In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK [2008]

Like a melding of a Proust and Kafka novel adapted into film by Fellini, writer Charlie Kaufman's  post-modern drama directorial debut Synecdoche, New York is a dizzying tale that saunters between depression, dementia, death and decay.
The late Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a dying theatre director that becomes so consumed by his work, his grasp on the difference between fiction and reality are heavily blurred.  The film explores so many themes and motifs in it's unconventional plot, it'd be a task to list them all off but with some dedication to the film, the viewer will find all sorts of thoughtful goodies on it's many puzzling street corners.  It's a difficult film to enjoy as entertainment but an enticing one from a film-making and creative writing standpoint.

3½ ends built into the beginnings out of 5

1 comment:

Dr Faustus said...

The 'ends built into the beginnings' part intrigues me. I hope it wasn't a typo. I've seen many multiple endings but multiple beginnings… it’s hard to imagine how that would work.