Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Director: Charlie Kaufman Edit

Summary Edit

A theatre director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) 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.

Male Deaths Edit

• Jerry Adler [Caden's Father]
• Philip Seymour Hoffman [Caden Cotard] (Possibly)
• Tom Noonan [Sammy Barnathan]

Female Deaths Edit

• Lynn Cohen [Caden's Mother]
• Catherine Keener [Adele Lack]
• Samantha Morton [Hazel]
• Robin Weigert [Olive Lack]

Trivia Edit

1. Roger Ebert named this film the best of the 2000s.
2. Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut.
3. The film was originally set to be directed by Spike Jonze, who chose to direct Where the Wild Things Are (2009) instead.
4. For her role as Caden's adult daughter, Robin Weigert had to undergo 20 hours of tattoo artistry for her character.
5. Dianne Wiest appears after an hour and twenty minutes into the film. Even then, she gets only ten minutes of screen time, despite prominent billing.
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character's last name is a reference to the Cotard delusion or Cotard's syndrome, also known as nihilistic or negation delusion, which is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs.