Synecdoche (pronounced si-NEK-də-kee) is a figure of speech in which one refers to something by referring to a part of that thing.  Such as in my referring to this cinematic masterpiece as a "strip of film".  It is also a film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Being John Malkovich ) and staring Philip Seymour Hoffman (Scent of a Woman , Capote ).


Those familiar with Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will know to not expect a conventional film.  But unlike his earlier works, Synecdoche is both written and directed by Kaufman.  Whereas Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry are extremely visual and allow (at times) the camera to become a character in the film, Kaufman lets his writing do the talking.

The best films are films about the human condition, our collective experience - often told through examination of a specific human experience.  In Synecdoche , that specific experience is that of Caden Cotard, a theatre director working on his Magnum Opus.

By the final curtain call, we are left stunned, stripped, exhausted and with more questions than answers.  Like we played a bit-part in a giant production, of which we only see a tiny fragment.  But that fragment echoes the whole, a synecdoche at life-size and life-long scale.

A highly recommended film for those who do not necessarily go to see films as an escape.  This film is the opposite - turning us inward to reflect and expose.  You are not just the audience - you are in the film.