Synecdoche, New York is an upcoming film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, in his directorial debut. It premiered in competition Friday, May 23rd at the 2008 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival, and will be in limited release from October 24, 2008.

Title

The title is a play on Schenectady, New York, where some of the story takes place, with synecdoche, which reflects a trope of the film. The title also refers to the fact that the main character builds a replica of New York in a warehouse for his play.

Summary

Caden, the main character, is a theatre director. After the inception of his new play, he discovers that his various autonomic functions are shutting down one at a time. The movie goes into themes such as the nature of family, of home, and of male-female relationships, all while blurring the nature of reality and representation in a nature consistent with the earlier work of Charlie Kaufman.

Details

The film was originally set to be directed by Spike Jonze who instead chose to direct Where the Wild Things Are. Not much is known about the story other than it focuses on a playwright and his relationships with various women throughout his life. The film also will have questions about reality, similar to Kaufman's earlier screenplays Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The movie has been described by Kaufman as being "creepy" but not a traditional horror movie.

Cast

The confirmed cast is Philip Seymour Hoffman as the playwright Caden, Catherine Keener as his first wife Adele, Michelle Williams as his second wife Claire, Samantha Morton as his mistress Hazel, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Keener's best friend Maria.