There's a lot more to "Simulacrum" than just a copy of a thing, and it's pretty crucial to the film. The term was popularized by Jean Baudrillard, who suggested that after enough time of copying, the imitation replaces the original as "real," and indeed this happens several times in Synecdoche. Caden becomes the new Ellen, Millicent Weems becomes the new Caden, Maria's accusations about Caden's homosexuality become reality within the world of Millicent's final version of the play, etc. Each new reality is built on the old one, which was a distortion of some other reality, until the truth is lost in all the layers (a concept explored by both Baudrillard and Jerzy Grotowski, whom Claire name-drops in the film along with Artaud and Krapp's Last Tape by Beckett.) By the end of the film, the simulacrum has supplanted reality to such a degree that when Caden dies in-character, he is actually, permanently dead.
I don't know how many people would say this on here but these in-depth examinations of art films are really really really good. I greatly appreciate your work and hope you feel encouraged to do this type of review. I figure at some point you may have to write your own scripts after being a connoisseur of film for so long - I can't wait for that day :) Thank you for creating wonderful content.
I hate being a pleb who can't delve into the allegories behind films but I'm happy there's people like Adam who take the time out of their lives to point it out to me.
***** And the Oscar for the best TH-cam review goes to... that hipster furfag!!! Before everyone freaks out and thinks that I am actually calling him that, turn your joke detectors on.
This might be your magnum opus. It's like you've gone full matthewmatosis on a review. This is as in depth as your M Night Retrospective was hilarious. Not many people on the internet who can do crude comedy and serious analysis at once, its impressive
***** It's on the same scale honestly. Your Frankenstein and Atonement videos are absolutely up there in the category of dry humour/ analysis, on par with some of Adam's videos honestly. Don't put yourself down man, your videos are better than you think, at least worth being mentioned in that kind of company
Joseph Hobbs Not putting myself down, I just don't think I'm happy enough with them to say that they're comparable to what Adam is doing in his Synecdoche review. I am always trying to improve, though.
fonkymaster I just want to point out you are responding in 2017 to a comment made in 2015... AND WE STILL DO NOT HAVE THE FUCKING PART 5 YET, DAMMIT ADAM.
Really? I'm not sure why, but I laughed out loud. De was talking about how the cancer reduced him in size(like a metaphor), but then you see the small casket. It seemed like black humor to me.
@@kristinh3790 A year late, but Caden's father was someone he sought approval from, and was thusly someone he thought highly of since his word meant so much to him. At his funeral, Caden sees that his father is in a tiny coffin, receiving nothing grand or magnificent even in death.
I am fucking floored by the work you probably had to put into this. A lot of people give you shit for taking too long but you don't have to apologize. This is amazing and it motivates me to work harder on my own projects I'm currently working on an analysis of Super Metroid and just reading up on small little details can take up so much time. People need to realize that you can't just go over that shit once or twice and then pump your script out. You have to research and read or watch so many different thoughts on everything and 95% of the stuff doesn't even matter in the end. If you watch this and think to yourself that it couldn't possibly take longer than a week to do a video like this, you have to consider the hours Adam has to put in for every minute. After enjoying your work for the past months I will finally start contributing to your patreon. You have earned this more than anyone else. Fuck, I can't praise this shit enough. Don't let the stupid morons get to you.
AsifIcarebear3 Just look at this and you can see how Super Metroid can be analyzed in great detail www.gamasutra.com/blogs/HugoBille/20120114/90903/The_Invisible_Hand_of_Super_Metroid.php
I know this is years old but I wanted to share my interpretation of olives diary at the beginning of the video. We see that Caden sees olive as *his* little girl, going so far as to saying she was 4 years old when in reality she was 11. He fears her growing up into the pain that he feels, so he perpetually keeps her young and innocent in his head. When Caden sees his little girl with tattoos he sees that as a flaw, a mark of shame. For his little girl, that isn't acceptable. He acts recklessly trying to find olive as if he's making it up and needs to see his daughter to prove that she's still innocent. Overall this takes a toll on him and the voice for olive in head has changed to what it is now. The diary entry is about becoming a woman, crossing that threshold from a naive child to an adult. Olive is no longer his little girl. He tries to read the diary for comfort of the past and her little scribblings but he can't forget that one entry. Its on every page. Its all he can see of her now. The one thing he was trying to protect her from, plastered right in front of his face.
Whenever you come out with a new Synecdoche, New York video, my day is practically made. I always just want them to go on forever and get disappointed when I realize that they're ending. Despite having seen this film multiple times, you're bringing up details that I hadn't even picked up on. Damn, Charlie Kaufman is something else.
Maybe the apocalypse is just a depiction of how when you're near death, the world seem to be ending around you. The idea that people can't imagine the world continuing after you're dead. It's why older generation is always concerned about the young and worrying about how "kids today are gonna destroy the world". Maybe it's all subjective.
Evidence for old people always doing this? Maybe this is a modern example as the kids today are slowly destroying the world, morals and tradition. Progress is not always the answer.
Jeez +martin11334, liking your own comments? Just how shallow-minded are you? Progress is inevitable, man, and those who oppose it does so in vain. Progress is amoral and doesn't give a flying fuck about our pretensions of morality. "Maybe this is a modern example as the kids today are slowly destroying the world, morals and tradition" my ass. You ask someone to back up their statement with evidence and yet you pull your rotten beliefs out of your rotten Filipino ass. Get the fuck out of this video, you fundamentalist piece of shit. "Progress is not always the answer." Ha ha ha ha. When did it even become an 'answer' in the first place? It's a constant everyone has to deal with, one way or the other. This comment of yours, martin11334, doesn't belong in a video discussing *Synecdoche, New York* because it only has bearing to the comment you're replying to, and not to the video itself. *Synecdoche* is a very great film (10/10, I recommend), and your suffocating fundamentalist beliefs do not belong here. Get out of my sight.
DailyVlogMasterDailyVlogsEveryDayVlogMan You do know that there is history of even ancient philosophers showing contempt for "kids these days"? It's what old people do. Maybe try to be smart and break the cycle.
2:23 Noticing that and going into detail is awesome. And I see you've learned from the credits of the first video, to just think of the simplest explanation, "or maybe the books just a prop". That's why I'm subscribed to you.
I love your analysis so far and the amount of effort you've put into this is staggering. I like the idea that the dystopian setting around him highlights the fact that he's oblivious to the world outside his own, but I'll put my interpretation out there anyway. When I saw this movie I took the decaying state of the world to represent how the entire world dies with a person in a way. Once you're dead, you have no use for anyone anymore and whether life goes on or not is irrelevant. As Caden comes closer to death, so does the world around him. If he's dying, everyone else might as well be, it's the same to him, and I believe the dystopia is a visual representation of that feeling.
I started to rewatch this series when YMS was at 999,000 subs. About an hour later, I’m finishing part 4, and he’s hit 1 million. Congratulations Adum, on everything. Especially this series, which despite being unfinished, is without a doubt one of the best film essays I’ve ever heard.
