The Kaufman Hell - I'm Thinking of Ending Things
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2024
- What is this film REALLY about? What is Kaufman trying to say?
That's something we will never know, as Kaufman is infamous for purposefully making things vague and open to interpretation. But that doesn't mean we can't speculate; in fact, we're invited to do so.
So let's give it a try.
In case people wonder, the main music is mine I created for this video, and it WILL be available on bandcamp / soundcloud soon after this video gets released (also, will start spotify fairly soon).
Also, I truly believe this movie can be seen as a comedy, not just dreadful horror / drama piece.
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Extra Credits:
What Charlie Kaufman has to say:
www.indiewire.com/2020/09/cha...
Interesting read on the film:
filmschoolrejects.com/im-thin...
Timestamp
0:00 Introduction
1:07 The Film / The Feeling
2:05 The Four Sections
2:32 The Struggle
4:58 The Conflict
5:51 The Dinner
8:11 The Obsession
10:45 Lucy
13:26 The Acceptance
15:25 Thank You - Krátké a kreslené filmy
I love the “how can you have a sad image without someone looking sad in the picture?” Contrasted with the final frame of the snow covered truck alone in the school parking lot in the morning. It’s the saddest frame of the film. Without a person in sight.
Fuck, I didn't notice. That just feels.......
You do hear the sound of snowplows.
But isn’t it sad because we know there’s a person there inside the car? Who has lead a sad life and has passed away alone?
@@HaruHikaHaruHika yes, the context gives the image the sad feeling. That’s the message. You can’t have a sad image without someone being sad in the image unless we know the context of the image. (Ie, we can never know someone’s true struggle till we see their life story)
Beautiful film. Plenty of shots that display loneliness and discontent, which makes the conversation that "Lucy" has with Jake's parents all the more meaningful.
The 5 stages of watching “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”:
confusion ("what is happening?"),
fear ("seriously, please, tell me what's happening!"),
exasperation ("take her home, man, just take her home!!"),
realization ("oh!"),
and depression ("... oh...") 🌨
...yep. Then you watch vids like this to understand wth was it exactly you just watched and for solidarity.
You’ve summed it up so perfectly lolol
Funny how we're exasperated that Jake won't let the girl go home, yet _we_ won't let Jake kill himself until the story's end.
This is literally what I've been through
more like
confusion
confusion
confusion
confusion
..wtf?
The idea that Jake and the woman, these deeply thoughtful and nuanced people, were reflections of the janitor's soul that others could never see is honestly so crushing to me. Recognizing that every single person around you, especially those forgotten by society, have such beautiful and deep inner worlds is an idea that really overwhelms me sometimes.
This made me cry
I remeber when i watched a video about this movie and how it feeds the idea of "my life could be like this" on this movie, and how it made me enter a deep existential dread. I am a very lonely person and always get myself thinking about the past and how things could've been if i wasn't myself (personality wise), and i ofter daydream about a better reality of things. It makes me feel better thru the day, but in the end of the day, i am just as lonely as i started. This year has been the most lonely i've ever felt, and sometimes i still remember this movie. I haven't watched the movie and i think i don't will cause i already have a bucket of things to digest and think, but thanks for making this video and the explaination.
edit: i just came back to this video after i watched it a while ago and want to say thanks to all the nice comments and even to the ones who told me to get a grip lol. my life is not the best, but is a good one. and yes, the movie left me in shambles and feeling just as bad as i started it, but i survived!
it's really great that you recognize that this movie could be harmful and decide to not watch it, i hope you feel better soon
You’ll be ok. Can’t change the past, try to embrace the present and look forward to the future. That’s all u can do. I think we all have regrets. Just try to stay positive and get thru it. The last two years have been lonely for a lot of people. It still is. This world is currently in a fkd up place. You seem like a nice person. I hope you find happiness. 😉
❤️
❤️
I'm reminded of a quote I heard which stated that it was no measure of mental health to be well adjusted to a sick society. Also, if knowledge of what is truly important is the goal of life rather than a false sense of happiness then we learn most through that which we suffer. Your life and the pain you have experienced has real meaning even though you may not fully understand how that could possibly be right now, I'm certain of it.
“Coming home is terrible. Whether the dogs lick your face, or not. Whether you have a wife. Coming home is terribly lonely.” - what a quote, and the delivery on top of that. One of those quotes that actually hits in a way that only subconscious would understand
my exact same thought, she says it so subtlety its sad
I haven't seen the movie but I did read the book. The slow unraveling near the end really gets to you. I appreciate this analysis!
