A theater director struggles with his work and the women in his life as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.A theater director struggles with his work and the women in his life as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.A theater director struggles with his work and the women in his life as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 29 nominations
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe article that Caden reads in the doctor's waiting room, about his wife, is titled "It's Good To Be Adele." The intro paragraph reads, "Six months ago, Adele was an under-appreciated housewife in Eastern New York. Stuck in a dead-end marriage to a slovenly ugly-face loser, Adele Lack had big dreams for her and her then four-year-old daughter, Olivia. That's when her paintings got small."
- GoofsIn the scene where Caden is talking to Hazel directly after having talked to the doctor after his seizure, there is a dog in a box behind Hazel in her box office. Upon cutting to Caden, and then cutting back, the dog is gone. This is the remnants of the character "Squishy", from the original draft of the script. The almost-dead dog was found by Hazel after driving home from the premiere. She was saddened by Caden denying her, and she finds the dog, run over and bloody on the side of the road. She decides to keep it. This is the only scene where he is present, and his presence is not explained.
- Quotes
Pastor: Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for twenty years. And you may never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it's what you create. And even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are only here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but it doesn't really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope that something good will come along. Something to make you feel connected, something to make you feel whole, something to make you feel loved. And the truth is I feel so angry, and the truth is I feel so fucking sad, and the truth is I've felt so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long I've been pretending I'm OK, just to get along, just for, I don't know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own. Well, fuck everybody. Amen.
Caden Cotard: Amen.
This is the film that the Charlie Kaufman from Adaptation wanted to write.
In Adaptation he tries to tell his agent, "I don't want to cram in sex or guns or car chases, or characters you know, learning profound life lessons or growing or coming to like each other or overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end. I mean the book isn't like that, and life isn't like that. You know, it just isn't. And I feel very strongly about this." In addition, about 40 minutes into Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman's character describes himself as self-indulgent, narcissistic, solipsistic and pathetic because he's written himself into his screenplay. It seems like Caden is just him again inside his own screenplay but unlike Adaptation this one has no change or drama or story and people do not succeed in the end.
While in Adaptation Charlie Kaufman gave in to McKee and his twin brother Donald, it seems in Synecdoche he's decided to instead make a work of art his way, period. On principle I agree with this decision but feel he took it too far. There's a point at which you can overdo it.
WHY I DIDN'T LIKE IT:
At first, it's easy to get caught up in the puzzles embedded in Synecodche. Why is the house on fire? Who's writing in the girls' diary? What's the deal with the therapist? You might get the impression that beneath these puzzles, Kaufman is hiding some deep truth. Unfortunately, there's nothing there, and the puzzles are simply distractions.
As Kaufman is committed to expressing his own point of view he is therefore unwilling to let the actors express theirs. Like Caden, Kaufman is off in his own head, obsessing over his thoughts without paying attention to the world outside. It seemed like one meaningless scene after meaningless scene. If that was the point then fine, but that is about as entertaining as a movie about the glory of watching paint dry.
WHO MAY ENJOY IT:
There was one theme that stuck out of the whole film that made me feel like this piece was made for the cynics and for those who agree with the sentiments of the main character. Perhaps because I do not fall into that category I did not form a bond with Synecdoche.
Examples of this are when Caden is explaining his vision to the actors and says, "What was once before you - an exciting, mysterious future - is now behind you. Lived; understood; disappointing. You realize you are not special. You have struggled into existence, and are now slipping silently out of it. This is everyone's experience. Every single one. The specifics hardly matter. Everyone's everyone."
The other was said by the wife to Caden, when under her breath she muttered something like, "the more you get to know people the more disappointed you are".
- hyprsleepy
- Nov 22, 2010
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Todas las vidas, mi vida
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,083,538
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $172,194
- Oct 26, 2008
- Gross worldwide
- $4,658,401
- Runtime2 hours 4 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1