Not too long ago Mr. Costal canceled The Game, but the memories of The Game are still very much alive. For me, the memory of the trailer of Synecdoche, New York would forever be tucked safely in the back corner of my mind until tonight, when James and I decided to go to the movies. While debating between Synecdoche and The Boy in Striped Pajamas the trailer for Synecdoche suddenly smacked me in the face and said “hey, go see me! I’ve been out since like October. Go see me!” and so James and I went.
I’m not going to ruin the plot for anyone, I’m not going to rave about how much I liked it or how confused I was by it, and I’m surely not going to recommend it to anyone. Why? Because it’s something you should be willing to go see on your own without any pre knowledge of what it’s about, how good or bad it might be, and who in your circle of people you know liked it. It’s simply a movie about life.
Throughout the entire movie it constantly beats your down with little hints about death. From the opening scene, until the closing scene you find little remarks, little comments, and little songs telling you that someone died. Throughout the entire movie, people die. Throughout the entire movie, bad things happen that can’t be explained. That’s all part of life though. We all sit here, going on with our own lives, and never notice that tomorrow is our last day. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years and yet regardless of what we all think, that will never stop changing. It all moves so quickly that by the time we start to understand the concept of time, it’s already over for us.
While watching the Synecdoche, I found myself going “hey, wait a minute. That seems all too familiar.” Either it’s happened to you, or to someone you know, some scenes will strike a cord. I cried like a baby for the last half hour because so many things going on in Synecdoche we either extremely relatable or all too familiar.
If you want to see this movie, I guess it just comes down to if you can handle life. With all of its ups and down, halfhearted lies and empty promised, things we regret and forget, memories that we never seem to move away from, and points in our lives we wish we could stay at forever. Go see it or don’t, but if you do watch it with an open mind. It’s a movie that could possibly be worth the 9.50 a ticket.
PS-Mr. Costal Go SEE IT!!!!!
It was okay.
ReplyDeleteNot as good as Eternal Sunshine, definitely.
BUNAH!
ReplyDeleteI feel like maybe I should expand upon my feelings towards this movie.
ReplyDeleteIt's ambitious is what it is. It's ambitious, and full of potential. Going into this, I didn't know who directed it, who it starred, and I didn't have a single idea as to what it was about. This was one of those movies that completely slipped under my radar. That being said, within the first twenty minutes of this movie I was saying to myself "well this is just fine, a drama about the human condition. I haven't seen one of those in a while, and I do love me some Philip Seymour Hoffman. Let's see how this turns out."
Further in, however, it becomes apparent that this isn't a movie that you understand. It's a movie that you feel. You'll often find yourself saying "huh? Wait, what did I miss here? Was there some symbol I didn't catch? Is that why that happened?" All of the emotions are there in the scenes, just hardly enough explanation.
And that's okay, sometimes. Sometimes. Most times during this movie, though, the events that take place are so bizarre that you find yourself becoming more and more disconnected from what's going on.
This is a movie that you need to see with the intent of analyzing even the smallest things in order to get everything. If you don't, you'll still understand the general message, but you'll be puzzled by the what's and the why's that this film leaves up to you to interpret.
Here's a great example; this is a topic on imdb in which people are discussing the symbolism behind the color of a character's poop. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383028/board/thread/123498243
Like I said before, it's a very ambitious piece of work. It oozes with deeper meaning, and as a work of art it is truly magnificent. As a story, however, it's convoluted and difficult to follow. It is most definitely not a movie for everyone.
All of that aside, there was a scene in this movie affected me like no other part did. To me, it felt like the most 'Kaufman' moment of the entire thing, if that makes any sense. A speech by an actor who was playing a priest, who said "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, but it never comes. Or it seems to, but it doesn't really. 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 cherished, something to make you feel loved. And the truth is is, I feel so angry! And the truth is, I feel so *beep* sad! And the truth is, I've felt so *beep* hurt for so *beep* long and for just as long, I've been pretending I'm okay, just to get along! I don't know why. Maybe because...no one wants to hear about my misery...because they have their own. Well, *beep* everybody. Amen."
Just for this speech alone, the movie deserves some merit.
(please take note that this entire comment can be disregarded and replaced with "IT'S A CHARLIE KAUFMAN MOVIE")
i also apologize for the size of that comment.
ReplyDeleteI have been so intrigued since the preliminary reviews...I gotta go see it.
ReplyDeletehurry Costal, before it goes on DVD and its not as cheap.
ReplyDeleteIt did come out in like October right?