Synecdoche New York

Synecdoche, New York is a film written by Charlie Kaufman about a theater director who builds a model of New York City, in a warehouse, to prove himself. During an optometry exam, a psychological problem is revealed. The film follows his struggle through his illness, the project and his relationships, as they gradually merge over several decades.¹

Fast Facts

1. Director: Charlie Kaufman
2. Executive producers: Ray Angelic, William Horberg and Bruce Toll
3. Producers: Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kauffman and Sidney Kimmel
4. Screenwriter: Charlie Kaufman
5. Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
6. Release date: October 24, 2008 (limited)
7. MPAA rating: R
8. Run time: 124 minutes
9. Filmed in the Bronx

Cast Information

• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard
• Catherine Keener as Adele Lack
• Michelle Williams as Claire Keen
• Samantha Morton as Hazel
• Jennifer Jason Leigh as Maria
• Emily Watson as Tammy
• Dianne Wiest as Ellen Bascomb and Millicent Weems
• Sadie Goldstein as Olive
• Tom Noonan as Sammy Barnathan

Film Title

Synecdoche (si-nek-duh-kee) is a noun defined as "a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part." Kaufman used the word synecdoche in the title as a play on the word Schenectady, a county in New York featured in the movie.^{2 3}

Quotes

• "It reliably contains Kaufman's wondrous visual inventions, complicated characters, idiosyncratic conversations and delightful plot designs, but its collective impact will kick the wind out of you."—Jay Fernandez, Los Angeles Times⁴

• "I don't know what it will be. I think it's gonna be creepy ... It's a movie about the break-up of a relationship."—Charlie Kaufman in March 2004³

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