Charlie Kaufman on the legacy of the divisive Synecdoche, New York

With films like Adaptation., Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Charlie Kaufman is decidedly not for everyone. Generally speaking, he’s one of those love him or hate him writer/directors. And perhaps the most defining film of his that hits that category is 2008’s Synecdoche, New York – and Charlie Kaufman is well aware of it.

Kaufman recently sat down with IndieWire as part of promotion for his new short film, How to Shoot a Ghost, where Synecdoche, New York was brought up. As Kaufman said of his debut feature as a director, “The Academy was doing a Philip Seymour Hoffman retrospective, and Spike [Jonze] presented the film. I wasn’t able to make it. It was divisive when it came out. There were people who loved it, and people who absolutely hated it — most especially [former New York Observer critic] Rex Reed. For Roger Ebert, it was the best movie of the decade. I’m happy I made it. I’m happy with the movie. It wasn’t helpful to my career as a director, as you can also chart, which doesn’t make me happy. I’m happy with the movie and the people I worked with. It’ll do what it will do in the world. It’s out of my hands.”

Admittedly, I didn’t care for Synecdoche, New York when it was released, feeling the end result just didn’t match the ambitions of Kaufman. It had some of the themes that Kaufman was growing synonymous with such as the haze between reality and fiction, the role of art, etc., but it didn’t hit the mark. Now more than 15 years removed from that initial viewing, I’m actually looking forward to a revisit.

The last we heard, Charlie Kaufman is behind Later the War, based on a short story about a man who manufactures dreams for others before leaning into the realm of nightmares. The movie is set to star Eddie Redmayne, Tessa Thompson, Patsy Ferran, and more. His most recent feature credit is as the writer of Orion and the Dark.

Where do you stand on Synecdoche, New York? Where would you rank it in the filmography of Charlie Kaufman?

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