By Tania Ketenjian

Charlie Kaufman has a cult following. In his films, he grapples with fundamental issues such as love, identity, loss, death, grief, remorse. Charlie Kaufman, who has written Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich had his directorial debut with his film, Synecdoche, NY. Not Schenactady, the city but Synecdoche. The term is nearly as complicated as the film and while people may have trouble pronouncing it, the hope is they won't have too much trouble watching it. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in nearly every scene of this film, Synecdoche was five years in the making. With a star studded cast—Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Emily Watson and Hoffman—Charlie Kaufman has made a film about life, in all its messy, exhilarating, confusing, frightening, magical glory. But as he points out, the film is in the hands of the viewer, much like beauty, and can only be interpreted and understood through them. There's no point explaining what it is, experience it.