative of SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is typical of Kaufman's screenplays for features such as BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and ADAPTATION. The film draws heavily on the kind of visual trickery that director Spike Jonze has often used in his adaptations of Kaufman's works, and features a strong performance from Hoffman as Cotard. Occasionally the film is abstract and surreal: Hazel lives in a house that is permanently on fire, while the actors Cotard casts in his play often blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Moviegoers will theorize about the true meaning behind Kaufman's feature: it offers no easy answers. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is a film that requires as much work from its viewers as it does from the resolutely excellent cast that brought it to life, and as the film careers from hilarity to sadness in the blink of an eye, there's little doubt that this is another superlative entry in Kaufman's canon.
- Revolver Entertainment
- 124 mins approx.
- Charlie Kaufman
- 15
- Dianne Wiest
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Emily Watson
- Tom Noonan
- Samantha Morton
- Catherine Keener
- Hope Davis
- Michelle Williams
- Jennifer Jason Leigh
- 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
- 2008
- English
- 1
- B
- 40-49
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Crazy
Absolutely loved this film when I saw it on Film 4 - so much I bought the blu-ray immediately. It's kind of strange but very clever. If you liked Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine then this film is for you.
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I guess it's the smash-hit comedy of the year...
When I saw this in the cinema, I thought it was a rather drab affair, very bleak, not for the fainthearted. Darkly funny in parts, because I'm down with the whole Kaufman sensibility, but mostly a very trying experience. I'm not surprised it did poor business on the big screen, and I certainly didn't think I'd have the stomach to see it again. In the end, I did buy the blu-ray because a) I thought the film looked fantastic and it had a reasonable amount of features (if no commentary), and b) it was dead cheap at Sendit.com, I thought I'd give it another shot. So imagine my surprise when this box-office catastrophe of a drama arrived labelled "The smash-hit comedy of the year!" On the back it says, and I quote: "The hugely anticipated release which stunned the world and smashed the box office is now finally available on DVD and Blu-Ray." It is also described as a "hilarious tale." Now, the person who wrote that copy either hasn't seen the movie, or is a bleeding effing genius. Because, ironically, putting that on the cover DOES make it the comedy of the year. It is brilliantly self-deprecating, and hilariously misleading for the average chavvy fella in Fila trainers who goes into Blockbuster to pay for a rental for a change, presumably to flash money in front of his new girlfriend, and thinks he has scored a comedy. Oh, I would pay to see the looks on their faces when they're curled up in the couch together trying to make sense of what the hell is going on inside their TV. So, five stars for the cover copy. And the film itself isn't bad, either. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll watch this again one day and say, hey, that was rather excellent. So do give it a try. It's certainly unlike anything else. It just may make you want to kill yourself.
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