FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Synecdoche, New York [DVD] [2008]

Synecdoche, New York [DVD] [2008]
enlarge	Director: Charlie Kaufman Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman Studio: Revolver Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy New: £7.87 as of 22/11/2009 06:29 GMT details You Save: £8.12 (51%) New (13) Used (1) from £5.85 Seller: dvd-film-shop Rating: 8 reviews Sales Rank: 2713 Format: Anamorphic, PAL Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 2 Running Time: 124 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5060018490366 ASIN: B0029WI48C Theatrical Release Date: 2008 Release Date: October 12, 2009 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 8 1 2 Next » The end of Charlie Kaufman. May 16, 2009 Mooch (Manchester, England) 19 out of 25 found this review helpful This movie is insane. More insane than usual, more insane than you would expect or imagine. It is properly insane. Certainly do not ever think about watching this if you can't hack strange films - this is simply nothing to do with normal. Some people will "love" it because they are pseuds, some people will hate it because, reasonably enough, they have some basic requirements of each film they watch - such as it being comprehensible, categorisable and entertaining - lots of other people will love or hate it for every reason under the sun. To be honest the act of recommemding it is laughable. br / br /What I love about it is that this movie is the raw feed. The original, unexpurgated data stream from a creative lunatic. It would be correct to say that it is indulgent, over-long, flabby, in need of a brutal editor/director/someone to act as a counterbalancing force to reign in Charlie Kaufman's excesses, but that would be to judge this work on conventional terms when the pleasure of it is in its unconventionality, that very excess; just revel in the breathtaking ambition/madness that has somehow, invigoratingly, been allowed to take full form. It is beautifully crazy that this exists and it represents the full-stop at the end of Charlie Kaufman. br / br /It reminds me of Peter Biskind's book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls about buzz directors in the Seventies being given carte-blanche for a tiny window of time after their initial success and how many of them blew it extravagantly. Since reading that book I've been intrigued about (but still know little about) Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie, imagining what a film called The Last Movie might be like. What an apt title for Synecdoche, New York that would have been. Just as the film revolves around Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) receiving a "genius grant" to mount his life's great work, Kaufman's kudos, buzz and oscar have afforded him one opportunity to do whatever he wants, and has taken it. This film is the total, full-on, utterly gone-for-it culmination of the Charlie Kaufman project. He will surely never be able to tackle topics and themes bigger - or more grandly - than he does here. Life, love, death, art; He's not holding anything back for the next one, it's like those insects that die at the climax of sex; it's the end. To plenty of people too it will represent Kaufman getting lost up his own end. His career from this point will likely diminsh - a $3 million US box office from a $21 million budget will undoubtedly mean that his visions are not given this kind of freedom in the future. It's Kaufman's Gate. br / br /I guess I haven't said anything about what happens in the film or anything specific about what it is like. But I'm not sure what you would really want or need to know beyond the fact that you should steer well clear if you don't like weird. "Insanity; did Caden Cotard a state-sized miserydome decree..." I'm sure you know the story outline if you are this far down the Amazon page. It is frequently hilarious, frequently depressing, always disturbing, possessed by nightmarish images; characters; moments; like fever-dreams directly spliced into the reels: a terrifying therapist, bizarre German interludes, the entire end sequence etc etc. How he got such fine actors to play these hallucinatory scenes (and in various states of heavy make-up or undress) is anyone's guess. It is Bunuel's Phantom of Liberty Discreet Charm of the Borgeousie Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE gothically rolled into one and smoked by Jorge Luis Borges. The whole film is like watching one of those bits in a movie where the evil shape-shifting demon dies and in its throes it manifests all the various guises from its subconscious. All the world's a stage, the play's The Thing. br / br /It is one of those fertile films that gives you a mountain of ideas and leaves you with a dense mass of questions, big and small. What of the lack of an audience for Caden's play? Is the guy who has been "following" Caden meant to represent Kaufman's imitators? The movie seems ruthlessly to take the piss out of creative people - does he hate actors? He seems to ignore writers - but is it all in fact about writing, a post-modern Tempest? The house that is permanently on fire: suggesting Caden's own life is a play directed by someone else and staged on a set?; Meant to denote an irreverent attitude to cinematic "reality"?; Supposed to be an in-joke about the cinematography in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?; Satire of consumerism? Just being silly? br / br /It is yet another Philip Seymour Hoffman film that makes me want to eat more fruit and this time I think I might. br / br /Also, one of the lessons this film tries to teach is probably