a movie that was like real life
aka "what the hell was that Charlie Kaufman movie about?"
Strap in folks. Today we’re gonna talk about Kaufman.
I love Charlie Kaufman. This is not news to many. Perhaps you would do well to picture me as a thin rimmed glasses wearing tote bag wielding cuffed jeans weird small beanie ugly moustache boy, because I am a person who really loves Kaufman.
Synecdoche is my favourite word and I misuse it constantly. Once I used the adjective ‘synecdochic’ in an essay without checking to see if it was a real word that was relevant to my argument, because I didn’t care. It’s a perfect word. From what I remember I wasn't marked down for it either, so I count that as a win.
You’d think I was gearing up to talk about Kaufman’s directorial debut, Synecdoche New York, but actually I watched it last night and decided that it’s my least favourite of his films. However, the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman is on great form in it, so if that is enough to get you to watch a movie, go ahead.
My actual favourite film Kaufman has written is Adaptation (dir. Spike Jonze) which I watched for a screenwriting class in 2017 and was the only person who actually liked it. Tangentially, I had an argument with that whole class about who the protagonist of the movie ‘Carol’ was, where someone said that Carol had to be the protagonist because her name is the title and then said that “saying Carol isn’t the protagonist of Carol is like saying that Gatsby isn’t the protagonist of The Great Gatsby”, to which I yelled HE ISN’T, NICK IS.
Anyway. The movie Adaptation stars Nicolas Cage playing Charlie Kaufman, the writer of the movie, trying to write a movie adaptation of The Orchid Thief. He also plays Kaufman’s fictional twin brother Donald, who is also writing a movie, but a way dumber movie than the one Charlie wants to write. As it goes on, all the stupid tropes that Charlie scoffs at but Donald, an idiot, wants to include in his movie start happening - cliche psychological thrillers, twist endings, deus ex machinas, etc etc. Someone in my class said that they didn’t like how the alligator shows up at the end and eats a guy, totally out of nowhere. THAT WAS THE JOKE. Yes I argued a lot in my screenwriting seminar.
Kaufman is weird. Adaptation is so weird! And yet… it is so funny and I like it so much. Are his movies pretentious and self-indulgent and at their core all just about how lonely men are not very good people? Yes. I don’t think that’s bad! It’s just not for everyone. And I think, Synecdoche New York aside, that his movies both written and directed tell the stories of lonely men in a way that is interesting and real and, notably, don’t treat women horrendously!
“I'm not a concept. Too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to 'make them alive'…but I'm just a fucked up girl who's looking for my own peace of mind. Don't assign me yours.”
-Clementine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
If, like me, you like weird movies and want to see what Kaufman is about, I recommend watching the following in this order: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Adaptation - I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
My final thought is this: “I’m really sick, and I think I’m dying, and I have a kid, and I’m married” - Synecdoche New York // “You are sick, and you’re married, and you might be dying” - Phoebe Bridgers’ Moon Song. Is that anything?
Some non-pretentious stuff to cleanse your palate:
Dash & Lily - you guys this show is so cute and Christmassy! Tis the season for teenage romance in New York City that is both extremely unrelatable and aspirational
Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square - this is the absolute wildest movie I’ve ever watched in my life. Comparable to Kaufman in that I have no idea what the hell happened in it or what it was about
I bought the new Harvest Moon game for Switch and I JUST got the email that it has been delivered through my letterbox, so even though I haven’t technically played it yet I’m including it.