Synecdoche, New York

When Kaufman touched on death in his earlier works it usually served to advance the overarching parameters of the story. Rarely, if ever, did it carry as much weight or as deep of a significance as it did in Synecdoche, New York (2008). In this film the main character, Caden Cotard, is unhealthily fixated on his mortality. He fears death awaits him at the turn of every corner. His hypochondriacal tendencies constantly find him in obscure doctor’s offices where no one seems to be able to explain why he is falling apart. As we progress through the story of this man’s life we realize that he is not dying any more than those around him. The audience reaches the conclusion that death is inherent for us all, so why sweat it? We realize early in the film that Caden will die just as we too will some day die. The only guarantee in life is that we will not make it out alive. Once we have come to that realization, it is not the fact of mortality that scares us, but the way in which Caden squanders his life away as a pathetic, sniveling, neurotic man who is afraid to love or even attempt to lead a life of happiness. He lives his entire life on the sidelines afraid to play the game. The most logical way to interpret this film is through the myth of life as fiction and language, but clearly it touches on elements of all the other themes. Both the twenty-minute lifetime and eternal recurrence play a role in this film as well as a strong notion of the meaning of home.
A little plot break down is needed. Caden Cotard is a regional playwright who is awarded a MacArthur grant to create an “unflinchingly true” and “profoundly beautiful” piece of art. Caden begins constructing a theater piece that examines death. As the manifestation of the project is played out in front of our eyes is becomes nearly impossible to tell the difference between Caden’s actual life and the work of fiction. Truly art is mirroring life or life is mirroring art or perhaps better stated – art is life and life is art. The only constant through out this very confusing narrative is Caden. As the world around him becomes more abstract he continues to age as any other man would. He meanders through a series of loveless relationships that all eventually render him lonely. The film ends rather how it began, ambiguously and uneventful. The only point of interest is the realization of times passage. In the beginning of the film as Caden wakes up his alarm reads 7:44 and in the end of the film a clock on the wall reads 7:45. The audience then becomes aware that this whole fiction has taken place I a matter of seconds. From the moment of birth to death was merely an instant. And the entire world that Caden knew was his own creation – we are the authors of our own reality. How will you choose to tell your story?