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” w K
Crisis oi“ faith
A GIDDY CELEBRATION OF SELF ANALYSIS AND SURREALIST HUMOUR
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Male Jewish neuroticism and surreal tendency abound in Charlie Kaufman's
directorial debut Synecdoche, New York
‘ ow many roads must a man walk down / H bel'ore you call him a man'." Is Bob
Dylan's most l'amous protest song really a surrealist riddle'.’ What‘s the road made out of. and will it hurl the tender soles ol' my l‘eet'.’ 'I'hat‘s the thing about the Jewish experience. particularly when it comes to the arts. it's open to debate and metamorphosis Prague's most t‘amous .lew. l5ran/ Kalka. will tell you all about that.
Indeed. a certain kind of reflection and sell examination can he traced back to the silent ghetto melodramas ol pi'e-\\'orld War One Iiurope and the ‘almonds and raisons‘ crowd Yiddish cinema cra/e that later spread west to influence American moviemaking indubitably. undoubtedly and l‘orever. 'l‘hese lilms. which had names like Blooil olilie l’ooi'. .S'o/oiiioii's Son and Love in the Ghetto. liocused on specific problems of the immigrant experience and often ended in a moral ambiguity (evil deeds by corrupt landlords generally went unpunished) that was totally out of step with their time.
Two wars. the Holocaust and the viral-like spread ol' psychiatric and critical theories courtesy of some of liurope's more comt‘ortable .lews. Marx and Freud (plus one retreating Protestant 7- Carl Jung). cemented the .lewish experience (with all its inherent tragedies and humour) as central to that of American cinema. Mel Brooks. Zero Mostel. Iilliott (iould. Woody Allen. (ieorge Segal. (‘arl Reiner among many other brilliant artists became the celebrity lace ot' '(iod's chosen people’. For a while sell~ doubt. urbanity' and an obsession with t'orbidden limits were all that mattered in long neglected hippy era comedies such
.lt’s a wonderful thing, writes Paul Dale
as ll'liere's I’o/i/iiif’. I’oi'iiiov's (‘oiii/i/oiiil. .lloi'e. .lliniiie and .lloskowiti. little .llim/eiis. and ol course Allen‘s Play it Again. Sum.
The kind ol‘ progression and debate that these wonderlul l'ilms ol'i'ered died with the revival ol a certain type ol \VASl’y 80s action hero. but (‘harlie Kaufman‘s remarkable absurdist lantasy .S'viiei-iloe/ie. .\"ew York (pictured) otters at least a partial return to these giddy celebrations oi sell' analysis and surrealist humour. Detailing the later life ol‘ gil'ted theatre director. (‘aden (‘otard (Philip Seymour lIol‘l’man). as he attempts to create a work ot brutal realism and honesty by restaging his own troubled. hy pochondria- plagued lil‘e with an ensemble cast in a large warehouse in Manhattan's theatre district. .S'vneei/m-lie. .\'ew York is an ingenious. ambitious conundrum that‘s underlined by themes ot symbiosis.
connectivity. deterioration and an understanding ol
our dream lil‘e selves that is both beautiful and hort'ilic.
Kaul‘man's previous nutty and inventive work as screenwriter ~ Being .Io/iii .lIu/kovie/i. Adaptation. and liternul Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -~ has proved that he is no stranger to conceptual semantics and modish ennui. but .S'_\‘iieeiloe/ie. New York is something else. It‘s a work ot depth and scope to rival the daddy (ll. till identity crisis dissertations. Fellini‘s 8/. It‘s the riddle inside the enigma inside the pessimist‘s Kippah. How many roads must a man walk down'.’ Too many and not enough.
Synecdoche, New York is on selected release from Fri 15 May. See Also Released, page 46.
lit >l<
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
* Pierrot Le Fou Jeantuc Godard‘s 1965 romantic thriller
on new digital print. See Also Released. page 46. Filmhouse. Edinburgh from Fri 22 May.
* Synecdoche, New York See feature, left and Also Released. page 46. GET. Glasgow, Cameo. Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 15 May.
* Helen Superior gritty Brit drama. See review. page 46. Cameo, Edinburgh and selected release from Fri 15 May.
* Modern Life Raymond Depardon's heartbreaking documentary about French hill farmers. See review, page 44. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 75~Tht127 May.
* Star Trek Light years ahead of most classic TV movie renderings. Out now on general release.
* Drag Me to Hell Spider- man director Sam Raimi's triumphant return to the horror genre. See Also Released. page 46. General release from Wed 27 May.
It O’Horten Pipe-smoking Norwegian comedy. GET. Glasgow, until Thu 21 May.
* Coraline Vivid stop motion animation. Out now on general release.
II! Reel Iraq Iraq through a lens season. See Around Town. page 29. Filmhouse. Edinburgh, Fri 75—Thu 21 May. It Bambi Hankies at the ready. Disney classic on new digital print. Filmhouse. Edinburgh, Sat 76-Wed 20 May; GFT, Glasgow, Fri 22— Tue 26 May.
* Gun Crazy Classic 8 feature on new digital print. GFT, Glasgow, Fn' 22—Sun 24 May.
* The Decamoron Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1970 Boccaccio adaptation on DVD and Btu-ray with a ton of extras. See review page 58. Out now (BFI).
‘ 1 2412M. ./,',: THE LIST 43