Review of Synecdoche, New York (2008) by Vic R — 28 Dec 2009

I approached this film with some hesitation. As much as I have loved Kauffman's scripts when handled by Jones and Gondry, I was also aware of their influence on those projects. I was afraid that Kauffman's first film behind the camera would be like the Ouroboros, swallowing its own tail.

Ironically, the film ends up being exactly the film I feared it would be but is a success nonetheless. As a matter of fact this self-reflexivity is the film's central theme. In it's early stages the film feels Kafka-esque while visually invoking David Lynch (shot by Frederick Elmes - Eraserhead, Blue Velvet - no less).

Hoffman's reactions to the surreal events in his life are often hilarious. As the film progresses and Hoffman's character disappears into a preposterously expanding stage version of his own life, the film becomes a self critique of the creative process.

The writer loses everything around him while attempting to capture it. This becomes a potent metaphor for the acceptance of life and death itself and the film earns it's quietly tragic ending.