pulpnonfiction it does though! Because anyone who comes along once it's all done will have no perception of the time that's passed as it's all at once for them
0:00 Regrets 1:01 Lonliness 2:15 German Voice, Trip to Berlin, Full body flower tattoo - Olive 🌸 Lauralee 4:55 Olive gave Caden new life Youth doesn’t think about Death (most don’t, some do) Grey means Death & Decay, Purgatory, Dead & Alive 8:53 Followed For 20 Years Fall 2005 -> 2025 _Experiencing Life outside of your own life_ (like watching a movie. Omniciense. God) Samuel - “Name is God” 12:42 1 Voice whispers to itself Sammy follows Caden everywhere - _Death of Civilization_ 15:50 “Portrait of Caden Cotard, 2015” Caden -> Ellen (similar sounding names) 17:32 Capgras Syndrome Adele & Caden switch Roles • Caden cleans 🧼, becomes Ellen
When you were explaining Sammi's role, I couldn't help but be disappointed because so far through out all 4 parts you've been completely on point with my own theories. Aside from the fact that you have some extra theories in there I hadn't noticed (like the overly detailed title sequence lol). But my opinion on Sammi was that he represents Cadens other true self, his old dying self, just as Ellen represents (or is) his other true self. He starts following him at the beginning of the movie because that's when Caden starts obsessing over death, Sammi eerily resembling Caden' s immediate pre-death self at the end of the movie. He stalks him, watching his every move, just like Caden obsessed over every little detail in his life. It's his true self also in the sense that Sammi says and does what Caden REALLY wants to do, including suicide at the rejection of Hazel. Which he attempted but was stopped from. I think that's why he ends up giving Sammi a role in the play because as he delved deeper into the production he became more and more his true self, giving Sammi a voice. But inevitably at the end he becomes Ellen, which is who I think he always was, and Caden was how he perceived himself (although again, Ellen and Sammi are who he really is). At the beginning you see him in a mirror instead of an actual image of him, which I think is a good indicator of who "Caden" is. It's what Ellen sees in the mirror, while she develops a fear of death which is the older, near death version of Caden embodies by Sammi. That's my analysis of Sammi. Where as Ellen is concerned, again with the mirror at the beginning, and the fact that he's seemingly sleeping in a small makeshift bedroom, not unlike the one he was living at in Adele' s place later, makes me think he's always been Ellen. And was in love with Adele, and saw Olive as his own. That's why Adele was so flippant about leaving, and why he's continually referenced to as Ellen, and why Sammi knew the address. Because Sammi is really Caden just as Ellen is, so Caden knew where it was the whole time but was in denial as he is throughout most of the movie. One of the other things he's in denial about is his homosexuality which is continually referenced. If he's really Ellen, then she's been a lesbian this whole time, though we see she's married to a guy who hates her named Eric. And when his "daughter" is dying she references his homosexual lover, Eric. But she's sees herself as a man (Caden) so loving women isn't gay. Just some thoughts. Terrific and detailed analysis though!
You mentioned the significance of Sammy’s name, Samuel meaning “Name of God” or “God listens”. His last name, Barnathan also has significance, Bar meaning “son of” and Nathan meaning “gift of God”. Sammy does play the role of this omniscient, god-like listener for the first half of the film, then when he auditions (and we hear the name Barnathan) he begins to play this other role in interpreting the character of Caden. The further the theater piece develops, the wider Caden’s influence, and the more of a “god” role he plays himself. Sammy’s new role is directly engendered by Caden’s play, which he views as his gift to the world.
Every second of this piece of art has a meaning, and everything makes sense. It's sensitive, incredibly deep, sad, impressive... 10 out of 10, undoubtedly!
I love the Synecdoche videos so much! Provides another dimension to the film that I probably wouldn't pick up, even after multiple viewings. Proves how skilful and talented Kaufman is (yourself included for developing this analysis!)
14:33 Isn't the "outside world" also a representation of Caden? The man asks "When will it be ready?" This is something that is constantly on Caden's mind. The man also says "We need to get in. It's bad out here." This can be talking about Caden's state of mind. The "outside world" to him is a painful bad place. He is focusing on his play to excap the outside world. He needs to "get in", just like that man. The world is in chaos and is breaking apart. Just like his body and mind have been breaking apart throughout the entire movie. Also in that very scene he brings up the concept of a simulacra. The scene is a simulacra of him.
maaaan there really are trillions of easter eggs, interconnections and possible interpretations and little wisdoms hidden all over this movie. The acting performances, set designs, cinematography, direction and editing and above all THAT SCRIPT is really absolutely incredible. I do now understand Roger Ebert. This is easily the most brilliant film of the 21st century. Thank you sir for making me aware of this with your almost congenial analysis, I'm very much looking forward to Part 5!
I wonder what comes first: part 6 or half life 3 Update: Half life 3... after waiting 12 years but on VR. What kind shit world do we live in. And now I gotta wait for part 6 thinking there was just 5 parts when I started. Fml
Watching all of your "Synechdoche, New York" analysis videos again, got me thinking... I wonder how many people who watch YMS died since Part 1 of this analysis came out. Probably more than you would hope...
This is some wonderfully in-depth commentary. I hadn't even noticed when I watched this movie how the Capgras syndrome, where people feel that a person has been replaced by a similar looking impostor, links especially well with that earlier notion of a simulacrum. Especially considering Baudrillard's famous text "Simulacra and Simulation". "Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original to begin with, or that no longer have an original", or as can also be said - copies that are indistinguishable from the original. Very apt in the (post)modern age, where the technologies of production have achieved such a high degree that everything can be replicated perfectly, in a sense. This theme just flows through everything.
This movie, and your reviews are truly incredible. Great job, Adam, and congratulations on the interview with Charlie and Duke, must have been an incredible feeling to hear him call you "really smart" !
Hey Adam, so feel free to tear this one down if you feel it's wrong, but after seeing this several times I think the entire film takes place in his mind. Caden is a transgendered man and a failed playwright, and he spends his entire life struggling to finish his magnum opus based on his formative memories, regrets and the people he's known. But memories warp and can become corrupted, especially in the failing mind of a diseased man. This explains all the time skips and logical inconsistencies. His mind is literally unraveling as his neurons shut down bit by bit in his final moments, so it's visualized as death and destruction surrounding this one little safe haven in the "warehouse", i.e. Caden's memories. That's what the play is; Caden's attempt to both find a way to finish his script as well as hold onto his failing memory. But even that falls apart at the end, he starts 'hearing' direction from his former female persona, his mental oasis crumbles and the lone memory he has left is that of his mother, as he idealized her when he was a young cis female. The dialogue at the very end sort of cemented that notion for me. She says "I was the mom in Ellen's dream/it was a while ago/I disappointed you, mom/No, I was so proud of you/I love you". And of course, in his last seconds of life, everything falls into clarity only when it's far too late. As for Sammy, he is the conscious mind. He's prescient because he is Caden's thought process. He is always there with him, voicing Caden's inner monologue, and acts as both his id and superego. This is also why he's so great at capturing Caden's character in the "audition"; in this play of his life, this great clash of Caden's memory and desperation to grasp onto anything but the thought of his own death, he finally comes out of the shadows and into the foreground to try and rationalize with himself and come to terms with what's happening to his dying body. Sorry for the rant...that's just my own personal take on the film. It really is brilliant and I'm looking forward to Anomalisa!
I might be a bit late to the game, but I think that the use of flower imagery for women goes back to the book, Swann's Way, which involves a character associating flowers with sexuality and Marcel (the character) and Swann's desire to ultimately find love.
relrel310 let's not forget he wrote himself into Adaptation (a film about making a film adaptation of a book about flowers) and the character version of him (played wonderfully by Nic Cage) referenced writing himself into the screenplay was "ouroboros"... I take from this also that we should reference the emotions the Nic Cage version of Charlie exclaimed, that flowers are beautiful, that we humans each try to find our flower, our soul mate, for the proliferation of our life form, the human. It's deep!
Shrekdoche: Part The Fifth announced for 2019. They revealed the lyrics for the main theme song: *ALL ARE STARS* Somebody once told no one will ever love me For everything I am, then I'm dead She said everyone's the star, and an ogre's no exception Like onions, we have layers of deception Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming Death is so close, though you feel you'll outrun it Didn't make sense not to live for fun Your brain gets old, you lose all you've won Urologists, neurologists Something's wrong and I need a dentist You never know when you will go You never find any true love [Chorus:] Everyone, is the real star Have a daughter, go play Everyone, is the real star Watch her die, her eyes fade And all who linger get old They will find that dying's gray and cold It's a cool place and they say it gets colder You're feeling ill now, wait 'till you get older But the hedonist wife begs to differ Judging by her holes filled with two german strippers The antistasis' getting pretty thin I'm just a little person; light's getting dim My world is ending, how about yours? You'll ignore my misery 'cause you have your own [Chorus x 2] Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas? I need to drive there before quarter to eight I'm a man, already dead I think I know how to do this play See, we could all use a little [die]
I have just watched this movie for the first time. Aprox 3 hours after the end credits rolled and 2 hours after I began to be able to cope with the harsh reality the film exposed me to, I watch this video series. First: Props to you. Love it. Incredibly detailed and insightful, effectively breaking down an exceptionally complex masterpiece. 2 small things I noticed that weren't addressed in the videos. I didn't read all the comments so I maybe be repeating but anyways... 1. In the scene in which Caden sees himself in the Chemo add, the encounter between ellen and her mother at the picnic is there. I don't know if that's super obvious but I had missed it the first time and so I share it. 2. When Caden is leaving the warehouse, where we see the dystopian reality and he is asked when it will open, the man inquiring about entry says, "We need to get in, it's bad out here." Caden seems to be constructing his own reality. Your video touches on his reality ignoring the new reality, instead opting to create his life in the year 2006 endlessly. Perhaps Caden is striving to make a utopia in a dystopia. The lines between man and god seemed to be blurred throughout the film, causing us to question who is actually controlling us. I could go on for days. This is truly a work of art. I eagerly await your next installments.
