Director: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton & Catherine Keener
A complex and rewarding drama sees Charlie Kaufman, writer of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, make his directorial debut with his most ambitious project to date.
After writing some of the most acclaimed and cerebral dramas of the past ten years, Charlie Kaufman finally makes his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York which, especially for a debut picture, is a far more ambitious story than any of Kaufman’s collaborations with Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry. As with his previous films, Synecdoche, New York is another film delving into the realms of the human mind and of human identity, both being obsessions of Kaufman’s. Where Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind sought to dive into the human mind and explore its workings (literally so in one case), Synecdoche, New York sees its protagonist project his mind outwards onto the largest stage in history as a play where his every word and action and those of the people in his life are rein-acted by performers as a way to understand himself, to find his true self.
Caden Cotard (Hoffman) is a theatre director who, while accomplished, feels unworthy in comparison to the success of his artist wife Adele (Keener) and his inability to create a play of his own that expresses something true about himself. When his wife leaves to start a new life in Berlin, taking their daughter with her and achieving even greater success abroad, Caden slips further into despair suffering with thoughts of him dying and of not having meaning. He starts a new, if temporary and initially unfulfilling, relationship with his assistant Hazel (Morton) whilst continuing to seek therapy from an uninterested therapist (Hope Davis). However, when Caden is awarded an artist’s grant allowing him unlimited funding to create a work of art he uses the funds to fulfil his goal of creating a play that speaks about him. Performing in an impossibly large warehouse, Caden begins casting players in the roles of people from his life and hundreds of background players making up the New York suburb they existed in. With each having a role to play and the story getting larger, so does the cast and the sets until a near scale model of New York is created with Caden beginning to cast himself and his assistant Hazel with actors (Tom Noonan and Emily Watson) who rein-act their day to day lives and even directing their own play within a play and becoming so true to their roles that they inform and direct their own real-life counterparts.
Kaufman explores many themes throughout Synecdoche, New York with the stage life of Caden’s world representing an almost dreamlike state which progresses to become more real that his old life and as time moves on in great jumps, many unnoticed by Caden, it is his real life that becomes more like a dream. As Caden’s play expands further to encompass plays within plays and multiple actors cast in similar roles and more time is spent within the performance we are left wondering how much of what we see is part of the play, is part of Caden’s dreamlike state or is actually happening off stage. Because of this, Synecdoche, New York warrants more attention and becomes more demanding of its audience to maintain comprehension so how rewarding the film becomes depends on the efforts of its audience to follow. However, where Synecdoche, New York compares less favourably with Kaufman’s previous films and what sometimes makes committing to the film’s story is a lack of warmth. Where some characters and performances come away more favourably (Morton’s Hazel, Noonan as Caden’s stage equivalent), many of the characters are too often cold and difficult to like though Kaufman still manages to make them sympathetic.
Synecdoche, New York also boasts an impressive cast. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a very watchable leading man who, despite Caden being a character lacking warmth, still gives a very sympathetic performance. Samantha Morton is particularly impressive as Hazel, Caden’s assistant with whom he shares a brief relationship which instead develops into a more rewarding partnership and Tom Noonan impresses as Sam, an actor hired to play Caden in his play who knows Caden better than he knows himself but demonstrates a charm that Caden realises he is not capable of. In other roles there are Hope Davis, as Caden’s distant therapist; Catherine Keener as Caden’s ex-wife; Michelle Williams as Caden’s stage wife and Dianne Wiest’s Ellen who, while initially being cast by Caden in a smaller role, becomes much more important to Caden’s life and his play than he could realise.
Overall, Synecdoche, New York is a very intelligent drama. The complexity of its plot and characters won’t appeal to all audiences nor will the seriousness of its tone but those that do give it the attention it requires will come away more satisfied although whilst more intellectually rewarding than Kaufman’s previous films, Synecdoche, New York is not quite as enjoyable as some of his previous efforts. It is still an impressive debut from one of cinema’s most unique talents.
Rating: 4/5
