Synecdoche, New York

"The end is built into the beginning."

2008 2h 4m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 1,687

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

“The end is built into the beginning.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Philip Seymour Hoffman
Caden Cotard
Samantha Morton
Hazel
Michelle Williams
Claire Keen
Catherine Keener
Adele Lack
Emily Watson
Tammy
Dianne Wiest
Ellen Bascomb / Millicent Weems
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Maria
Hope Davis
Madeleine Gravis

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Writers: Kim Jennings, Charlie Kaufman
Languages: English, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 22% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Charlie Kaufman, shot by Frederick Elmes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jon Brion. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Frazen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Samantha Morton and Michelle Williams carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The end is built into the beginning.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charlie Kaufman directs. Frederick Elmes behind the camera. Jon Brion scores. Robert Frazen cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 22% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 18 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.
4Directed by Charlie Kaufman, shot by Frederick Elmes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Jon Brion. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Robert Frazen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Philip Seymour Hoffman and Samantha Morton and Michelle Williams carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The end is built into the beginning.".
9IMDB entry: tt0383028 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 18 themes, including "depression", "new york city", "nihilism", "philosophy".
11Released under 28 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Frederick Elmes
Original score: Jon Brion
Editing: Robert Frazen
Production design: Mark Friedberg
Costume design: Melissa Toth
Makeup / hair: Jerry DeCarlo
VFX supervisor: John Bair
Sound: Dror Gescheit
Stunt coordinator: Brian Smyj
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $4,383,538
Return: 22% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Synecdoche, New York (2008)

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Charlie Kaufman

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What people are saying

onthesilverglobe2022-10-20
★ 10/10
This truly is a film about everything, and everyone. It is a film about conscious existence and subconscious being, a film about love, a film about death, and the art and emotion expanding in between the longing sonder and emptiness. Synecdoche, New York is sonder as meta-cinematic expression. Life for everyone in their individualistic existence is simply their own syncretic vision of fleeting hope hurling towards inevitable death, and that’s perfectly ok, it’s just how things are. We all live in our own fiction unbeknownst to other’s fictions, so what truly matters is the genuine emotion we individually find and connect with through it all. Emotion is the only reality humanity is capable of grasping, and we must accept and learn to appreciate and live with that fact before it’s too late and our life has passed us by. Much alike an aspect of the film, where we constantly experience time leaps multiple years into the future without preparation or warning. A reflection of the fleeting nature of existence and how we can experience the transience of time before it’s too late, and the post-humous regret we will feel as a result of our ignorance to emotion and the inevitability of being. This isn’t a hopeless or nihilistic film, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. "Sonder — noun. (neologism) the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own." Trying to analytically determine whether events in the film 'really happened' or not, or taking anything in this film as a literal matter of reality, is completely and utterly fruitless, and I believe goes completely against what the movie stands for. The film is intentionally crafted to defy such an undeviating analysis. It all happened, within a film! It is very much about why we make anything, why our individuality is significant. What do we hope to accomplish by creating or feeling something? How can you make anything about life if you are at that very moment? It's a feedback loop: everything is a synecdoche; part of a greater whole. The reality of the film is fictional because the film is aware that itself is fiction. It suggests that in some sense, every work ever made, no matter how true to life, is inescapably fiction, and that fiction is in some ways even more true to life than reality itself. We all live in our own fictional worlds, and when we task others to create or give emotion to our world, it can create a mirrored chamber of tunnel vision, a feedback loop. Caden gets lost in the mirror chamber, and the entire being of the film itself is an extension of that mirror. A masterclass of existential meta-cinema. There are so many different subplots and aspects of this film that I could literally write a master’s thesis on it, but instead, I rather just chose to focus on the things most impactful to me in this little writeup. I could go on and on overanalyzing everything, but I think that would be counterintuitive towards the movie. This absolute masterpiece sparked lots of laughing, crying, and every emotion in between. It does what it is designed to do, force you into a metaphysical existential crisis. This is truly one of the most uniquely special films ever made, impactful in every single manner. One of the most principally powerful and important pieces of art EVER, I found myself sobbing even at parts that I didn’t even know what was going on. As the credits rolled I cried harder than I have in months, films like this are the reason I believe cinema to be the inherent soul of all artistic mediums, and the reason I find beauty in this chaotic existence. This film is going straight to my top 5 without a single fucking question or doubt in my mind. Rest in peace, PSH. Your work continues to greatly impact millions of people, even after death. You are dearly cherished and missed. And thank you Charlie Kaufman, for completely transcending the medium, and creating one of the single most important films in the history of cinema.

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