Three straight pages of "What are you waiting for?" got me really good
@@ImrdIstt.SH. I'm guessing they didn't want to really show the ending that's in the book which is why it seems to be an innocent "Goodbye" in the movie lol
the movie is so worth your time in my opinion
@@superkitten7560 the books endind wouldn't really fit the movie as it doesn't really leave anything to the imagination, i still liked the book better tho
The book is great, the movie is crap.
When I first discovered this movie, it was midnight and I just wanted something to watch to distract myself, and I remember thinking that, as the movie went on, it would continue forever. Like the movie had always been going on, and would continue to go on. It was absolutely horrific, and I loved and hated every minute of it.
Holy crap I just had a similar experience....
it jus kept going and going and going and we were stuck in those claustrophic scenes.
I hated this movie simply because it put me in a dissociative and derealized state that absolutely destroyed my whole winter. It felt like a regular day in my brain on screen, and I applaud Kaufman for doing so well with showing what the brain’s imagination would look like. I’m never going to watch the movie again, but I will give it complete and total props to the movie and everyone who worked on it for getting such a visceral response from the audience. The attention to detail was absolutely astounding.
Its been almost 2 yrs and this movie still lives in my brain rent free like every day.
You absolutely cannot blame a film for a monthS long depression /derealized disassociated state. In reality you were most likely on the verge when you chose to put this film on. I hope ur ok man.
This film 100% contributed to my nervous breakdown. Granted I wasn’t in a great state to begin with, but watching this mentally broke me. I will never watch it again.
+2 years and +1 survived attempt into my depression now and has have the title on my brain for a while, again, now this popped up in my feed and i remembered the movie i had not seen yet. now that i have just watched it i'm more empty than ever. eeriely close to the thoughts, feelings and realisation i once had on psychadelics. only this time i'm not so keen on telling myself i'm staying. how ever i'm not leaving either. feel like a delicant old mansion once full of care, love, life but is now a dusty dark shackel with nothing but ghosts and memories as tresspassers. guests imply they're wanted. will i get demolished to the ground or is there a spirit capable of wonders who see the potential and worth on saving this?
@@GiftFromGod you could easily have a career in creative writing. Maybe that could be worth sticking around for? That kind of art touches so many people and speaks so many languages to our souls. Go ahead...write something beautiful. Hope you're doing better, friend.
8:56 I love the fact that not a bite of food has been eaten during the entire meal; every plate cleared from the table is just as full as it was at the beginning of the scene.
Why is this an important detail to you?
@@larae6885
It is a subtle indication that what is happening isn't real; it's a performance of normaility. It reminds me of Luis Bunuel films.
It shows the limitation of his imagination insofar as only pertaining to the important details, that being the characters themselves
10:10 I more took the changing clothes and details to mean that this is a daydream/fantasy that the main character has come back to and replayed in his head many many times over the years, with details changing as he gets older.
Same. To me, it was always like, when you replay a daydream just to try play things out differently
One detail Can confirm that : at the highschool, the trashcan is full with ice-cream, as he repeated this scénario over and over in his head
This movie is haunting in all the best ways. A movie about creeping thoughts and "what could have been" fantasies will really get into your own brain, as it really did stick in my head weeks after my first viewing.
Also the acting is just top-notch on everyone's part. Probably some of the best acting I've ever seen in a movie.
This film feels exactly like having a psychotic episode. I've had psychotic episodes before and I was genuinely concerned I may be having one again while watching this.
I couldn't finish watching this movie or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because of this.
So, if I've had them before. Should I chose not to watch this film in genuine concern that it could trigger something in me
@@saadbunni Yes.
I think Kaufman’s works are some of the most realistic movies ever made despite being so surreal and bizarre at times it feels like you’re in a dream. I personally like this because, as much as it is incredibly depressing by pushing existential dread in your face, and all that it means to be human, it is also cathartic, and I feel the dream-like nature helps to soften the package of what are otherwise agonising, paralysing thoughts.
Kaufman said that rom coms hurt him in his youth and that movies damaged his social perceptions so he wants to make films that feel real. They don't pull their punches they're organic.
Synecdoche new york is literally the closest thing to showing the meaning of life I’ve experienced even through reading many of philosophy books and classes the film is the closest and scariest but seemingly most realistic thing to life for me. How it shows fear and inhibition and joy and losses balancing out and how even if you do or don’t do things the regrets and wishes and thoughts of better outcomes will haunt you. It really is brutal.
More like schizophrenic than a dream
@@skooptywooop1030 this really makes sense. After viewing with a friend, the friend asked why this movie couldn’t have a happy ending.
My thought is that it would detract from the realism of this character.
And it would dilute the warning that this represents, by diminishing the horror of the consequences.
