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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Charlie Kaufman (written by)
Release Date:
5 February 2009 (Netherlands) more
Plot:
A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 wins & 8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(9 articles)
DVD Playhouse--March 2009
(From The Hollywood Interview. 10 March 2009, 11:25 PM, PDT)
Rourke Steals The Show At The Independent Spirit Awards
(From WENN. 21 February 2009, 5:23 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Kaufman's Most Ambitious Film more (163 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Philip Seymour Hoffman | ... | Caden Cotard | |
| Catherine Keener | ... | Adele Lack | |
| Sadie Goldstein | ... | Olive (4 years old) | |
| Tom Noonan | ... | Sammy Barnathan | |
| Peter Friedman | ... | Emergency Room Doctor | |
| Charles Techman | ... | Like Clockwork Patient | |
| Josh Pais | ... | Dr. Eisenberg (Opthamologist) | |
| Daniel London | ... | Tom | |
| Robert Seay | ... | David | |
| Michelle Williams | ... | Claire Keen | |
| Stephen Adly Guirgis | ... | Davis | |
| Samantha Morton | ... | Hazel | |
| Hope Davis | ... | Madeleine Gravis | |
| Frank Girardeau | ... | Plumber | |
| Jennifer Jason Leigh | ... | Maria |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
124 min
Country:
Color:
Color (DeLuxe)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:R | Australia:M | Czech Republic:15 | Norway:11 | Sweden:Btl | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Finland:K-11 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:M/16 | Mexico:B15 | Japan:PG12 | Hong Kong:IIB
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
At the start of the film, when 'Phillip Seymour Hoffman' is reading the news at the breakfast table, he reads out that "Harold Pinter has died.... wait.... no - he's won the Nobel prize". This is a reference to a famous Sky News clip whereby Sky, in their rush to be first with breaking news, accidentally announced that Harold Pinter was dead. In fact it had just been announced that he was to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature. more
Goofs:
Continuity: In the scene where Caden is talking to Hazel directly after having talked to the doctor after his seizure, there is a dog in a box behind Hazel in her box office. Upon cutting to Caden, and then cutting back, the dog is gone. This is the remnants of the character "Squishy", from the original draft of the script. The almost-dead dog was found by Hazel after driving home from the premiere. She was saddened by Caden denying her, and she finds the dog, run over and bloody on the side of the road. She decides to keep it. This is the only scene where he is present, and his presence is not explained. more
Quotes:
Sammy Barnathan: I've watched you forever, Caden, but you've never really looked at anyone other than yourself. So watch me. Watch my heart break. Watch me jump. Watch me learn that after death there's nothing. There's no more watching. There's no more following. No love. Say goodbye to Hazel for me. And say it to yourself, too. None of us has much time. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Watchmen/Shuttle/12 (#1.2)" (2009) more
Soundtrack:
Little Person more
FAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersWhy is Hazel's house on fire?
What is a "synecdoche?"
more
more (163 total)
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I got to see a screening of this in Boston, and let me admit to the fact that I consider this film a masterpiece. It is a rare entry into the market: an ambitious film, a gamble that, sadly, makes me question how much success it could garner in the mainstream box-office.
Charlie Kaufman, however, is not a screenwriter/director who inherently aims his sights on the box-office or the mainstream (anybody who questions this has to question Being John Malkovich). Instead, his greatest strength is a boundless creativity and insight into the qualities of humanity, and Synecdoche, New York is no exception. Rather, it is the apex of Kaufman at his most insightful, his most ambitious, and (as his directorial debut) his most hauntingly beautiful.
The plot itself is a contradiction of simplicity and complexity: to say that it is about Philip Seymour Hoffman trying to put on a larger than life play is an accurate statement, yet it completely fails to capture what Synecdoche, New York tries to convey. It is not a conventional film, but instead it is ambitious: a mixture of conventional narrative and surrealist cinema, one where the beauty of the film does not solely lie upon the plot, but the way every minute quality of the film ties together to form the tapestry.
The actors all do their parts brilliantly. I am hard-pressed to find any performance that was weak or, for that matter, standard of the Hollywood formula. Hoffman is brilliant in a role that utilizes his physical and acting gifts, and he takes the character through the spectrum of its possibilities. All the other actors also performed brilliantly, although what struck me as wonderful about the acting choices are that the majority of the actors present are not "glamorized" for the screen. Rather, the blemishes, the age, and the imperfections that make them ordinary are ever present in the film, making Synecdoche, New York seem beautiful in a strange, "dirty" way. Much like a city, its majesty lies not in grungy street corners or clogged rain gutters, but in the whole image that is comprised of such small, necessary imperfections.
And that, ultimately, is why Synecdoche, New York is such an ambitious, beautiful film. It is not a perfectly crafted standard screenplay, nor a perfectly executed piece of cinema. At least, Kaufman's work is not perfect under the current criteria of modern cinema. Synecdoche, New York is a gamble; a mixture of images and music and dialogue and acting that follows Kaufman's heart and his meditations on several ideas: namely, those on life and death and the connections all around us. It is dark yet funny, evocative and haunting. It is perfect in being a work of art that tempts us to find explanation, yet ultimately needs none compared to the feelings they evoke in us.
Viewers who are looking to see the difference between "art" and "entertainment" need only see Synecdoche.