I wouldn't go so far as to call Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" one of the greatest movies of its decade, but its intellectual profundity makes it one of the most impressive pieces of work. This story of a theater director whose life is unraveling has so many layers that it's hard to describe. An obvious point is that the movie goes to great lengths to blur fiction and reality, as the protagonist's play begins to look more and more like real life.
An important point is that time progresses throughout the movie without the characters stating it, or background objects showing it. The protagonist is shown aging, as is his daughter, while he expands his model city. Interestingly, the warehouse is impossibly large, while his ex-wife's art gets smaller over the course of the movie.
Key to the movie is Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance. He plays Caden as a man at the end of his emotional rope, just like Willy Loman (whom Caden plays early on). It's too bad that Hoffman isn't with us anymore. I have no doubt that he would still be playing great roles were he alive today.
Plenty of outstanding support comes from the rest of the cast. Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Hope Davis, Dianne Wiest, and the rest of them show themselves to be some of the finest performers of our era.
Basically, any film buff owes it to himself/herself to see this movie.
An important point is that time progresses throughout the movie without the characters stating it, or background objects showing it. The protagonist is shown aging, as is his daughter, while he expands his model city. Interestingly, the warehouse is impossibly large, while his ex-wife's art gets smaller over the course of the movie.
Key to the movie is Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance. He plays Caden as a man at the end of his emotional rope, just like Willy Loman (whom Caden plays early on). It's too bad that Hoffman isn't with us anymore. I have no doubt that he would still be playing great roles were he alive today.
Plenty of outstanding support comes from the rest of the cast. Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Hope Davis, Dianne Wiest, and the rest of them show themselves to be some of the finest performers of our era.
Basically, any film buff owes it to himself/herself to see this movie.