This movie made me feel so unsettled.
It hasn’t changed.
I'm glad I'm left confused and whatever this is didnt resonate with me, at least not in the dark way it was intended
2 years and it’s still weighing on me
Idk if I'm just over-thinking it or it's just poor wording but I wouldn't refer to the ending as "acceptance" or "Jake's destiny" since the subject is never something people should think is meant to happen to themselves or others. I saw the movie as exploring factors that contribute to those kind of thoughts. How we glamourize romantic relationships and success that when we don't have it, we see it as a reflection of our self-worth. There's also the fact Jake is made fun of by the high school students and seems to have difficult feelings towards his parents.
Societal expectations, standards, harassment, a difficult childhood and loneliness (not just romantically) are all damaging components to a person's mental well being. Rather than just relating to the protagonist in a self-pitying way, we should view it as a deconstruction of the ways depression and suicide is perpetuated in our society and environment.
I very much agree. I saw this as more of a cautionary tale than acceptance. Anyone would be afraid of that ending but some people go through it. It hit me horribly because watching my parents JUST like he did, fear of utter loneliness, regrets, constantly daydreaming of what you COULD be instead of looking into what you are, have and can be was very terrifying but isn't guaranteed. It can still be changed, there's still a chance.
This movie is a very sad cautionary tale.
I really really agree with this, especially when it seems to me jake wants to so badly look back on things with positivity/ just being normal but it just wasn’t and that penetrates his idealized world. Almost haunts him maybe, just wishing things were different
I wholeheartedly agree. One could maybe argue, however, that the ending does depict an acceptance of sorts. The imaginary musical number that Jake performs has a somewhat twisted irony to it. It is almost as if he’s mocking himself for the realization that his young selves fantasy of future greatness never happened, never will, and that his dreams ultimately served no purpose.
This is of course a very unfortunate train of thought, but nevertheless a train of thought that seems to me have lived in his mind as he passed. He gave up on hope, and the brutal arguments this movie (Jake’s mind) has in favor of that is what really scared me.
Still, tho, I think the movie ends up making the point that this mentality can and should be avoided at all costs, that the life points he’s desperate to score do not define one’s worth
The really scary thing is...well...what does then? What defines self worth? Is there any universal, inherent thing? Because if there isnt and if we actually set those standards for ourselves, he actually had no self worth according to his own standards, and thats the worst part. You wanted to be someone of worth, and you never achieved that, so whats left?
Thank you. It sounds less bleak when you put it that way. Got the feeling something innate was wrong with the lead, that ending up lonely and reflective means you should kill yourself. Not that suicide isn't a viable solution, just that it doesn't mean you have no reason to do so.
When I first watched the film, I didn't understand what exactly was going on, yet I was intrigued by the surreal atmosphere and the underlying existential dread. Since I've learned more about the film (in no small part through videos like this), my respect and fascination for both Kaufman and this movie have increased even further. Thank you for this excellently written and edited analysis!
Since I've learned more about the film.
Translation: Since I've been told what to think about it.
This is when old directors have too much time, ego and resources
@@RuminatingWizard Your so right! Never try to gain understanding things!
@@Nonesovile96 I thought it was about dementia of an old man slowly losing his memories and losing grasp of reality
I despise this movie. Not because it's a bad movie but because it was too effective and triggered the biggest depressive episode I have had in a long time as I watched every fear I've ever had for myself and everyone I love onscreen and couldn't look away like a car crash in slow motion. It took a good couple of weeks to get out of that very dark place and Im just glad I was around people i care about and who care about me during the lockdown or things could have been worse. There were other factors at play of course - pandemics are quite stressful - but god f*ck this movie. I suppose the fact I can watch this video proves to myself that I'm doing a lot better than I was. But lesson learned, and maybe it was only my very specific form of depression but DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE IF YOU SUFFER DEPRESSION.
Also call me disgustingly cheesy but Pixar's "Soul" and it's core message is a wonderful remedy for this movie.
God , sorry u had to experience that ! Sometimes u can be impacted by a movie way more than you think ,midsommer did something similar to me where it changed my view of the world for example ,I couldn't look at grass fields or flowers without feeling a lot of horror for months ,glad your better now though
It gave me an existential crisis too. I have PTSD from childhood trauma so I ruminated and ruminated thinking my life would end up like his. It was a total midfuck! But once I was over it I realized this movie was capable of this because it's a freakin' masterpiece!