to spend less time writing or reading these reviews. Kaufman's masterpiece October 19, 2009 R. A. Bull (Wolverhampton, UK) 2 out of 2 found this review helpful Kaufman's first directorial debut could have very well turned out to be a turkey. As it turns out it, however, he just may have created his masterpiece - the quintessential Kaufmanesque high concept film. br / br /To give you a rough idea of the premise, the film documents the last forty years of theatre director Caden Cotard's life. After producing a string of fairly successful, if unfulfilling, minor theatre pieces he is awarded the mysterious MacAuthur grant, the so-called 'genius' grant, in order to produce a substantial work and legacy. Herein lies the narritive drive of the film as Cotard strives to define himself through his art. br / br /There are many Kaufman-esque moments to keep fans enthralled, though the real charm of the film lies in its stripping of the shackles of the ego and laying the heart of humanity bare. Many questions are raised from the multi-layered story-telling. Time, for instance, is dipicted in such a way as to suggest that Cotard loses track of it at certain points of the film creating the impression of time gaining momentum as it hurtles towards its deunoumone. At one point in the film he mistakes the age of his little girl from his ex-marriage preserving the image he has of her in his head, an eternally youthful and innocent four-year-old. The scene involving their reunion is truly heartbreaking and emotionally eldritch as he discovers the cold-hard truth about his beloved 'flower girl'. br / br /Whilst the film has its bleak moments, it also has moments of very funny black-humour. There are also deeply surreal aspects to the film (Hazel buying a house that is slowly burning down, or random cartoons on television with the face of Cotard on, to name but a few) but for the most part the film is grounded in a very realistic, albiet dreamlike and whimiscal, pseudo-logic. br / br /The all-star cast provide sterling performances, Hoffman especially, helping to solidify the fantastical world Kaufman has created, and perhaps the reason behind Kaufman's success in directing his first feature film lies in their understanding of what is expected of them and their willingness to oblige his whimsies. The plot slowly infolds in to layer upon layer of infinite possibilities, like an old russian doll. br / br /To go in to any great detail regarding the intricacies of the plot of Synocdoche, New York would be nonsensical and ultimately futile, as Kaufman's vision should be consumed holistically in order to fully appreciate its sheer scope and beauty. Like the title of the film suggests, and like life itself for that matter, the whole is sometimes greater than the sum of its parts. br / br /A work of sheer genius that will cause you to look introspectively your own life, love and humanity. Perhaps it would be wise to keep a box of kleenex handy, also. - 5 stars Anything but bleak! July 14, 2009 Chris M. Dooks (Glasgow) 2 out of 3 found this review helpful This is not a bleak film, it's actually very funny in parts but it's bleak if we constantly try to escape the inevitable end of our lives. This film is a very kind and emotional attack on the cards we are dealt and I really feel it's a work of art, a modern masterpiece even. I am so happy he actually got it funded at all. The huge sets and scale of the film are incredible. br / br /There are precedents for some of the narrative techniques used in the film (look at the cinema of Bunuel especially That Obscure Object of Desire). It's no surprise this film will alienate some of the usual popcorn munchers and attention-deficit viewers who expect every step of their culture to explained to them on a shiny plate. Some sequences are deliberately designed to challenge how you view the timeline of the movie. Some of the actors swap roles confusingly. It's deliberate. This is a brave, big movie and it's very very moving. Even if you are confused, I am sure you will "get" the tone of the work. I was in tears at the end. Jon's Brion's score is excellent, especially the track "OK" which is a gorgeous swelling of strings and lumps in the throat. Mr Hoffman excels in the central role and I completely empathise with his confusion and angst in this weird theatrical charade which, although deadly serious in tone, is full of absurd coincidences, cheeky humour and potency. All the worlds a stage and im still missing my que October 3, 2009 pete (edinburgh scotland) This is a great movie with a simple yet profound idea- Live in the moment because you may never be as happy as you are now....... again. The fact that the best part of your life may be over before you even thought to appreciate it leads Philip Seymour Hoffmans character Caden to endlessly recreate his life on stage and through film to try and gain enough objectivity to work out where it all went wrong. Why his wife left him - A selfish but perhaps brilliant artist played by Catherine Keener and his childhood messed him up. There are a few similarities to Being John Malkovitch which spoilt it slightly but overall I loved it. An intelligent, grown up movie which wont suit everyone but is a quirky as it is philosophical. All the cast are excellent but especially Diane Wiest and the portraits- small and precise an intriguing metaphor for analysis!! One of the best movies of all time November 1, 2009 You Know Who "Synecdoche, New York" is a true artistic masterpiece. It is a very profound work of genius. Thank you so very much, Charlie Kaufman. br / Showing reviews 1-5 of 8 1 2 Next »

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