New York 2009

Synecdoche, New York ( sin-EK-də-kee) is a 2008 American postmodern psychological drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as an ailing theater director who works on an increasingly elaborate stage production and whose extreme commitment to realism begins to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. The film's title is a play on Schenectady, New York, where much of the film is set, and the concept of synecdoche, wherein a part of something represents the whole or vice versa. The film premiered in competition at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2008. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the United States distribution rights, paying no money but agreeing to give the film's backers part of the revenue. It had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on October 24, 2008, and was a commercial failure on its initial release; executives at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment said they recouped much of the budget through international sales. Synecdoche, New York polarized critics: some called it pretentious or self-indulgent and others declared it a masterpiece, with Roger Ebert ranking it as the decade's best.