Synecdoche, New York

Not the easiest of starts, but lets give it a go. Synecdoche, New York is the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, writer of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a collaboration with Michel Gondry that I always return to with unexplianable skepticism - a feeling that departs as soon as I've finished rewatching it, at which point I'm convinced all over again that it is one of the most significant cinematic achievements of the last decade. This is Kaufman's first project since - meanwhile, Gondry has put out The Science of Sleep, an arguably slight "love" story that is still well worth watching; and Be Kind Rewind, a huge disappointment considering that the high-concept - Jack Black and Mos Def stage recreations of famous films - is fantastic. Whereas Gondry's stock has fallen slightly, Synecdoche looks set to send Kaufman's soaring.

The film is centred around Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a theatre director whose life is falling apart. Prone to hypochondria and trapped in a failing marriage, things only start to look up for him when he receives a MacArthur genius grant, which brings with it unlimited wealth with which to pursue his artistic interests. His wish is to create something that truly resonates - something "real", as the cliche goes. When trying to explain the inspiration behind his idea to an assembled group of actors and actresses, he announces that "I will be dying and so will you, and so will everyone here. That's what I want to explore," and in doing so he provides a reasonable summation of the themes integral to the film, which is frequently punctuated with death and funerals. For Caden, even the act of making love takes on a funereal air, causing him to break into tears or, in one memorable scene that cuts to the heart of his character, undress as though his world is ending. Which, as his aforementioned speech makes clear, it is. Years pass by unacknowledged except for the visible aging of the characters, as if to mimic the universal, inextricable march towards death that we all face.

Whilst Caden envisions the project as a study in unflinching realism, the staged nature of his "play" takes the concept of life imitating art to a whole new plateau, with the lines between his own reality and his artistic endeavour blurred until the two overlap so completely that any sense of self is lost. The subtle humour that pervades the first hour gradually fades, replaced by a sombre atmosphere that at times threatens to alienate the viewer; the film is never less than challenging, often lapsing into "gruelling" territory. At one point, a "priest" leading a funeral service encapsulates the mood prevalent throughout much of the film when delivering a eulogy: "you are 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. And it never comes or it seems to but doesn't really." Over the course of 2+ hours such an attitude should be demoralising, yet it rarely is; instead, it comes across as a celebration of human life. No matter how much of its time is seemingly spent telling us that none of us are special, the truth is that by focussing on the mundanities of life, the actual underlying message is the exact opposite. Whether or not Caden's life plays out as he expects it to, there is clearly value in it.

Synecdoche, New York stands out to me as an example of the kind of work filmmakers should be aspiring to make. Kaufman asks the viewer to engage with the film, a perfeclty reasonable request when he offers such an incisive examination into the human condition, one that is of relevance to anyone and everyone. He deserves all the plaudits people are lauding him with, as does Hoffman, whom it seems almost pointless to praise for his performance - when is he ever less than excellent? But the truth is that no-one else would have been suitable for the role, which demands his unique ability to become the character in order for it to be a success. The supporting cast all excel (with Samantha Norton and Tom Noonan the standouts), dropping in and out of Caden's life whilst never truly leaving him. One of the most emotionally affecting pieces of cinema I've ever seen, I can't recommend it highly enough.