Synecdoche, New York appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Given stylistic choices, the Dolby Vision image didn’t become a showpiece, but it represented the source well.
Sharpness usually worked fine. A little softness cropped up at times, but the majority of the movie demonstrated appropriate delineation.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no signs of edge haloes. Grain felt light but natural, while print flaws failed to appear beyond a tiny speck or two.
Colors tended toward a dingy green or a rusty amber, with some splashes of red as well. The hues did become warmer as the film progressed. These didn’t dazzle but they suited the design choices, and HDR added some range to these tones.
Blacks seemed dense and deep, while shadows offered appropriate clarity. HDR gave whites and contrast extra emphasis. Again, this didn’t become a presentation one would use to show off their TVs, but it depicted the original photography well.
As a character drama, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack lacked a lot of breadth. Still, the film’s occasional surreal moments managed to expand auditory horizons.
Not much that I’d call impressive manifested from the mix. Nonetheless, the soundscape offered a reasonable sense of involvement.
Audio quality felt positive, with speech that remained natural and concise. Music showed appealing range and warmth.
Effects didn’t gibe us much, but they felt accurate and full. This seemed like a more than acceptable mix for the story.
A few extras fill out the disc, and In and Around Synecdoche, New York runs 18 minutes, 59 seconds. It brings info from writer/director Charlie Kaufman, producer Anthony Bregman, production designer Mark Friedberh, visual effects supervisor Mark Russell, script supervisor Mary Cybulski, key makeup artist Naomi Donne, makeup designer Mike Marino, and actors Catherine Keener, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
“Around” looks at story/characters, cast and performances, sets, locations and effects, makeup and aging elements.
If you hope for explanations of this complicated narrative… sorry, as “Around” mainly focuses on technical domains. Nonetheless, it comes with good information.
The Story of Caden Cotard spans 12 minutes, eight seconds. It offers notes from Hoffman as he reflects on his character and his experiences during the film. Hoffman gives us some useful insights.
Next comes Infectious Diseases in Cattle, a 36-minute, 38-second “Bloggers Round Table”. It involves film bloggers Glenn Kenny, Andrew Grant, Walter Chaw, Christopher Beaubien and Karina Longworth.
The participants discuss their screenings of the film as well as their reactions and thoughts about it. I appreciate their perspectives, though I would like a contrary view or two given the movie’s polarizing nature.
Three Screen Animations fill a total of four minutes, 31 seconds. These show elements only tangentially viewed in the final film, so they become a fun addition.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we conclude with NFTS/Script Factory Masterclass, a 27-minute, 40-second program. From a British stage presentation, Kaufman tells us aspects of his career as well as his approach to stories/screenwriting,
Perhaps because he seems like such an oddball, I always assumed Kaufman wouldn’t discuss his work much. That makes a chat like this surprisingly engaging, as despite its relative brevity, we get some good insights, even if we don’t hear much about Synecdoche.
As polarizing a film as one can find, Synecdoche, New York largely leaves me cold, at least on first viewing. Given its complexities, the film may open up to deeper pleasures on addition screenings, but based on this initial time, it feels like it fails to find the meaning and depth it promises. The 4K UHD comes with solid picture and audio along with a decent array of bonus materials. I might change my mind someday, but today Synecdoche strikes me as ambitious but inconsistent.
Note that as of November 2022, this 4K UHD disc of Synecdoche, New York appears solely via an 11-film “Sony Picture Classics 30th Anniversary” box. It also includes Orlando, Celluloid Closet, City of Lost Children, Run Lola Run, SLC Punk, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Devil’s Backbone, Volver, Still Alice and Call Me By Your Name.