Schenectady

I was wondering to myself the other day "What happened to Charlie Kaufman? Where'd he go? Did Hollywood have him blacklisted or killed or did he, like, transcend reality and is now living in my electricity?"

So because I forgot to remember that Charlie Kaufman is awesome, I missed this September 2006 L.A. times article about what he's doing next. And here's the best thing about his new film: The title's first word is unfuckingpronounceable.

The movie is called Synecdoche, New York. (Say "Schenectady" and you will be close enough; the town is in the movie.)

The plot? Says the L.A. Times's insider:

"Synecdoche" nominally concerns a theater director who thinks he's dying, and how that shapes his interactions with the world, his art and the women in his life. But it is really a wrenching, searching, metaphysical epic that somehow manages to be universal in an extremely personal way. It's about death and sex and the vomit-, poop-, urine- and blood-smeared mess that life becomes physiologically, emotionally and spiritually (Page 1 features a 4-year-old girl having her butt wiped). It reliably contains Kaufman's wondrous visual inventions, complicated characters, idiosyncratic conversations and delightful plot designs, but its collective impact will kick the wind out of you.

Here's the IMDB link. Their brief plot synopsis:

A theater director (Hoffman) struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

The longer synopsis is more intriguing. Poop is not mentioned.