I think you said in one of your earlier videos you would make this review less detailed to get it done quicker, I'm glad your keeping them just long, I don't mind waiting longer for videos to if I get to see these extremely detailed breakdowns.
11:23 while I definitely like your interpretation of all of this stuff, I’m pretty sure the “angelic day spa” was a reference to the executive producer of the film Ray Angelic. I dig the analysis just saying that might be what it is.
Sonder n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own-populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness-an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
Great review as usual Adam. I think the plant/flower thing is a fairly solid point. When Olive gets her flower tattoo, Caden is noticeably distraught. This tattoo is of a flower that has already bloomed and the tattoo is closely tied with the idea of Olive maturing to quickly. And when she dies, her flower wilts. The flower that is first to bloom is usually the first to die as well, so I feel the film hints toward Caden not wanting Olive to grow up as he sees it as her being now on her way to death. Or you know, it looked cool.
Oh wow. Makes me feel even sadder for Caden. He obviously is anxious about his own death, but also of Olive’s, and it’s as if he wasn’t able to articulate that point across (to even those watching the movie). Not able to articulate why her having a tattoo made him so distraught. He didn’t want her to die. This can also have a theme of him trying to impose his own death anxiety on his daughter, which is a common experience with parents and children. And again you’re right, she was the first to die.
And this is why this channel is one of the best on TH-cam. for one, his videos always get WAY more views (double at the minimum) than he has subscribers and I'm happy to see that. Also, the amount of fucking effort put into these videos, done by one man alone is ASTONISHING. Really, REALLY hope this channel grows much, much larger. Criminally underrated. You deserve it Adam :) Keep up the great work!
So... if I'm understanding this right, around 2025 society begins going crazy, getting all dystopian due to some strange phenomena, that's hitting scarily close to home
ADUM ITS BEEN TWO YEARS AND ID LOVE IF YOU CONTINUE THIS SERIES IT IS YOUR BEST WORK...i love your YMS videos but here youre paying tribute to a actually good film. if ever you see this please consider it.
I cannot accurately articulate how much I enjoy this kind of content. What you do is so genuine, so one-of-a-kind, and so rare. Keep it up - every time I finish I video, I'm glad to be a part of your Patreon.
God damn, this film is a masterpiece. I don't think it even occurred to me that the world was crumbling around Caden when I watched it. And it's not like it's a tiny detail like 32Z or book covers, it's kind of in your face. But I was so consumed with the events of the film (of Caden's life and work) that I couldn't be bothered with the larger scope of things. The whole film I found myself meeting uncomfortable truths and similarities to Caden, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I wound up viewing the world in the same perspective as him.
You are by far the best film reviewer I've come across, I've watched nearly every film you have recommended and reviewed and they are nearly all up there on my favourite films of all time. And you are pretty much the reason I have spent all of my money on DVDs and blu rays. I would be interested to know what your thoughts are on Happiness, Elephant and Martha Marcy May Marlene. Thank you.
There is a strange thing about the moment where the house burns down and Hazel and Haden speak, especially in that Adam goes straight to Adultery. Or maybe this is just rambling of my own thoughts in a youtube comments section that will make me look pathetic. I dunno, don't particularly care either way. A while back I was in a relationship over long distance, and I told the guy it was with that I don't care about a lot of things that most people would and that the only thing I wanted from him was honesty. He could tell me anything, sleep with anyone (so long as he's not getting STDs) or do whatever, so long as he legit cares about me and he is completely honest with me. This went on for about a year and only ended at the start of last winter. During this time, he had helped me through a really bad patch of depression, I had helped him through his own problems including ones of his identity and comfort and his own self worth. When the smoke of that had cleared, I told him I loved him. A few months later, or maybe not because my sense of time is terrible, he told me he met a girl. I'm polyamorous and thought he was too, so when he described her I was excited as hell to meet her. This winter, he told me that she resented me despite not even wanting to, and that he loved her, and that he didn't love me even though he cared about me. Our romantic relationship ended on the best note it could, all things considered, but he said to me that he only agreed to the open/poly relationship because at the time he "didn't think he deserved anything better than that". Looking at that scene I was reminded of that because for a moment I couldn't help but look at it through my own lens, as this movie seems to very much want me to do. For a moment, I saw someone desperately wanting to inject themselves into another person's life, only to be rejected. Someone wanting to surround themselves with people to care about and to be cared about by, only to be told no. It was implicit though, because he never asks her to leave her current husband. Or perhaps he didn't even think to think about her current husband, just wanting to find the emotion and caring wherever he could. So in a way I have to wonder if that went through his mind, that she didn't have to leave him behind to also be with someone else, whomever the particular she was at whatever moment it needed to be wondered. Hope that makes sense to someone. I just know that I thought it and needed to write it.
these are always such a treat when I get to watch them, keep them coming man, seriously. I loved this movie before watching these breakdowns of it, but now...I just am beginning to understand the depth this film has. Thank you for that.
I think flowers means life AND fertility... Olive is tattooed with flowers at 10 when she gets her period and is now fertile and/or Maria tattooed her with flowers at 10 because that's when Maria first molested her (her first sexual awakening). Consider that Caden gets upset about Olive's tattoo - that she's sexually active, Claire brushes it off by saying that everyone has a tattoo ... i.e., everyone has had sex. Claire turns around and shows him her huge tramp stamp probably symbolizing that she has a depraved sex history of her own. Of course, Claire knows that Olive is 11 while Caden still thinks she is four, and though 10 is still a very young age for one's first time, it happens often enough for it to not be that big of a deal (in New York, for instance, girls as young as 12 are given Plan B without parental consent). In Germany, Caden discovers that Maria molested Olive (tattooed her) and he becomes even angrier when Maria is flippant about her age and even says she loves Olive, so he attacks her. Later he finds the pink box and cries because he knows that his daughter is no longer the innocent child that left him. Olive's mother and Maria threw away her innocence for sexual gratification (her mother is polyamorous). The idea that Olive's tattoos are a symbol for sex/fertility is reinforced even further when Caden recognizes her in the poster on the wall by her tattoos, she's s sex worker. And then she later dies from an infection from her tattoos - i.e., an STD ... maybe AIDs. **Also, Olive tattooed at 11 reminds me of Venus...
Anna E A very good point, with very good arguments to boot. When watching the movie, I thought it was kinda strange that she received an infection from her tatoos, because I would guess if the tattoos would have gotten infected at all, it would have happened sooner, probably in the process of making them. But as a symbol, "the mark of the sex" so to speak, it actually makes a lot of sense. The only thing that doesn't fit is the story in the newspaper, because they are reporting about an actual full-body-tattoo on a 10-year-old, but I guess I'm nitpicking too hard. Hazel literally bought a house that was on fire, after all.
CradeElcin Indeed. The entire story is chock full of instances that would not occur in real life or that are allegories for something else entirely, and so, the news paper reporting that Olive has a full body tattoo could simply another whacky occurrence or something a little more sinister - that she's the first child "something sexual."
Kudos, my friend. I thought I was the most SNY-obsessed person around but you've taken this to a level I did not think possible and I'm reveling in it. Looking forward very much to the remaining installments. I thank you for this. SNY keeps on giving with repeated viewings.
Coming from someone who struggles with relationships, the fear of death and if what he shows to others is a true reflection of his personality, I find this film and review very comforting that many other people also experience this. Especially since I've just been through talking to someone for a long time for emotional support and feel used when they just left without any hint of gratitude.
