Synecdoche, New York (2008)
(Charlie Kaufman, US 2008, 124 min., 35mm)
Idiosyncratic screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) directorial debut is a mind-bending meta-drama marked by ingenious visual puns, linguistic tropes, and a general delight in language, both cinematic and spoken. It is, in other words, a Charlie Kaufman film. His tale of a regional theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) whose latest production entails re-creating a scale model of Manhattan in a huge NYC warehouse baffled many audiences and critics alike. Not Roger Ebert, however: After repeat viewings, he named it the best film of the decade.
The Philip Seymour Hoffman film series is supported by James Declan Tobin on behalf of the Sumner Roy Kates Charitable Trust.