Often times during my quest to take in all that is cinema, there are a few times in which I find myself have to retread over previously seen territory. It’s usually for a number of reason that I re-watch movies, the most obvious is just because I rather enjoy a particular film. Sometimes it is because a certain film just picks me up after a long day at work or when I need to hear something rather humorous in the background. Then there are the films that I re-watch because I have to, not because I wasn’t attentive enough the first time around, but for the sole reason that it demands a second watch.
Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Caden Cotard, an eccentric playwright who lives with artist Adele Lack (Catherine Keener) and their daughter Olive in Schenectady, upstate New York. Prone to neuroses, misgivings and enormous self-doubt, Caden also begins suffering from accelerated physical deterioration – from blood in his stools to disfigured skin. Upon receiving a prestigious MacArthur grant, Caden decides to use the money to concoct one gigantic play as an analog of his own life; he builds massive sets amid a New York City warehouse, casts others as his friends, family and acquaintances, and casts others to play the ones he’s casting. After Adele whisks Olive off to Europe but demonstrates no sign of returning soon, Caden drifts into a series of relationships with lovers – first with box office employee Hazel (Samantha Morton), who purchases and moves into a house that is perpetually on fire; then with Tammy (Emily Watson), an actress assigned to play Hazel in the theatrical project; and subsequently with others. Unfortunately, the play itself grows so big and unwieldy – and rehearsals go on for so long, taking literally decades – that it becomes unclear if the production itself will ever launch.
~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Synecdoche, New York is a complex film, written by a complex writer. Charlie Kaufman is a writer known for his cerebral films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich, but this is his firs foray into the directing realm with a film that is one of the more demanding stories in his writing background. To condense the film that I have seen, oh five times now, Synecdoche, New York is about life. I realize that it might be easier to condense the film into one thematic element as I just did, but this will be easier to digest. Synecdoche is more than just life, it is about the roles that we play out in our lives and minds about how our particular life transpires. We, in our daily lives, are just the players that act out how we view our lives should go. We surround ourselves with the people we need to better ourselves and get us to that next part of our life. I don’t want to say that we use people as pawns, but rather we meet the right people, we form a unique bond and hope that our lives run parallel with theirs, so as to have a brace in life and people to rely on. Life is chaotic and uncertain, but we do these things, make friends, take a job, enjoy the small things in life, in order to bring about some order. It’s comforting to know that there are other people experiencing this with you, which where Synecdoche incorporates all the players of this film.
Hoffman’s character Carden, is just a small representation on one particular life. The complexity, coping, and falls in his life can be used as a mirror for us to reflect on our own lives. Carden’s profession as a theater manager sets up this notion that everything in our lives is a play, some sort of production that never ends. With all the direction and planning we can make, it’s the uncertainty of those take part in our play that alters our line or destiny. Carden fills his life with people, projecting what he thinks people should act like, in order to benefit his world view. They play a part, but the uncertain nature of it all leads to those actors becoming independent and reshaping the outlook or play that Carden has in mind.
Kaufman, in his past writing and films he has lend a hand to, deals with the volatile nature of our own mind. We project upon other people what we want them to be like or even what we want to be like. Adaptation is a good film to look at as the protagonist has a twin, which does what he is unable to do in life. He is daring, outgoing and rather raucous, which is the opposite of what the timid character of the film is. It’s a way for us to look at being someone else, without having to really change ourselves. Synecdoche poses the idea of our lives being this play that our mind creates in order to bring order to our lives. It’s fairly meta in this film, a play/movie about a theater manager who creates a play in order to layout his life. Kind of the setup for our path in life and how we have to view it all. We are all just players in grand scheme of life.
I have seen this film five times now and even after putting my thoughts into this post, I still don’t get it all. I think I do, but upon reviewing the film and seeing it again and again, I get something different with each viewing. A little more about life is revealed in all complications of the aging life of Carden and the people he fills the play with. In reality, you think a bit more about life. You think about the complications of the choices you partake in. We get a job to earn money, secure our future, and become comfortable in life. We makes friends so we aren’t alone and sometime those friends are the right people we need in life that helps make our lives better. We get into relationships because it feels right at the time, whether earnest love or young lust. You can sit and reflect on your life and those that are apart of it, either realizing that it is all going to plan or maybe you are a part of their plan. Think about friends who have gone on to success, helping to push them on to something greater, being that support beam in their enterprising lives. Reflect on the relationships and where that has taken you. Young people getting married because it might be apart of a stable life that they need or the honesty of their affection dictates that they pair off for life.
I certainly had friends that have gone on to more successful lives, looking to me for some reaffirming assurance that what they are doing is the right thing. I look on with admiration and happiness that I was a part of their success. I have certainly had my share of relationships crumble, for explicit and even unstated reasons, only to see them move on to someone better and begin a new. It’s a hard thing to do, move on after having them be an intimate part of your life, but that is one of the things that the film touches upon. In a lot of ways, I seem to sympathize with Carden, perhaps a bit too much. This is really a credit to the writing and directing of Kaufman. I have never really been this involved with a story that leaves so much open to interpretation.
It might disheartening to hear that a film has essentially boiled down the process of living into this complex film about a play. While the film might be a bit much at the first initial viewing, you take a little bit of time to reflect and then go back to view it again. It isn’t a stretch to believe that life is nothing but a play and everyone has a part. We might be the master of our own domain and want to control all the aspects of our particular play, but things change. We age, the players age, life moves past us and in the end, we cling to the last vestiges of our life, hoping that it comes out the way we hoped. It is all about trial and error in lives, we project what we want, place goals for our lives and work towards it. If it doesn’t pan out, we alter it a bit. We do a rewrite if you will and make it work. If that means recasting friends or changing the scene, we do it because it is what our life dictates.
Shakespeare (can’t believe I am pulling in Shakespeare here) had it right, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
*images via