MOVIE TRAILERS

Must Watch: Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York Trailer

by Alex Billington
September 17, 2008
Source: Yahoo

Here's something that should interest most hardcore cinephiles. The first trailer for Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut titled Synecdoche, New York has debuted on Yahoo. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director who, without going into the more complex details, decides to recreate his life as a theatrical play inside of an enormous abandoned warehouse. I've been told that this film is about Charlie Kaufman's fears put into themes and metaphors, but it's so insanely complex and confusing, that even after seeing it, I still don't exactly know what it's about. At least this trailer does a good job of introducing you to the characters and giving you a glimpse of what you'll see, but beyond that, it's up to you.

For those unaware, "synecdoche" means part for whole or vice versa, essentially meaning that he's recreated "part" of his life inside another small city nicknamed Synecdoche, New York. I saw this film at the Toronto Film Fest last week and I'm still confused. I really don't have an opinion because I'm partially baffled and partially perplexed by the film. I think with numerous repeat viewings I'll start to gain some perspective, but after seeing it once, I'm more lost than I was when I went in. Anyone planning on seeing it?

Watch the first trailer for Synecdoche, New York:

Synecdoche, New York stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director named Caden Cotard, whose life in Schenectady, New York is looking bleak. His wife Adele has left him to pursue her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. A new relationship with the alluringly candid Hazel has prematurely run aground. And a mysterious condition is systematically shutting down each of his body’s autonomic functions. Worried about the transience of his life, he moves his theater company to a warehouse in New York City. He directs them in a celebration of the mundane, instructing each to live out their constructed lives in a growing mockup of the city outside.

Synecdoche, New York is both written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, who is making his directorial debut after writing such screenplays as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich. This film first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and went on to play at the Toronto Film Festival as well. Sony Pictures Classics is distributing the film and will be premiering it in limited theaters starting on October 24th this fall.

This poster may not make much sense out of context from the film, but once you see it, you'll understand exactly what's going on and why it's such a brilliant design. Either way, it should make you quite curious.

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