When you said you were working hard on this review you meant it. I can see the digging you did to fully analyze this work. Great job Adam can't wait for more.
I think, the key message Adam misses here is he concept of motherhood. The symbolism of life is juxtaposed with death. Masculinity with death, femininity with life. The main character only has daughters. Obsessed with dying. A man does not create life. A woman does. As the main character comes closer to death he identifies with femininity. The film is, to some extent, about a man lamenting over the concept of death, knowing that he will never create life. (Men do have a role in life making, but no to the same extent as women.) The grappling with death is indicative of the main characters obsession with the concept that as he dies, he will never have created a life. Women wear flowers. The female representation of himself wears gray, the color of death as established in the film, but, that gray is embellished with flowers. Flowers are the established symbol of femininity, thus creation. The main character struggles and struggles over the creation of his play, in labor for years and years, frustrated that he cannot create something like life, despite the years long attempt. As he grows older he wishes to be a woman, because there is nothing he can create that is vivid and complex as the life of a human itself. TLDR; Vagina envy
Cant wait for the next episode!!!. Just Saw the movie yesterday and it brought me to tears because of my own interpretation. Seeing all the effort and meticulous details that went into it makes me watch it again and again. Great job man...your insights are just amazing.
When this movie was shown on my country (Chile) the title instead of being translated to "Sinécdoque, Nueva York" It was translated as "Todas las vidas, mi vida" which means: "Every single life, my life". Another translation was in Argentina. Where it was called "Nueva York en escena" which means: "New York on theatre"
This whole review series has been awesome. There are parts, that are explained so well, that have me reflecting on my own life; and sort-of breaking down, and analyzing the more tragic aspects of my life. Thank you so much, for your insightful review/analysis, of this amazing movie.
I just discovered this film at the right time in my life in 2024 after great loss. It resonated very deeply with me despite the confusing layers & depressing characters & themes. Isn't it ironic that your analysis has taken you YEARS to complete much like Caden's complex productio? Still, I'm grateful for your keen insights. At this point I'm uncertain if part 5 is the completion of your magnus opus, but bravo all the same. Time well spent, sir.
Another instance of miscommunication occurs when Caden goes to see Olive in her private show. As Caden repeatedly yells, "Olive, it's daddy!" she ignores him and continues dancing - maybe interpreting his plea as a lewd innuendo - when in actuality it's a desperate cry from a father to a daughter.
Let me just start by saying- Roger Ebert would praise the work you've put in to this analysis so far. Much in the same way he was able to provide an insightful commentary for Dark City; I feel like we're now getting a definitive interpretation of Synecdoche, New York as well. So anyway, here's my two cents: I noticed at 14:00, there's a wide shot of the warehouse in which we see a lonely green wall on one of the buildings... possibly plant life beginning to take over?
One thing I find really curious in the scene where the woman asks Caden if he’s menstruating, he answers “I don’t menstruate”, not “I can’t menstruare”. This could mean that he is changing into Ellen, a woman, more and more. Caiden in the scene (this is a guess) is around 40-50 years old, and that’s about the same age where women enter menopause.
Man this review is on a whole new level, absolutely FASCINATING analysis. I've nothing but praise for the hard work and dedication you're putting into this. It's definitely paying off, keep it up.
This really has been one of the best reviews of just about anything I've ever listened to so far, and I was just thinking that this has been about as eye opening and perspective changing as the movie itself, showing how much you really appreciate it. Haven't made it past 1:45 in this video yet but everything you said past 1:00 until then makes me think you're not only the best person for reference to understand this movie, but that you can identify with its substance in a very mature way, as I'm sure many people could if it weren't way easier to actively not think about any of this shit. Woe is our existential misery weoo
I subscribed to your channel because of a mention by Angry Joe. Now, I get excited when I see your videos much more than his. This series helped cement that. Well done, sir.
Adam, when are we gonna get a part 5... it's been 17 years
lol
Bennett Solomon 😂😂😂😂
where is part 5!?
Damn. Nigga. It been a while but not that long.
Bennett Solomon No.... there is no way that can be true. Part 4 only came out last week.
Adam when are you going to get the rest of the review in here? It's been 17 years.
tara drake damn eventually it will be 17 years
There's a lot more to "Simulacrum" than just a copy of a thing, and it's pretty crucial to the film. The term was popularized by Jean Baudrillard, who suggested that after enough time of copying, the imitation replaces the original as "real," and indeed this happens several times in Synecdoche. Caden becomes the new Ellen, Millicent Weems becomes the new Caden, Maria's accusations about Caden's homosexuality become reality within the world of Millicent's final version of the play, etc. Each new reality is built on the old one, which was a distortion of some other reality, until the truth is lost in all the layers (a concept explored by both Baudrillard and Jerzy Grotowski, whom Claire name-drops in the film along with Artaud and Krapp's Last Tape by Beckett.) By the end of the film, the simulacrum has supplanted reality to such a degree that when Caden dies in-character, he is actually, permanently dead.
Dudeeee!!
holy shit dude
Mate. What a comment.
That is Insane!
Well done!
Guys, don't you get it? A part 5 is never coming out. His work will never be completed. Dank themes man
+SimplyRockZone dank themes don't die
how deep down the rabbit hole has he traveled????
It's like poetry, they sort of rhyme.
SimplyRockZone SPOILERS it came out
I don't know how many people would say this on here but these in-depth examinations of art films are really really really good. I greatly appreciate your work and hope you feel encouraged to do this type of review. I figure at some point you may have to write your own scripts after being a connoisseur of film for so long - I can't wait for that day :)
Thank you for creating wonderful content.
this one gets it
agreed. I love his in depth stuff
Wholeheartedly agree
I hate being a pleb who can't delve into the allegories behind films but I'm happy there's people like Adam who take the time out of their lives to point it out to me.
If you ever do holy mountain that will be an 89 part series.
Eli Kelley With 12 year gaps in between each episode.
DefinitelyNotOfficial if it takes 12 years to make it'll probably win some Golden Globes and other awards
***** And the Oscar for the best TH-cam review goes to... that hipster furfag!!!
Before everyone freaks out and thinks that I am actually calling him that, turn your joke detectors on.
This might be your magnum opus. It's like you've gone full matthewmatosis on a review. This is as in depth as your M Night Retrospective was hilarious. Not many people on the internet who can do crude comedy and serious analysis at once, its impressive
Joseph Hobbs let's list as many as we can. i'll go first:
red letter media/mr. plinkett (mike stoklasa)
confused matthew
this man this monster Noah Gervais Cloud Cuckoo Country, Fanboy Flicks
Joseph Hobbs I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm comparable to Adam. He's on a whole other level.
***** It's on the same scale honestly. Your Frankenstein and Atonement videos are absolutely up there in the category of dry humour/ analysis, on par with some of Adam's videos honestly. Don't put yourself down man, your videos are better than you think, at least worth being mentioned in that kind of company
Joseph Hobbs Not putting myself down, I just don't think I'm happy enough with them to say that they're comparable to what Adam is doing in his Synecdoche review. I am always trying to improve, though.
You have no date for part 5. Caden's play has no release date. Coincidence!?
* gasp * Adam is a play!
Guy On A Computer does this mean he gets to go to funland?
***** this is some deep shit
Half Life 3 lives.
fonkymaster I just want to point out you are responding in 2017 to a comment made in 2015... AND WE STILL DO NOT HAVE THE FUCKING PART 5 YET, DAMMIT ADAM.
THAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACE
Riley Simms DERE HE IS!
Riley Simms THAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACETHAT KID KICKED SAND IN COOL CATS FACE
Riley Simms Ahhh still funny.
WeasleFireable Cool Cat will never die. Cool Cat is eternal.
Riley Simms
*FUCKING NORMIES REEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
This is amazing. I've just seen the 4 videos in a row and I need the new one like heroin.
Quetzal!!!!!
Omg,you watch this chanel too.
:'D
THIS REVIEW IS ONLY FOUR, SHES FUCKING FOUR YEARS OLD
+disco__ Remind me to come back in seven years so I can comment "She's almost over 11 now."
+H Smith got you fam.
