Synecdoche, New York

A film about theatre, life and death

In Synecdoche, New York you follow Caden Cotard, a theatre maker who turns his life into art. Played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cotard is a man full of fears: of death, of life, of himself. His wife Hazel leaves him and moves to Berlin with their daughter. What remains is a man looking for a foothold in a grand artistic project.

A city within a city

With an unlimited budget, Cotard rents a giant hangar where he recreates a life-sized city. An army of actors re-enacts his life, including Cotard himself. Fiction and reality become so intertwined that as a viewer you lose the boundary between the two. The theatre becomes a world in itself, with Cotard as director and at the same time a prisoner of his own story.

The directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, makes his directorial debut here. Kaufman explores themes such as identity, memory and reality in a way that makes you think. Synecdoche, New York is a film you won't soon forget.

To be seen at Lab111 Amsterdam

You can watch this film at Lab111, an independent film venue in Amsterdam. Are you interested? Use the link on this page to book tickets.