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first and foremost, it was much more enjoyable than any other 'mind fuck' film i've seen before with multiple realities etc.
anyway, on a basic level the film is a character with a dysfunctional family life, whose wive leaves him, triggering an emotional journey expressed through surreal scenes rather than normal drama (like... all the physical maladies he has in response to emotional problems. he has a fit because of the hurt of his wife hanging up the phone on him. he doesn't know what she's up to, partying in europe, then reads about her in some glamour magazine, while in a surreal nightmarish hospital that reflects how uncared for he feels, etc.)
on a 'explain this film in one sentence' level: it's a theatre director who makes a play about his own life, the play takes over his life, and eventually he becomes an extra in his own play, meaning he's an extra in his own life.'
the overall theme being the passivity of people in these modern times. he's supposed to 'direct' ie. control, but ends up powerless and directed by outside forces, having failed to achieve anything he wanted.
notice how utterly grounded in reality/normality the first few scenes are: a family home, parents doing unpleasant parenting duties, lacking in any movie-star charisma, listening to the news and reading headlines over breakfast. then he has an accident, and crucially,
- his pupils stop dilating
what does this mean? his eyes still perceive the world, they just don't REACT to it. he's becoming passive, and from there, everything slips away from him, including reality itself as the daughter & wife leave and the scenes become increasingly surreal.
the play had to go on for 30 years or whatever cause it's not just him wasting his time/life, it's all the actors too. they are extras in the play but essentially extras in reality, having decided to abandon their careers for this directionless project. Synecdoche, New York, single part represents the whole. on a broader level i'd say it talks to the modern American anxiety that y'all are no longer the engine room of the globe, but a bunch of narcissistic, insecure, decadent, faithless consumers at the mercy of whatever dysfunction has permeated your economy
(no offense)
that's how i see it --------------------
Why do you choose to mimic these wack MCs?
Why do you choose to listen to R&B?
"There are obviously many things which we do not understand, and may never be able to." Leela
*puts emceeing in a box*
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