New Poster and Clips from Charlie Kaufman's 'Synecdoche, New York'

When Charlie Kaufman turns in a new script, it's an event. Arguably the most original and important screenwriter of the last 20 years, Kaufman has redirected movie writing with Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Adaptation. So imagine the peeks over the fence when Kaufman not only had a new script but was going to direct for the first time. His feature debut, Synecdoche, New York, debuted to a mostly puzzled crowd at Cannes. Granted, there's no easy way into a Kaufman story, and yet there's a certain beauty, elegance, and efficiency in the way he writes such unbelievable convoluted stories. About the easiest way to summarize what I think I know of Synecdoche is that a theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is mounting a play about New York, hoping to bring to the stage as much real life as he can, even the most mundane aspects. He builds a giant model of New York in a warehouse, where the play begins to unfold and take on a life of its own. Meanwhile, his real life, including relationships with his ex-wife (Catherine Keener) and his current wife (Michelle Williams) start to fall completely apart. There's a new post-Cannes poster for Synecdoche, New York, courtesy of Worst Previews, which says to me something along the lines of "no matter how much you try to plan real life, you can't." That, or "Phil Hoffman has way too much time on his hands. And a lot of index cards." And if you're a Kaufman fan, you'd probably like to see a few clips, which we happen to have: We don't have an official U.S. release date yet for Synecdoche, New York, but I have a feeling it'll be September-October.

Comments

[John Hoffman]

Cannot WAIT for this film!!! Wasn't he supposed to be writing a horror film for Spike Jonze?

[Get The Big Picture]

That would be a trip. I hadn't heard that, but it's worth researching.