SubscribeOscar oddity: 'Synecdoche, New York' and Harold Pinter's death
"Synecdoche, New York," the ambitious indie film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman that has been shamefully overlooked on the awards circuit, focuses on a hypochondriacal playwright named Caten Cotard (portrayed from youth to old age by Philip Seymour Hoffman). Cotard is a man obsessed with death — he fears it, he's fascinated by it, and he eventually comes to realize what we all must, which is that there is no escaping from it.
One of the film's first hints that Cotard can't get death off his mind is when, one morning, he comes down to the breakfast table, glances at the newspaper and mutters to his wife (Catherine Keener), "Harold Pinter died." Pause. "Oh . . . wait. No, he won the Nobel Prize."
When I saw the film at a screening a few months ago, this deliberately absurd line provoked a lot of chuckles. I'd be interested to see how an audience would respond today, though, considering that Pinter did, in fact, pass away last week!
Photos: Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Synecdoche, New York" (Sony Pictures Classics), Harold Pinter (Times Online)
Scott Feinberg is a film industry awards analyst. He boasts one of the best track records at projecting the Academy Awards, including a 21 for 24 effort in 2006, first among all pundits according to OscarCentral and Variety. Feinberg, who studied film at Yale University and Brandeis University, is the founder of 
I agree this film is being criminally overlooked. It really does deserve a Best Picture nomination. Brilliant all the way around.
Posted by: Matthew Lucas | January 06, 2009 at 07:48 PM