+H Smith dont even trip, taco chip
+disco__ to the top you go
@@harrysmith7072 She's almost over 11 now...
The size of Caden's father's coffin always scared me.
Really? I'm not sure why, but I laughed out loud. De was talking about how the cancer reduced him in size(like a metaphor), but then you see the small casket. It seemed like black humor to me.
@@kristinh3790 A year late, but Caden's father was someone he sought approval from, and was thusly someone he thought highly of since his word meant so much to him. At his funeral, Caden sees that his father is in a tiny coffin, receiving nothing grand or magnificent even in death.
I am fucking floored by the work you probably had to put into this. A lot of people give you shit for taking too long but you don't have to apologize. This is amazing and it motivates me to work harder on my own projects
I'm currently working on an analysis of Super Metroid and just reading up on small little details can take up so much time. People need to realize that you can't just go over that shit once or twice and then pump your script out. You have to research and read or watch so many different thoughts on everything and 95% of the stuff doesn't even matter in the end.
If you watch this and think to yourself that it couldn't possibly take longer than a week to do a video like this, you have to consider the hours Adam has to put in for every minute.
After enjoying your work for the past months I will finally start contributing to your patreon. You have earned this more than anyone else. Fuck, I can't praise this shit enough.
Don't let the stupid morons get to you.
SpeckObst An analysis of Super Metroid? What the fuck?
AsifIcarebear3 Just look at this and you can see how Super Metroid can be analyzed in great detail www.gamasutra.com/blogs/HugoBille/20120114/90903/The_Invisible_Hand_of_Super_Metroid.php
I know this is years old but I wanted to share my interpretation of olives diary at the beginning of the video.
We see that Caden sees olive as *his* little girl, going so far as to saying she was 4 years old when in reality she was 11. He fears her growing up into the pain that he feels, so he perpetually keeps her young and innocent in his head.
When Caden sees his little girl with tattoos he sees that as a flaw, a mark of shame. For his little girl, that isn't acceptable. He acts recklessly trying to find olive as if he's making it up and needs to see his daughter to prove that she's still innocent.
Overall this takes a toll on him and the voice for olive in head has changed to what it is now.
The diary entry is about becoming a woman, crossing that threshold from a naive child to an adult. Olive is no longer his little girl. He tries to read the diary for comfort of the past and her little scribblings but he can't forget that one entry. Its on every page. Its all he can see of her now. The one thing he was trying to protect her from, plastered right in front of his face.
I'm too dyslexic to read this but here's a like anyways
Jesus Christ, every time I watch one of these I get inspired to live in the moment so life doesn't just breeze past me.
Ewan Harkes Congratulations, you understood exactly what the movie wanted to tell you.
It’s been 5 years. How’s life been?
Yess
I just watched the movie again last night and thought of you.
It’s now been 6 years.
Hope things aren’t breezing past too quick.
Same here but the feeling only lasts for 5 minutes
Thanks for working so hard on this Adam! We appreciate it ❤️
Whenever you come out with a new Synecdoche, New York video, my day is practically made. I always just want them to go on forever and get disappointed when I realize that they're ending. Despite having seen this film multiple times, you're bringing up details that I hadn't even picked up on. Damn, Charlie Kaufman is something else.
Also, 1:16-1:45. You absolutely nailed that feeling like no one else.
A year. It's been A YEAR.
"No, it's been 2 weeks!"
+Edward Hunter It feels like it's been two weeks
I need to buy you a calender
It's only been two weeks.
Gnome Ann No, it's been 3 months...
Maybe the apocalypse is just a depiction of how when you're near death, the world seem to be ending around you. The idea that people can't imagine the world continuing after you're dead. It's why older generation is always concerned about the young and worrying about how "kids today are gonna destroy the world". Maybe it's all subjective.
that was deep. 🤔
Evidence for old people always doing this? Maybe this is a modern example as the kids today are slowly destroying the world, morals and tradition. Progress is not always the answer.
Progress isn't an answer to what? Progress is a symptom of the passage of time. That's it.
Jeez +martin11334, liking your own comments? Just how shallow-minded are you?
Progress is inevitable, man, and those who oppose it does so in vain. Progress is amoral and doesn't give a flying fuck about our pretensions of morality.
"Maybe this is a modern example as the kids today are slowly destroying the world, morals and tradition" my ass. You ask someone to back up their statement with evidence and yet you pull your rotten beliefs out of your rotten Filipino ass. Get the fuck out of this video, you fundamentalist piece of shit.
"Progress is not always the answer." Ha ha ha ha. When did it even become an 'answer' in the first place? It's a constant everyone has to deal with, one way or the other.
This comment of yours, martin11334, doesn't belong in a video discussing *Synecdoche, New York* because it only has bearing to the comment you're replying to, and not to the video itself. *Synecdoche* is a very great film (10/10, I recommend), and your suffocating fundamentalist beliefs do not belong here.
Get out of my sight.
DailyVlogMasterDailyVlogsEveryDayVlogMan You do know that there is history of even ancient philosophers showing contempt for "kids these days"? It's what old people do. Maybe try to be smart and break the cycle.
It appears death will arrive sooner than part five.
🤣🤣
When are we gonna get a new episode in here? It's been seventeen years!!!
well at least he's got an audience here!
Sahantara He said June 10th on his Twitter.
GET HYPED
2:23 Noticing that and going into detail is awesome. And I see you've learned from the credits of the first video, to just think of the simplest explanation, "or maybe the books just a prop". That's why I'm subscribed to you.
I love your analysis so far and the amount of effort you've put into this is staggering. I like the idea that the dystopian setting around him highlights the fact that he's oblivious to the world outside his own, but I'll put my interpretation out there anyway. When I saw this movie I took the decaying state of the world to represent how the entire world dies with a person in a way. Once you're dead, you have no use for anyone anymore and whether life goes on or not is irrelevant. As Caden comes closer to death, so does the world around him. If he's dying, everyone else might as well be, it's the same to him, and I believe the dystopia is a visual representation of that feeling.
I started to rewatch this series when YMS was at 999,000 subs. About an hour later, I’m finishing part 4, and he’s hit 1 million. Congratulations Adum, on everything. Especially this series, which despite being unfinished, is without a doubt one of the best film essays I’ve ever heard.
That feeling when an analysis spans over three years.
pulpnonfiction it does though! Because anyone who comes along once it's all done will have no perception of the time that's passed as it's all at once for them
Sara Dickson like for me! I've watched this analysis over the course of two days. Crazy!!
Sara Dickson the only perception I have of the amount of time passing is from the lingering TH-cam comments... lol
@@kristinh3790 haha samee
17 years*
0:00 Regrets
1:01 Lonliness
2:15 German Voice, Trip to Berlin,
Full body flower tattoo - Olive 🌸
Lauralee
4:55 Olive gave Caden new life
Youth doesn’t think about Death (most don’t, some do)
Grey means Death & Decay, Purgatory, Dead & Alive
8:53 Followed For 20 Years
Fall 2005 -> 2025
_Experiencing Life outside of your own life_ (like watching a movie. Omniciense. God)
Samuel - “Name is God”
12:42 1 Voice whispers to itself
Sammy follows Caden everywhere
- _Death of Civilization_
15:50 “Portrait of Caden Cotard, 2015”
Caden -> Ellen (similar sounding names)
17:32 Capgras Syndrome
Adele & Caden switch Roles
• Caden cleans 🧼, becomes Ellen
When you were explaining Sammi's role, I couldn't help but be disappointed because so far through out all 4 parts you've been completely on point with my own theories. Aside from the fact that you have some extra theories in there I hadn't noticed (like the overly detailed title sequence lol). But my opinion on Sammi was that he represents Cadens other true self, his old dying self, just as Ellen represents (or is) his other true self. He starts following him at the beginning of the movie because that's when Caden starts obsessing over death, Sammi eerily resembling Caden' s immediate pre-death self at the end of the movie. He stalks him, watching his every move, just like Caden obsessed over every little detail in his life. It's his true self also in the sense that Sammi says and does what Caden REALLY wants to do, including suicide at the rejection of Hazel. Which he attempted but was stopped from. I think that's why he ends up giving Sammi a role in the play because as he delved deeper into the production he became more and more his true self, giving Sammi a voice. But inevitably at the end he becomes Ellen, which is who I think he always was, and Caden was how he perceived himself (although again, Ellen and Sammi are who he really is). At the beginning you see him in a mirror instead of an actual image of him, which I think is a good indicator of who "Caden" is. It's what Ellen sees in the mirror, while she develops a fear of death which is the older, near death version of Caden embodies by Sammi.
