Kaufman's Synecdoche is a psychedelic success
Synecdoche, New York, the wondrous new film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), doesn't start out weirdly. For anyone who is familiar with Kaufman and his style, nothing is surprising anymore - except, perhaps, realism.
The first 40 minutes of the film are as grounded and real as a Scorsese movie. Once this gives way to the area in which Kaufman is unparalleled - a world of utter surrealism - the true beauty and mystery of the film emerge.
Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a depressed play director living in Synecdoche, N.Y. His production of Death of a Salesman opens to rave reviews, but his artist wife Adele (Catherine Keener) doesn't even bother to see it on opening night. In fact, Caden comes home at six in the morning to find her stoned and laughing with her friend. Every aspect of his home life with Adele and their four-year-old daughter Olive is strained and forced.
Eventually, the unthinkable happens: The two leave for Berlin so that Adele can properly pursue her artwork. To make matters worse, every health ailment seems to afflict him in a two-week period, from pustules to infected gums to seizures. As a result, Caden believes he's dying and becomes obsessed with death.
Not everything is lost, however; Caden opens a letter to discover he's been named a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, the world famous "genius" grant. He starts a new production by renting out a former aircraft hangar and using it as the stage for his work.
He marries the star of his first production, Claire (Michelle Williams), while continuing to have an oddly sexual relationship with the woman who worked the box office for Salesman, Hazel (Samantha Morton).
Ironically, this point marks the end of traditional, straight storytelling. For example, Hazel's house is perpetually on fire. Additionally, Olive left her diary at home, but because Caden has no concept of time, he reads it as if she's writing in it everyday. He imagines what she must be feeling or going through and projects it on this journal.
The first 40 minutes of the film are as grounded and real as a Scorsese movie. Once this gives way to the area in which Kaufman is unparalleled - a world of utter surrealism - the true beauty and mystery of the film emerge.
Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a depressed play director living in Synecdoche, N.Y. His production of Death of a Salesman opens to rave reviews, but his artist wife Adele (Catherine Keener) doesn't even bother to see it on opening night. In fact, Caden comes home at six in the morning to find her stoned and laughing with her friend. Every aspect of his home life with Adele and their four-year-old daughter Olive is strained and forced.
Eventually, the unthinkable happens: The two leave for Berlin so that Adele can properly pursue her artwork. To make matters worse, every health ailment seems to afflict him in a two-week period, from pustules to infected gums to seizures. As a result, Caden believes he's dying and becomes obsessed with death.
Not everything is lost, however; Caden opens a letter to discover he's been named a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, the world famous "genius" grant. He starts a new production by renting out a former aircraft hangar and using it as the stage for his work.
He marries the star of his first production, Claire (Michelle Williams), while continuing to have an oddly sexual relationship with the woman who worked the box office for Salesman, Hazel (Samantha Morton).
Ironically, this point marks the end of traditional, straight storytelling. For example, Hazel's house is perpetually on fire. Additionally, Olive left her diary at home, but because Caden has no concept of time, he reads it as if she's writing in it everyday. He imagines what she must be feeling or going through and projects it on this journal.
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Caroline Pellyn
posted 3/07/09 @ 12:44 AM EST
Great article. I agree totally.
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