Synecdoche, New York
Synecdoche, New York ( ) is a 2008 American postmodern psychological drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as an ailing theater director who works on an increasingly elaborate stage production and whose extreme commitment to realism begins to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. The film's title is a play on Schenectady, New York, where much of the film is set, and the concept of synecdoche, wherein a part of something represents the whole or vice versa.
Plot
Theater director Caden Cotard finds his life unraveling. He has mysterious physical ailments and has been growing increasingly alienated from his artist wife, Adele, who creates microscopic paintings. He hits bottom when their couple's therapy fails and Adele leaves him for a new life in Berlin, taking their four-year-old daughter, Olive.
Cast
- Alice Drummond
- Amy Spanger
- Amy Wright
- Catherine Keener
- Daisy Tahan
- Daniel London
- Deirdre O'Connell
- Dianne Wiest
- Elizabeth Marvel
- Emily Watson
- Gerald Emerick
- Hope Davis
- Jennifer Jason Leigh
- Josh Pais
- Lynn Cohen
- Michael Higgins
- Michelle Williams
- Peter Friedman
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Robin Weigert
- Rosemary Murphy
- Samantha Morton
- Stephen Adly Guirgis
- Tim Guinee
- Tom Noonan
More details
| author | Charlie Kaufman |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | New York City |
| director | Charlie Kaufman |
| editor | Robert Frazen |
| genre | comedy-drama |
| keywords | autonomic nervous system berlin build burn cast and crew clean cotard cotard\'s syndrome couples therapy death of a salesman deathbed doppelgänger earpiece ensemble cast erotic dance erotic dancer first wife gather how to infect isolated macarthur fellows program macarthur fellowship magnum opus masterpiece mimesis mimetic new life paint theater director traumatize unexplained |
| musicBy | Jon Brion |
| producer | Anthony Bregman Charlie Kaufman Sidney Kimmel Spike Jonze |
| publisher | Sony Pictures Classics |
| recordedAt | New York City |
| theme | absurdist death independent psychological drama real time |