That's my analysis of Sammi. Where as Ellen is concerned, again with the mirror at the beginning, and the fact that he's seemingly sleeping in a small makeshift bedroom, not unlike the one he was living at in Adele' s place later, makes me think he's always been Ellen. And was in love with Adele, and saw Olive as his own. That's why Adele was so flippant about leaving, and why he's continually referenced to as Ellen, and why Sammi knew the address. Because Sammi is really Caden just as Ellen is, so Caden knew where it was the whole time but was in denial as he is throughout most of the movie. One of the other things he's in denial about is his homosexuality which is continually referenced. If he's really Ellen, then she's been a lesbian this whole time, though we see she's married to a guy who hates her named Eric. And when his "daughter" is dying she references his homosexual lover, Eric. But she's sees herself as a man (Caden) so loving women isn't gay.
Just some thoughts. Terrific and detailed analysis though!
:o
@@nineteenfortyeight woah man i think you cracked it
You mentioned the significance of Sammy’s name, Samuel meaning “Name of God” or “God listens”. His last name, Barnathan also has significance, Bar meaning “son of” and Nathan meaning “gift of God”. Sammy does play the role of this omniscient, god-like listener for the first half of the film, then when he auditions (and we hear the name Barnathan) he begins to play this other role in interpreting the character of Caden. The further the theater piece develops, the wider Caden’s influence, and the more of a “god” role he plays himself. Sammy’s new role is directly engendered by Caden’s play, which he views as his gift to the world.
Dude how do you notice this shit? This movie is the work of an insane person. You gotta get down into such a swamp to understand it.
Insanely genius
Insane research
Every second of this piece of art has a meaning, and everything makes sense. It's sensitive, incredibly deep, sad, impressive... 10 out of 10, undoubtedly!
I love the Synecdoche videos so much! Provides another dimension to the film that I probably wouldn't pick up, even after multiple viewings. Proves how skilful and talented Kaufman is (yourself included for developing this analysis!)
14:33 Isn't the "outside world" also a representation of Caden? The man asks "When will it be ready?"
This is something that is constantly on Caden's mind.
The man also says "We need to get in. It's bad out here."
This can be talking about Caden's state of mind. The "outside world" to him is a painful bad place. He is focusing on his play to excap the outside world. He needs to "get in", just like that man.
The world is in chaos and is breaking apart. Just like his body and mind have been breaking apart throughout the entire movie.
Also in that very scene he brings up the concept of a simulacra. The scene is a simulacra of him.
maaaan there really are trillions of easter eggs, interconnections and possible interpretations and little wisdoms hidden all over this movie. The acting performances, set designs, cinematography, direction and editing and above all THAT SCRIPT is really absolutely incredible. I do now understand Roger Ebert. This is easily the most brilliant film of the 21st century. Thank you sir for making me aware of this with your almost congenial analysis, I'm very much looking forward to Part 5!
I wonder what comes first: Part 5 or Half Life 3...
Gaben is Cotard, Half Life 3 is The Play.
+Andreven we won't get it until at least 2025 or higher.
The Wrens' next album. Or Jon Brion's next album.
I guess we know the answer.,
I wonder what comes first: part 6 or half life 3
Update: Half life 3... after waiting 12 years but on VR. What kind shit world do we live in.
And now I gotta wait for part 6 thinking there was just 5 parts when I started. Fml
This analysis is meta as fuck. You will never fucking release a new part because it fits the theme of the analysis.
Watching all of your "Synechdoche, New York" analysis videos again, got me thinking...
I wonder how many people who watch YMS died since Part 1 of this analysis came out.
Probably more than you would hope...
"every frame is just so dense"
Fuck you Rick Berman!
AsifIcarebear3 sorta like poetry, they rhyme.
AsifIcarebear3 Do they have sort of sticky quality to them as well?
NothingOut OfNothing I'm talking about a completely superfluous bottle of cough syrup, which costs like six bucks.
gevsen You should be more interested in science Jake.You know why?Because your face is perfect
This is some wonderfully in-depth commentary. I hadn't even noticed when I watched this movie how the Capgras syndrome, where people feel that a person has been replaced by a similar looking impostor, links especially well with that earlier notion of a simulacrum. Especially considering Baudrillard's famous text "Simulacra and Simulation". "Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original to begin with, or that no longer have an original", or as can also be said - copies that are indistinguishable from the original. Very apt in the (post)modern age, where the technologies of production have achieved such a high degree that everything can be replicated perfectly, in a sense. This theme just flows through everything.
OMG this film analysis is starting to embody the spirit of the film...
Best movie review I've ever watched/listened too. Not seeing a part 5 was heartbreaking. Hopefully it's coming sooner than later.
Is part 5 death itself?
Lmao
Never said it was fun.
This movie, and your reviews are truly incredible. Great job, Adam, and congratulations on the interview with Charlie and Duke, must have been an incredible feeling to hear him call you "really smart" !
Hey Adam, so feel free to tear this one down if you feel it's wrong, but after seeing this several times I think the entire film takes place in his mind. Caden is a transgendered man and a failed playwright, and he spends his entire life struggling to finish his magnum opus based on his formative memories, regrets and the people he's known. But memories warp and can become corrupted, especially in the failing mind of a diseased man. This explains all the time skips and logical inconsistencies.
His mind is literally unraveling as his neurons shut down bit by bit in his final moments, so it's visualized as death and destruction surrounding this one little safe haven in the "warehouse", i.e. Caden's memories. That's what the play is; Caden's attempt to both find a way to finish his script as well as hold onto his failing memory. But even that falls apart at the end, he starts 'hearing' direction from his former female persona, his mental oasis crumbles and the lone memory he has left is that of his mother, as he idealized her when he was a young cis female. The dialogue at the very end sort of cemented that notion for me. She says "I was the mom in Ellen's dream/it was a while ago/I disappointed you, mom/No, I was so proud of you/I love you". And of course, in his last seconds of life, everything falls into clarity only when it's far too late.
As for Sammy, he is the conscious mind. He's prescient because he is Caden's thought process. He is always there with him, voicing Caden's inner monologue, and acts as both his id and superego. This is also why he's so great at capturing Caden's character in the "audition"; in this play of his life, this great clash of Caden's memory and desperation to grasp onto anything but the thought of his own death, he finally comes out of the shadows and into the foreground to try and rationalize with himself and come to terms with what's happening to his dying body.
Sorry for the rant...that's just my own personal take on the film. It really is brilliant and I'm looking forward to Anomalisa!
Amelia Bee
I wonder if the film includes any intentional references to Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".
Amelia Bee Is it just me, or does Philip Seymour Hoffman have a tendency to play that kind of characters?
DefinitelyNotOfficial *did
Hoffman is dead, somewhat ironically.
CradeElcin ^This man is up to something.
nice theory
I might be a bit late to the game, but I think that the use of flower imagery for women goes back to the book, Swann's Way, which involves a character associating flowers with sexuality and Marcel (the character) and Swann's desire to ultimately find love.
interesting piece of information! i love that Kaufman incorporated so many references to literature and other art forms.
relrel310 let's not forget he wrote himself into Adaptation (a film about making a film adaptation of a book about flowers) and the character version of him (played wonderfully by Nic Cage) referenced writing himself into the screenplay was "ouroboros"... I take from this also that we should reference the emotions the Nic Cage version of Charlie exclaimed, that flowers are beautiful, that we humans each try to find our flower, our soul mate, for the proliferation of our life form, the human. It's deep!
That "I don't want you to be okay" talk, and the priest monologue near the end, rip my heart out every time
Every time a new video crops up, I have to rewatch the film. I haven't left my home in six months.
