Film

A Funny 'Synecdoche, New York'

By Marcos Bernal-Salas

Friday, October 24, 2008

The latest Charlie Kaufman film is here. ‘Synecdoche, New York’ is nothing short of impressive and without a doubt to become one of the writer-director’s funniest masterpieces. The outrageous storyline follows theater director Caden Cotard (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) whose life at the suburban local theatre in Schenectady, New York is beyond dreadful. From then on the storyline explores his worries, sense of abandonment, failing marriage, mysterious health conditions and deteriorating reality; to his ultimate death. Whether or not this is a reflection of Charlie Kaufman’s mind – or real persona – is entirely up to the audience to decide; but in short the film is a riot.

To reveal the entire story of ‘Synecdoche, New York’ will be a disservice; simply because one has to watch it from start to end to fully understand it. Besides I’m afraid that it will be more confusing than the film itself. So let’s get back to whom is at the center of this amusing concept: Caden Cotard. He clearly signifies a type of underdog, except he doesn’t win at the end, and whose life is a continuous episode of dealing with illness, despair, death, relationship problems and heartbreak. Is that similar to anyone’s life out there? Perhaps. And that is Kaufman’s intentions in the film to have the lead character easily connect with the audience in a weird but incredibly funny way.

For instance, one of the most fantastic parts in the film has to do with a burning house. Hazel (Samantha Morton) is the young, passionate and alluring woman in Caden’s life that starts off as his genuine love interest but slowly fizzles in and out of his life. The fact that she lives in this burning house – literally the house is always burning – is just one of the amusing metaphors Kaufman uses in the film; which he dares not to explain. And that’s because the idea of a burning house can have many different connections with the audience and can certainly be an endless cinematic symbol. The latter is definitely a discussion for the film analysts and critics to embrace.

One thing in ‘Synecdoche, New York’ that is not ambiguous at all is the perfect acting. Everyone is simply mesmerizing taking on Kaufman’s characters that embody and convey the different emotions in the film. A range of full emotions that go from deeply felt to idiotic and shallow. If anything, true human emotion is a commonality in Kaufman’s film from ‘Being John Malkovich’ to ‘Adaptation’ his characters and dialogue are nothing but a reflection on us; no matter how fantastic they might be. And just like in the film without ending in a silly platitude I offer this: The film is simply fun to watch. I’m sure Kaufman would agree to that.

Check out ‘Synecdoche, New York’ Official Site