re: *** Official SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (2008) Review Thread
Quote:
| Seriously, I don't know how to discuss Synecdoche. |
Every time I think about this movie, my head gets jumbled and rambles in different directions. Before seeing it, it was hard to imagine a much more ambitious and sprawling train of thought movie than the previous Kaufman offerings, but that seems like the case with Synecdoche. Descriptions don't help much with this movie, it must be experienced. A few isolated thoughts is all I can do.
-- Caden stages Death of a Salesman with young actors, believing the power of the casting would come from the audiences knowing that the young actors would get beat down by life too. That world view of Caden's turns out to be true of his life. At this point, I think it's safe to say it is Kaufman's view as well.
-- The Chinese-box like map, with three different levels, could have been expanded into infinity. With Sammy and Emily playing Caden and Hazel, they could have been portrayed by another pair of actors as well. Imagine the smaller dome theater having additional dome theaters inside. That would have made the movie
really messy.
-- Time passes without any special emphasis. One scene ends, and the next could be 8 years later. It's as if we were meeting an old acquaintance every once in a while, and while we're startled, it's just another day in this long suffering, but gone-in-the-blink-of-an-eye life. I found this feeling to be both true and frightening.
-- The end:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)My view is that Dianne Wiest's character directions to Caden were, in a subconscious way, Caden's own thoughts on how Wiest would have directed him. Caden no longer has the energy to direct the play, and thus no longer has the power to live.
