Comments on: On Synecdoche New York

By: John David Ebert

John David Ebert — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:12:58 +0000

You may be right about that, Norman. Now that you point it out, I can see that that makes a lot of sense. I don’t think it invalidates the other reading about simulacra since works of art, especially the good ones, work on multiple levels. It did actually occur to me at one point, thinking of Jacob’s Ladder, that the film may be the thoughts of a dying man. So, yes, you might be right.

By: Norman

Norman — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:11:05 +0000

Interesting article, but I think you may have missed the main plot element in the movie, which is Caden’s suicide. After getting a bump on the head, suffering neurological impairment, and having his wife leave alone for a show in Berlin, Caden kills himself. Most of the movie takes place in the few minutes that it takes for him to die — I’m assuming by hanging himself (thus the shaking leg sequence). For sure there is a Simulacra subtext, but I read the movie as the ultimate anti-suicide movie, especially in his inability to be involved in the life of his daughter. Even his therapist makes mention of it, saying at one point, “tell me why you killed yourself” (or something along those lines) and then quickly corrects herself.

So I see no redemption in the movie. Caden dies in his own selfish hell. It is something of a masterpiece, the movie, though really disturbing.

By: Jacques de Beaufort

Jacques de Beaufort — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:43:04 +0000

There was a story in JG Ballard’s “Vermillion Sands” that had a similar plot device. My memory is fuzzy, but it involved a billionaire staging a movie on a gigantic set that was actually the re-enactment of a part of his own life starring his estranged lover.

Probably the most important thing in life is learning how to die correctly.