Examiner Essentials: # 16 Synecdoche, New York

Sony Pictures Classics

The Examiner Essentials are the movies everyone should watch, know and love. And if you watch and know but don't love, it's okay because you will still be an improved person for taking part in your own betterment. But the chances are, you'll love these movies. A list of all the Essentials can be found here.

Title: Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Director: Charlie Kaufman (writer of Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Human Nature, Adaptation)

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Hard Eight), Catherine Keener (Memento), Tom Noonan (Heat), Samantha Morton (Code 46)

ex-Factor: Charlie Kaufman. As a writer, Kaufman made his first big splash with the deliriously metaphysical Being John Malkovich. He has collaborated with avant-garde directors Spike Jonze (Malkovich, Adaptation) and Michel Gondry (Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine). Surely some of those skills rubbed off on this first time director. Kaufman approached Jonze to direct this film, but Mr. Jonze was neck deep in making Where the Wild Things Are, itself a five-year process that is about to see the light of day this October, and suggested that Mr. Kaufman direct the movie himself. Kaufman took this advice and sat in the director's chair. What resulted is one of the most ambitious film debuts ever, a piece of genuine art that will surely stand the test of time as a testament to human nature and that wily thing known as the ego.The Story: Caden Cotard (Hoffman) is a play writer and theater director who is going through a midlife crisis. His wife Adele (Keener) is becoming increasingly distant and he can feel his body falling apart with each new ailment. And up to this point in his life, his biggest artistic achievement is a production of Death of a Salesman cast with young actors. So when everything threatens to go away, Caden feels the urge to do something gigantic and important that will outlast him. He ends up renting a ridiculously large warehouse as a theater, and begins crafting a play that will mirror life, and in turn becomes larger than life. All in an effort to find the truth. The brutal Truth.Why It's Essential: The beauty of Synecdoche, New York is the many interpretations that can be gathered from the story. I already attempted something of a review, available here, but know ahead of time that it is roughly 20,000 words of artistic interpretation and "what I think this means" wankery. That' s what makes this movie special, the fact that Kaufman created something so layered and rich with meaning that people could go off for hours on what they feel the movie is about and how the themes are reflected in their own lives.Kaufman doesn't pull any punches. Here is a writer and storyteller less concerned with the traditional three-act structure and run of the mill character resolutions, and more interested in conveying universal truths and trying to find a common thread in the human experience. As a result, he doesn't shy away from telling an expansive story filled with linear leaps and in-your-face metaphors, like the burning house purchased by Hazel (Morton) or the Funland shock troops. He shows dream-like sequences without any obvious explanations and his characters switch actors when needed. Kaufman shows faith that his audience will be able to keep up, and even if they get lost, the intended messages will still get through. Much like how two people can watch this movie and disagree as to whether it is a comedy or a drama. Synecdoche, New York is a large piece of art open to interpretation, meaning different things to different people, all of whom have the right ideas.Memorable Scene: A great example of a multi-layered scene is Caden's final encounter with his daughter Olive, who is very ill and in a hospital. Their conversation is both funny and heartbreaking, often at the same time. This scene also includes some science fiction in a non show-offy and very organic way and dream0like imagery, two things that Kaufman's stories often have, and which he uses to set his work apart from other screenplays.Fun Fact: The Cotard Delusion is a very real thing, and involves a person believing they do not exist and that they are putrefying. Yay.