Shrekdoche: Part The Fifth announced for 2019. They revealed the lyrics for the main theme song:
*ALL ARE STARS*
Somebody once told no one will ever love me
For everything I am, then I'm dead
She said everyone's the star, and an ogre's no exception
Like onions, we have layers of deception
Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Death is so close, though you feel you'll outrun it
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets old, you lose all you've won
Urologists, neurologists
Something's wrong and I need a dentist
You never know when you will go
You never find any true love
[Chorus:]
Everyone, is the real star
Have a daughter, go play
Everyone, is the real star
Watch her die, her eyes fade
And all who linger get old
They will find that dying's gray and cold
It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're feeling ill now, wait 'till you get older
But the hedonist wife begs to differ
Judging by her holes filled with two german strippers
The antistasis' getting pretty thin
I'm just a little person; light's getting dim
My world is ending, how about yours?
You'll ignore my misery 'cause you have your own
[Chorus x 2]
Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas?
I need to drive there before quarter to eight
I'm a man, already dead
I think I know how to do this play
See, we could all use a little [die]
God your speech at 1:00 hits really fucking close to home for me. This scene in general did, but hearing your explanation made it resonate even more.
HOLY SHIT IT'S HERE.
MAXIMUM HYPE LEVELS HAVE BEEN ATTAINED.
I have just watched this movie for the first time. Aprox 3 hours after the end credits rolled and 2 hours after I began to be able to cope with the harsh reality the film exposed me to, I watch this video series. First: Props to you. Love it. Incredibly detailed and insightful, effectively breaking down an exceptionally complex masterpiece.
2 small things I noticed that weren't addressed in the videos. I didn't read all the comments so I maybe be repeating but anyways...
1. In the scene in which Caden sees himself in the Chemo add, the encounter between ellen and her mother at the picnic is there. I don't know if that's super obvious but I had missed it the first time and so I share it.
2. When Caden is leaving the warehouse, where we see the dystopian reality and he is asked when it will open, the man inquiring about entry says, "We need to get in, it's bad out here." Caden seems to be constructing his own reality. Your video touches on his reality ignoring the new reality, instead opting to create his life in the year 2006 endlessly. Perhaps Caden is striving to make a utopia in a dystopia. The lines between man and god seemed to be blurred throughout the film, causing us to question who is actually controlling us.
I could go on for days. This is truly a work of art. I eagerly await your next installments.
I think you said in one of your earlier videos you would make this review less detailed to get it done quicker, I'm glad your keeping them just long, I don't mind waiting longer for videos to if I get to see these extremely detailed breakdowns.
11:23 while I definitely like your interpretation of all of this stuff, I’m pretty sure the “angelic day spa” was a reference to the executive producer of the film Ray Angelic. I dig the analysis just saying that might be what it is.
Sonder
n. the realization that each random passerby is
living a life as vivid and complex as your own-populated with their own
ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness-an epic
story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep
underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives
that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as
an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing
on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.
Great review as usual Adam.
I think the plant/flower thing is a fairly solid point. When Olive gets her flower tattoo, Caden is noticeably distraught. This tattoo is of a flower that has already bloomed and the tattoo is closely tied with the idea of Olive maturing to quickly. And when she dies, her flower wilts. The flower that is first to bloom is usually the first to die as well, so I feel the film hints toward Caden not wanting Olive to grow up as he sees it as her being now on her way to death.
Or you know, it looked cool.
Oh wow. Makes me feel even sadder for Caden. He obviously is anxious about his own death, but also of Olive’s, and it’s as if he wasn’t able to articulate that point across (to even those watching the movie). Not able to articulate why her having a tattoo made him so distraught. He didn’t want her to die. This can also have a theme of him trying to impose his own death anxiety on his daughter, which is a common experience with parents and children.
And again you’re right, she was the first to die.
It's been 17 years, Adam! Where's part 5?
And this is why this channel is one of the best on TH-cam. for one, his videos always get WAY more views (double at the minimum) than he has subscribers and I'm happy to see that. Also, the amount of fucking effort put into these videos, done by one man alone is ASTONISHING. Really, REALLY hope this channel grows much, much larger. Criminally underrated. You deserve it Adam :) Keep up the great work!
So... if I'm understanding this right, around 2025 society begins going crazy, getting all dystopian due to some strange phenomena, that's hitting scarily close to home
ADUM ITS BEEN TWO YEARS AND ID LOVE IF YOU CONTINUE THIS SERIES IT IS YOUR BEST WORK...i love your YMS videos but here youre paying tribute to a actually good film. if ever you see this please consider it.
Holy shit the elevator 32 bit is mind blowing. This film is absolutely stunning
I cannot accurately articulate how much I enjoy this kind of content. What you do is so genuine, so one-of-a-kind, and so rare. Keep it up - every time I finish I video, I'm glad to be a part of your Patreon.
“Oh I wouldn’t even be surprised if this review spanned over a year” it’s been 4 years since part 5
It kinda proves just how true this film is
Woah
Needed to pause after 1:45 That wasnt even close to home. That *was* home. Cant wait to finish this monstrosity of analysis you have here, Adam
God damn, this film is a masterpiece.
I don't think it even occurred to me that the world was crumbling around Caden when I watched it. And it's not like it's a tiny detail like 32Z or book covers, it's kind of in your face. But I was so consumed with the events of the film (of Caden's life and work) that I couldn't be bothered with the larger scope of things.
The whole film I found myself meeting uncomfortable truths and similarities to Caden, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I wound up viewing the world in the same perspective as him.
Philip Seymour Hoffman always played such tragic characters. I hope he felt much joy in life.
You are by far the best film reviewer I've come across, I've watched nearly every film you have recommended and reviewed and they are nearly all up there on my favourite films of all time. And you are pretty much the reason I have spent all of my money on DVDs and blu rays. I would be interested to know what your thoughts are on Happiness, Elephant and Martha Marcy May Marlene. Thank you.
Amazing work as always Adam. I hope that the completed analysis gives you some much needed and deserved exposure.
There is a strange thing about the moment where the house burns down and Hazel and Haden speak, especially in that Adam goes straight to Adultery. Or maybe this is just rambling of my own thoughts in a youtube comments section that will make me look pathetic. I dunno, don't particularly care either way.
A while back I was in a relationship over long distance, and I told the guy it was with that I don't care about a lot of things that most people would and that the only thing I wanted from him was honesty. He could tell me anything, sleep with anyone (so long as he's not getting STDs) or do whatever, so long as he legit cares about me and he is completely honest with me. This went on for about a year and only ended at the start of last winter. During this time, he had helped me through a really bad patch of depression, I had helped him through his own problems including ones of his identity and comfort and his own self worth. When the smoke of that had cleared, I told him I loved him.
A few months later, or maybe not because my sense of time is terrible, he told me he met a girl. I'm polyamorous and thought he was too, so when he described her I was excited as hell to meet her. This winter, he told me that she resented me despite not even wanting to, and that he loved her, and that he didn't love me even though he cared about me. Our romantic relationship ended on the best note it could, all things considered, but he said to me that he only agreed to the open/poly relationship because at the time he "didn't think he deserved anything better than that".
Looking at that scene I was reminded of that because for a moment I couldn't help but look at it through my own lens, as this movie seems to very much want me to do. For a moment, I saw someone desperately wanting to inject themselves into another person's life, only to be rejected. Someone wanting to surround themselves with people to care about and to be cared about by, only to be told no. It was implicit though, because he never asks her to leave her current husband. Or perhaps he didn't even think to think about her current husband, just wanting to find the emotion and caring wherever he could. So in a way I have to wonder if that went through his mind, that she didn't have to leave him behind to also be with someone else, whomever the particular she was at whatever moment it needed to be wondered.
Hope that makes sense to someone. I just know that I thought it and needed to write it.
these are always such a treat when I get to watch them, keep them coming man, seriously. I loved this movie before watching these breakdowns of it, but now...I just am beginning to understand the depth this film has. Thank you for that.
I think flowers means life AND fertility... Olive is tattooed with flowers at 10 when she gets her period and is now fertile and/or Maria tattooed her with flowers at 10 because that's when Maria first molested her (her first sexual awakening).
