Synecdoche New York

Synecdoche, New York is a film written by Charlie Kaufman about a theater director who builds a model of New York City, in a warehouse, to prove himself. During an optometry exam, a psychological problem is revealed. The film follows his struggle through his illness, the project and his relationships, as they gradually merge over several decades.FirstShowing.net: News Photos From Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (May 11, 2008)

The film won a Spirit Award for Best First Feature and the Robert Altman Award.

• Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard
• Catherine Keener as Adele Lack
• Michelle Williams as Claire Keen
• Samantha Morton as Hazel
• Jennifer Jason Leigh as Maria
• Emily Watson as Tammy
• Dianne Wiest as Ellen Bascomb and Millicent Weems
• Sadie Goldstein as Olive
• Tom Noonan as Sammy Barnathan

Synecdoche (si-nek-duh-kee) is a noun defined as "a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part." Kaufman used the word synecdoche in the title as a play on the word Schenectady, a county in New York featured in the movie.Dictionary.com: Synecdoche Film 4: Synecdoche, New York(2007)

• "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."—Jay Fernandez, Los Angeles Times/film: Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche (January 11, 2008)

• "I don't know what it will be. I think it's gonna be creepy ... It's a movie about the break-up of a relationship."—Charlie Kaufman in March 2004Film 4: Synecdoche, New York(2007)