------------------------------------- FLIFF Diaries
Oct. 25 Synedoche, N.Y.
Review by Rachel Galvin
This is a movie you will talk about. Shakespeare once said "all the world is a stage." Writer Charlie Kaufman, in his directorial debut, played with this concept within this film, which explores a lonley man seeking to understand the human condition by creating a city-wide play; each fully-designed apartment encloses an individual story, together the stories unfold as a world filled with misery and death. Beyond the depth of some Woody Allen movies, this film will make you think. Taking this play literally would be a mistake; everything is symbolic, poigniant. Understanding this piece takes work, work that many theatre-goers will not want to do. In fact, the majority of those I 'surveyed' "hated this movie." But to me, it was brilliant. It had a much darker "Our Town" feel, as if told by a character after the fact, showcasing the regrets of life and death. That being said, I believe that a shorter honed-in piece of work would have been much more effective. Kaufman overloaded us with meaning, too many messages played out for one silver screen. Then again, changing this explosion of madness, as it seemed, would be a bit like reigning in a Jackson Pollack. Much like an abstract piece, the real meaning only can be understood behind the eyes of the artist, leaving those passersby to merely guess as to its foundation. Only through looking at this artwork with a magnifying glass can you see a hint of what he means (a point he brought across in the film itself). To me, the main character is symbolic of the suffering of the human condition. We are all "swimming in the mikvah" of life, wallowing in our lonlieness, regret and longing, never to be redeemed or made fresh again. Even a momentary act that should take away ones troubles is disheartening, sad. There is no end to the misery in this film. People age relentlessly and die, one after another like dominoes. Life fleets quickly and those who stick in the past will be left behind, wondering where time went, not realizing they and those around them have moved on, grown older, died.
The main character's own daughter is taken away and he feels he let her down, searching for some sort of reconciliation he can never attain; he is saddened by her growth from an innocent child to a deflowered, corrupted adult (poisoned by those who influenced her , as much as if she had been tattooed by their hand). The characters' interchange becomes mirky, filled with words that make no sense for the scene, as if the words don't matter (like a script fresh in the hands of an actor doing a cold-reading). The emotion of the scene is what is important, the pure sadness of the fleeting of life.
He finds a character to play himself, a mirror so he can see himself, perhaps much like God created humans in order to reflect his Being. He also puts himself in other's shoes, playing their parts, experiencing their regrets and sorrows.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant in this movie, as are the other secondary characters: Michelle Williams,Dianne Wiest,Jennifer Jason Leigh. This must have been a soul-searching journey for those involved. The look of each character is very natural, makeup-less or worse (made to look older) -- refreshing.
"Fate is what we create," a minister next to a graveside reveals. In a drainingly-dark way, this movie seems to suggest a sense of carpe diem. No one is coming to see you perform in this life. No one will care about your human drama. You have to wake up to the fact that your house is burning down around you, not noticing the elephant in the room will kill you in the end. Living life day to day is misery and everyone dies in the end, after playing out notes given from our creator.
Although some thought me crazy, I want to see this movie again. I believe there are a million symbolisms I missed that I would need to dissect the thing to get a hold of it. And for me, that is meaningful work. But for most, they won't bother.
I feel I understand what he was trying to achieve. Unfortunately, for an audience that goes to the movies to escape their troubles, not to think, the piece fell flat. But what he says is so important. By shortening it down, tackling one point, rather than many and helping the audience to invest into the characters, he will have a gem.