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EB, you're quite wrong and need to see the film. It's one long---

67.42.182.38

In Reply to: RE: Given the published reviews I've read... posted by EBerlin on December 01, 2008 at 20:47:07

very long--- exercise in self-pity. The clich�s are non-stop (I only gave one example) and are spoken by the main character, a successful theater director. I have seen both of Kaufman's other works and, though they're interesting, they're hardly masterworks. But they have some balance, a bit of humor and aren't self-indulgent paeans to the--- sniffle--- unfairness of life.
The film has many other faults such as an overly complex layering of characters and persona and a "plot" revolving around a theater verit� which takes about an hour to get off the ground.
Kaufman may be a writer of somewhat more than minor talent but as a director he's inept as hell.
Perhaps someone will watch this one-dimensional character and find something about him to care about. I didn't. But I'm not overly fond of men who cannot look beyond their own selves even for a moment.

Follow Ups:

Well, I will see it (hopefully soon)... - EBerlin 21:25:34 12/01/08 (4)
...and then maybe I can say something substantive beyond the uninformed speculation I've indulged in so far!
I will say that I loved "Eternal Sunshine..." and really liked "Adaptation," and was extremely fond of and entertained by "Being John Malkovich." So I expect to like "Synecdoche," especially considering it's gotten some very favorable reviews. But I'll decide for myself when I see it.

Edits: 12/01/08
- Kaufman didn't direct the films you mentioned. I very much liked - tinear 07:47:52 12/02/08 (3)
  Sunshine. Amazing performances by Carrey and Winslet.
  - I am aware that Synecdoche is his first directing effort... - EBerlin 07:55:30 12/02/08 (2)
    ...but the others were very much informed by his sensibility. I am aware that writing...and writing/directing a film are very different situations.
    - He was deeply involved in the process of Malkovich and Adaptation all the way through. - sjb 08:43:49 12/02/08 (1)
      Synecdoche is a bit too long and maybe a bit too indulgent of CF's desire to say everything he wants to say in it but it's an admirable debut (as well as being an admirable writing job) IMO.
      
      "The man is only half himself, the other half is his expression." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
      - The very worst moment came somewhere SPOILER - tinear 19:57:20 12/02/08 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: He was deeply involved in the process of Malkovich and Adaptation all the way through. posted by sjb on December 02, 2008 at 08:43:49
        
        (it is hard to remember exact locations in such a muddle of a film) towards the last 1/3 where CC (though obviously Kaufman in anticipation of criticism) admits to a fixation upon the negative and his life and it is obviously Kaufman's attempt at a preemptive argument.
        Woody Allen's problems are interesting because of his humor in facing them; to open one's pus-filled (literally) wounds on camera for two hours, Steve, isn't particularly edifying, interesting, or of artistic merit.
        In a nutshell: this film is the equivalent of watching a teenage girl mutilate herself with a razor blade, hour after hour.
        I give it Five Zits.

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