Synecdoche, New York (Movie Review)

Let me tell y'all about a movie I saw this weekend. It's called Synecdoche, New York (pronounced Si-NECK-doh-kee) and it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman (the guy from Capote, The Savages, Big Lebowski).

He plays a playwright and theatre director who writes this massive all-encompassing play over the course of like decades and it doesn't ever really get performed in front of a theatre audience. I know: big idea. But so for me what makes this movie really interesting is the script. And the script-writer who is none other than the much-talked-about, much-hyped, much-loved and much-admired Charlie Kaufman (the guy who wrote the screenplays for two very influential recent movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich). Note too that this isn't comedian Andy Kaufman from the REM movie-song. And let's not even go near the fact that Jim Carrey plays in the former (that's first-mentioned i.e the screenwriter) Kaufman's movie and plays the latter Kaufman (that's last-mentioned i.e the comedian) in Man on the Moon.

Okay. So. What I'd like to say about this movie is that the most interesting thing about it is the way the script works. The easiest way to explain it is to say that it's like an Impressionist painting. For those unfamiliar with Impressionism (check out Wikipedia! (ed.) :-)) it's this style of painting from the 19th century (thanks Wikipedia) which uses lots of short brush strokes (ibid.) to slowly and painstakingly assemble together a much bigger image. Monet and Renoir are both associated with this style of painting. So too is the great Vince Van-G!

What was I saying? Oh yes. This guy Charlie Kauman writes scripts using little pieces that come together very gradually (while you're sitting there in the cinema thinking 'hmmm ... stay ... or go?') until by the end of the movie this big beautiful Impression has been painted into your head. And you go 'WOW! How did that happen?' and you wander around a bit after to let it all sink into the creases and folds of the old brain. It's quite a nice feeling. But you need time and you need to be in the mood too for that kinda pic.

Just as a footnote: Kaufman's scripts and movies remind me a litle of some of David Fincher's movies (Zodiac, Seven) in that Fincher also uses small plot-pieces to assemble together a complex story. But if Kaufman's movies are like an Impressionist painting then Fincher's movies are more like modern architecture. Meticulously planned but also more science and design to them. Civil engineering maybe. Oh and finally. The big idea that Kaufman explores in this movie (I think) is the question of whether art imitates life or whether life imitates art. Or maybe both. Or maybe neither. Dunno. But worth a watch anyway.

P.S. Some career advice for Philip Seymour Hoffman: ease off the bookish writer roles for a while to avoid getting typecast!