Last night we watch Synecdoche, New York, a 2008 film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman.
While there were interesting moments, well-observed and finely-crafted dialogue, and existential insight scattered liberally throughout Synecdoche, New York, as well as some great acting from Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Dianne Wiest, and many others, I think it was a disastrous failure as a film.
I really enjoyed Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which Kaufman wrote but did not direct (I'm not quite so keen on Being John Malkovich, which he also wrote). They are ambitious films and achieve what they aim for - complex, thoughtful, funny mediations on life, representation, and the blurring of each of these into the other. And I think there was a similarly good film - perhaps even a great film - trying to get out of Synecdoche, New York, but for whatever reason Kaufman did not manage it.
Perhaps his success means he no longer has people around him who will challenge his creative calls, perhaps he really needs someone else (like Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze) to bring his ideas to complete fruition, perhaps he's just a better screenwriter than director (this is was debut film) - who knows? Ultimately, its unimportant. This film does not work. Many seem to have read its shortcomings as postmodern ingenuity, but I have to disagree. Synecdoche, New York was over-long, boring, rudderless, and confused. Less than the sum of its parts. That this description chimes well with the view the film gives us of the main character's life - and so, life in general - does not begin redeem it.
