Life without antidepressants
Added 11/25/2009
For me, this movie woke me up about a half hour in with the realization that I was watching and hearing thoughts that have been in my own head for years. If you find your inner voice keeping you up late at night, going over and over the same painful questions then I think you will be familiar with the experience of watching this film.
Keeping in mind that most sane people seek professional help and pharmaceutical relief from this experience, it does seem like an odd choice to market the experience in DVD form. That said, I find it strangely therapeutic to know that I am not alone in my head, Charlie is there to keep me company. I believe it was the philosopher, Pascal, who suggested that the strongest motivation in our lives is to distract ourselves from the reality that life is, for the most part, an horrible and painful experience. This film is not a distraction it is a mirror. For those out there that prefer to believe that life is a precious and beautiful miracle, and take their prozac and church services seriously... You might want to stay away from this movie.
To the nuts and bolts of the film. The only things that are taking some time to get used to are the obvious jumps out of reality. Living in a smoldering house for example, the airplane scene is another. My question is how these whimsical elements fit in film about the torture of life? Maybe that, as predictable as you feel life has become, occasionally you will be surprised by surreal moments? Or maybe it is just Charlie sticking his head in your face reminding you to smile?
If you're a person that should be on antidepressants but choose not to be because you believe life should be experienced rather than hidden from you might appreciate this film.. If you "don't get it" I guess you can be thankful? Or maybe you need to watch it again with the idea in mind that for a lot of people, this the reality that goes on between their ears.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Amazing Film, changed the way I watched and felt about movies.
Added 11/12/2009
When I saw this movie in theatres, I didn't appreciate what I was watching. This film is immensely thought provoking and although everyone may not see it the same, if you truly want to be "challenged" by a film, this is one for you. I have watched it at home, and it is brilliant. The original score enhances the feel of this movie as well.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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One of the best movies of all time
Added 11/1/2009
"Synecdoche, New York" is a true artistic masterpiece. It is a very profound work of genius. Thank you so very much, Charlie Kaufman.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Almost, almost intolerably heavy-handed.
Added 10/31/2009
From a straightforward approach, it seems to make the mistake of trying to make sense out of chaos by saying that it doesn't make any sense.
Still, I might almost call the film self-loathing, which begs me to consider it more as film criticism than simply just a 'film.' It's almost if the trappings of film are set up as a lab-rat style maze with no solution and 'Humanity' is dropped into the mess and cursed with trying to find a way out.
If I were to go so far as to say the glass is half-full with this film, and I'm not sure that it is, I'd say that it's a pioneer in a whole new genre, which might be aptly termed "The Epic Short." The film seems to have about a ten, perhaps fifteen minute attention span, and nothing seems to internally recall anything beyond it.
It's just that I'm just not sure that actually making this film was a good idea. While any of this may sound great in theory or on paper, the film itself, for me, loses all novelty and the very basic quality of watchability really quickly.
So, yes, I hated it, and I'm pretty sure I was supposed to--but without any of the guilty pleasures of entertainment, I found it lacking hooks.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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WHY NOT TITLE IT "SUPPURATION, NY"?
Added 9/26/2009
"Synecdoche," as some people may recall from their freshman high school English classes on poetry, is a figure of speech where a part of something stands for the whole (or vice versa): e.g., "We hired ten hands" (meaning "ten people").
Apparently this confused and confusing film is in some way meant to seem (A) deep and very intellectual and (B) like a metaphor (or figure of speech) for "Life" (with a capital "L").
Also (apparently) its main character is suffering from different shades and degrees of mental illness throughout most of it, so that neither he nor the audience of the film has a clear idea of what is REALLY REAL vs. what is surreal or symptomatic of a disturbed person's perceptions.
Do you recall the "fantasy" scenes of Diane Keaton's character in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR? Or the drug-trips in YOUNG GUNS? Or the schizophrenic delusions of John Nash in A BEAUTIFUL MIND? Those are crystal clear to us, compared to many of the scenes in this film.
Do you enjoy reading the novels and short stories of Franz Kafka? Or the fiction and drama of Samuel Beckett? At least with them, we can find intelligent and intelligible meaning.
My impression of this film is that it is pretentious, pseudo-intellectual suppuration, whose point could have been made in fifteen minutes or less. Throughout this long, painful film, I was deeply saddened to see so many fine actors wasted.
If I were only allotted seven words for this review, I would have written, THIS EMPEROR IS NOT WEARING ANY CLOTHES.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Life without antidepressants
Added 11/25/2009
For me, this movie woke me up about a half hour in with the realization that I was watching and hearing thoughts that have been in my own head for years. If you find your inner voice keeping you up late at night, going over and over the same painful questions then I think you will be familiar with the experience of watching this film.
Keeping in mind that most sane people seek professional help and pharmaceutical relief from this experience, it does seem like an odd choice to market the experience in DVD form. That said, I find it strangely therapeutic to know that I am not alone in my head, Charlie is there to keep me company. I believe it was the philosopher, Pascal, who suggested that the strongest motivation in our lives is to distract ourselves from the reality that life is, for the most part, an horrible and painful experience. This film is not a distraction it is a mirror. For those out there that prefer to believe that life is a precious and beautiful miracle, and take their prozac and church services seriously... You might want to stay away from this movie.
To the nuts and bolts of the film. The only things that are taking some time to get used to are the obvious jumps out of reality. Living in a smoldering house for example, the airplane scene is another. My question is how these whimsical elements fit in film about the torture of life? Maybe that, as predictable as you feel life has become, occasionally you will be surprised by surreal moments? Or maybe it is just Charlie sticking his head in your face reminding you to smile?
If you're a person that should be on antidepressants but choose not to be because you believe life should be experienced rather than hidden from you might appreciate this film.. If you "don't get it" I guess you can be thankful? Or maybe you need to watch it again with the idea in mind that for a lot of people, this the reality that goes on between their ears.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Amazing Film, changed the way I watched and felt about movies.
Added 11/12/2009
When I saw this movie in theatres, I didn't appreciate what I was watching. This film is immensely thought provoking and although everyone may not see it the same, if you truly want to be "challenged" by a film, this is one for you. I have watched it at home, and it is brilliant. The original score enhances the feel of this movie as well.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
One of the best movies of all time
Added 11/1/2009
"Synecdoche, New York" is a true artistic masterpiece. It is a very profound work of genius. Thank you so very much, Charlie Kaufman.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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