Consider that Caden gets upset about Olive's tattoo - that she's sexually active, Claire brushes it off by saying that everyone has a tattoo ... i.e., everyone has had sex. Claire turns around and shows him her huge tramp stamp probably symbolizing that she has a depraved sex history of her own. Of course, Claire knows that Olive is 11 while Caden still thinks she is four, and though 10 is still a very young age for one's first time, it happens often enough for it to not be that big of a deal (in New York, for instance, girls as young as 12 are given Plan B without parental consent).
In Germany, Caden discovers that Maria molested Olive (tattooed her) and he becomes even angrier when Maria is flippant about her age and even says she loves Olive, so he attacks her. Later he finds the pink box and cries because he knows that his daughter is no longer the innocent child that left him. Olive's mother and Maria threw away her innocence for sexual gratification (her mother is polyamorous).
The idea that Olive's tattoos are a symbol for sex/fertility is reinforced even further when Caden recognizes her in the poster on the wall by her tattoos, she's s sex worker. And then she later dies from an infection from her tattoos - i.e., an STD ... maybe AIDs.
**Also, Olive tattooed at 11 reminds me of Venus...
Anna E
A very good point, with very good arguments to boot.
When watching the movie, I thought it was kinda strange that she received an infection from her tatoos, because I would guess if the tattoos would have gotten infected at all, it would have happened sooner, probably in the process of making them.
But as a symbol, "the mark of the sex" so to speak, it actually makes a lot of sense. The only thing that doesn't fit is the story in the newspaper, because they are reporting about an actual full-body-tattoo on a 10-year-old, but I guess I'm nitpicking too hard. Hazel literally bought a house that was on fire, after all.
CradeElcin
Indeed. The entire story is chock full of instances that would not occur in real life or that are allegories for something else entirely, and so, the news paper reporting that Olive has a full body tattoo could simply another whacky occurrence or something a little more sinister - that she's the first child "something sexual."
CradeElcin it was in a magazine not a newspaper, thats the kind of shit you see in magazines.
Ricardo Bitterman
point taken
Anna E Greta points. i wish Adam also delved into the issue surrounding Olive's innocence which is a massive part about the early days of life.
I hardly comment on youtube videos, but I really want to encourage you to finish this. It's brilliant.
"I know how to complete this analisys now."
"I have an idea."
"I think... if every..."
DIE
Kudos, my friend. I thought I was the most SNY-obsessed person around but you've taken this to a level I did not think possible and I'm reveling in it. Looking forward very much to the remaining installments. I thank you for this. SNY keeps on giving with repeated viewings.
Liar, you said this would be out tomorrow, how could you
xCurlyQ he turned into caden
Andrew Turturro Why?
Raijin Lightnin' I am almost 100% sure that it was a joke. Sarcasm they call it
Julio d'Avila I'm getting old!
Raijin Lightnin' hahahahha
Coming from someone who struggles with relationships, the fear of death and if what he shows to others is a true reflection of his personality, I find this film and review very comforting that many other people also experience this. Especially since I've just been through talking to someone for a long time for emotional support and feel used when they just left without any hint of gratitude.
It's gonna take years. I can't die now cuz I need to see this finished!
When you said you were working hard on this review you meant it. I can see the digging you did to fully analyze this work. Great job Adam can't wait for more.
Think of all the people who have died not seeing part 5 you make me sick :)
Hahah
+NanoDood lol k
Maybe that's supposed to be going along with the theme of death :)
it's been an entire pregnancy since you said you'd upload part 5 fight me
fuck
and life just keeps moving along as we wait...
The Aztec Engine i guess you could say time is slipping through our fingers as we wait
When are we gonna get an audience? It's been 17 years.
Varoom21 and now an entire pregnancy since you've posted this reply
The parallels between you and these videos, Caden and his play, and the surrounding meta-themes are indeed remarkably haunting
I think, the key message Adam misses here is he concept of motherhood. The symbolism of life is juxtaposed with death. Masculinity with death, femininity with life. The main character only has daughters. Obsessed with dying. A man does not create life. A woman does. As the main character comes closer to death he identifies with femininity. The film is, to some extent, about a man lamenting over the concept of death, knowing that he will never create life. (Men do have a role in life making, but no to the same extent as women.) The grappling with death is indicative of the main characters obsession with the concept that as he dies, he will never have created a life. Women wear flowers. The female representation of himself wears gray, the color of death as established in the film, but, that gray is embellished with flowers. Flowers are the established symbol of femininity, thus creation. The main character struggles and struggles over the creation of his play, in labor for years and years, frustrated that he cannot create something like life, despite the years long attempt. As he grows older he wishes to be a woman, because there is nothing he can create that is vivid and complex as the life of a human itself.
TLDR; Vagina envy
Oh damn
Makes a lot more sense than just “yeah he’s trans” which I keep seeing.
Cant wait for the next episode!!!. Just Saw the movie yesterday and it brought me to tears because of my own interpretation. Seeing all the effort and meticulous details that went into it makes me watch it again and again.
Great job man...your insights are just amazing.
I want him to finish this analysis so he can start his Holy Mountain analysis.
Jonathan Sefcik
Oh boy! You have alot of waiting to do.
That would take fucking forever
I really appreciate the long gaps between the episodes. It really does make me feel like I am an actor playing myself playing an actor playing myself.
When this movie was shown on my country (Chile) the title instead of being translated to "Sinécdoque, Nueva York" It was translated as "Todas las vidas, mi vida" which means: "Every single life, my life".
Another translation was in Argentina. Where it was called "Nueva York en escena" which means: "New York on theatre"
Bruh
This whole review series has been awesome. There are parts, that are explained so well, that have me reflecting on my own life; and sort-of breaking down, and analyzing the more tragic aspects of my life. Thank you so much, for your insightful review/analysis, of this amazing movie.
Great work, thank you. Please persevere.
I just discovered this film at the right time in my life in 2024 after great loss. It resonated very deeply with me despite the confusing layers & depressing characters & themes. Isn't it ironic that your analysis has taken you YEARS to complete much like Caden's complex productio? Still, I'm grateful for your keen insights. At this point I'm uncertain if part 5 is the completion of your magnus opus, but bravo all the same. Time well spent, sir.
Another instance of miscommunication occurs when Caden goes to see Olive in her private show. As Caden repeatedly yells, "Olive, it's daddy!" she ignores him and continues dancing - maybe interpreting his plea as a lewd innuendo - when in actuality it's a desperate cry from a father to a daughter.
Let me just start by saying- Roger Ebert would praise the work you've put in to this analysis so far. Much in the same way he was able to provide an insightful commentary for Dark City; I feel like we're now getting a definitive interpretation of Synecdoche, New York as well.
So anyway, here's my two cents:
I noticed at 14:00, there's a wide shot of the warehouse in which we see a lonely green wall on one of the buildings... possibly plant life beginning to take over?
One thing I find really curious in the scene where the woman asks Caden if he’s menstruating, he answers “I don’t menstruate”, not “I can’t menstruare”. This could mean that he is changing into Ellen, a woman, more and more. Caiden in the scene (this is a guess) is around 40-50 years old, and that’s about the same age where women enter menopause.
Man this review is on a whole new level, absolutely FASCINATING analysis. I've nothing but praise for the hard work and dedication you're putting into this. It's definitely paying off, keep it up.
Such a lust for Part 5.....WHOOO?
This really has been one of the best reviews of just about anything I've ever listened to so far, and I was just thinking that this has been about as eye opening and perspective changing as the movie itself, showing how much you really appreciate it. Haven't made it past 1:45 in this video yet but everything you said past 1:00 until then makes me think you're not only the best person for reference to understand this movie, but that you can identify with its substance in a very mature way, as I'm sure many people could if it weren't way easier to actively not think about any of this shit.
Woe is our existential misery weoo
I need this I need need part 5
I subscribed to your channel because of a mention by Angry Joe. Now, I get excited when I see your videos much more than his. This series helped cement that. Well done, sir.
In the Old Testament the first book of Samuel ends at chapter 31
Probably don’t mean anything, just found that interesting.
Sammy is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction.
Did you not finish part 5 to go along with the movie's theme of Caden never finishing his play ?
watching this bit during COVID hits a little different when you get to around 14:40