@@BumpySoup I mean that's what those wonderful content warnings are for, but I didn't have a content warning for this film, I had no idea what this movie was about going into it, but knowing the subject matter would have helped. But I've watched plenty of disturbing movies with existential dread that didn't affect me like this one. And how do you categorize this one for content warnings? Some are obvious - I will not watch movies that I know have heavy themes on dementia or Alzheimer's and I wish I knew that before David Thewlis's brilliant acting started giving me the first anxiety attack (and when I *really* should have turned off the move but couldn't look away whilst watching with family and didn't want to make a scene yadda yadda). But others? On growing old and alone - my single father growing old and alone (we both deal with depression) and those themes.... I don't know how you'd give a content warning for that because I would probably blow it off and then find myself regretting it.
I don't think it was a failure of a film for it, I don't think it shouldn't have been made. In fact as much as I despise it, I will admit it did make me confront some of those deep fears in order to get out of that dark place and ask alright, how do I make sure Dad's not alone? How do I make sure I'm not unhealthily alone? Am I unhealthily alone? No? Good. How do I make sure my life isn't a fuck up to my eyes? Or wasted? Am I wasting it? Do I feel like I'm wasting it? What counts as a good well lived life? Is being a Janitor for income such a terrible thing when I don't get my value from my job but from other parts of my life etc. etc. [insert key message from Soul several months before seeing Soul here], but I would liked to have confronted these fears in a far more healthier way than spending several weeks in the darkest my mind has been for a long time, before ever so slowly crawling out. So... yeah, synopsis and content warnings would be a nice bare minimum that most movies do anyhow...
....and if Charlie Kaufmann was sitting opposite me right now, with my morbid humour, I'd probably congratulate him on giving me f*cking depression - because that's quite an impressive feat to do - and deep dive into the themes and how? *How* the hell did he know my deepest fears? And then probably tangent off into how much I loved Being John Malcovich.
Oh, I understand this as a fellow depressive individual. Good to hear you're feeling better now!
@@MsSarahJosephine wow yeah , being careful around these kind of things can be really unpredictable, I understand what you mean by other films didnt affect you like this even thought they had the same contents ,some movies just wit way to close to home, glad your doing better by the sounds of it
The most terrifying film of the 2020's, and it's not even a horror.
There were scenes in the farmhouse at night and on the highway that freaked me out
@@blaisetelfer8499 I watched the film when I used to smoke, and I vividly remember finishing the movie, having to run outside and smoke 5 cigarettes on the verge of an exestantial panic attack.
This film is not only the most terrifying film of 2020 but ever.
@@EchelonPandora Synecdoche New York is another intense one (same director) idk if I'd recommend it as something to actually watch if I have to be honest, this one was a lot more bearable compared to that. Super nihilistic, existential, unforgiving and cold that one. It came out in the 2000s. I watched it mid 2010s and it actually made me physically ill for a while. Haven't been the same since. Take it as a forewarning lol.
Im a maladaptive daydreamer and it took me two watches to realize that this movie captures what it's like to live a constant, never ending, daydream. There is no cohesion because the events that take place within his "paracosm" (the daydream world) is a response to events occuring simultaneously in his real life. His innermost emotions are directly reflected by the journey. And at some point we get to see how reality bleeds in the daydream and vice versa, eventually acting out the fantasy and reality becoming part of the daydream itself.
Although this interpretation could be true, what I love about this film, and the book it was based on, is that it's very open to interpretation. Like jake, we become the masters of the theme wherein it is up to us on how we will project our own experiences and feelings onto the story.
What a trip. So many details I couldn't discuss, but let me toss that to you. What's YOUR favourite detail of this movie?
EDIT: OH and one more. "Synecdoche New York VS ITOET"?
PS: I’m back! In case people wonder, the main music is something I made for this video and will be uploaded on my pages soon. See you again soon everyone :) Thanks for your patience and continued support. All important links in the description.
Glad to see you back from vacations, how are you? had watched this film a few years before, I love the dreamy kinds of feel, also the driving scene almost let me think it will go forever!
Definitely like this film more than S. New York. It shows off Kaufman's peculiar style with scripts, but gives him a lot of room to just let the cinematographer do his thing. Beautiful movie.
My favourite is defiwntly when the guy is steering and his hands are old on the steering wheel but hes normal ,or at the start the poster of the pig as he drives by and it says quietly "join me" like at the end !
My favourite details are every time something weird happens but everyone acts normally, exactly like it happens in dreams and nightmares. ITOET for me because I really didn't understand and appreciate Synecdoche when I saw it, definitely need a second watch.
This movie made me cry and spend a few days feeling down. I’m a depressive and have had times when I’ve been suicidal, and this movie was just too real. That war between acceptance of your desire to end it and that memory of hope and realization that it’s too late for so many things and inability to accept things as they are…it’s just too much. I guess we can take comfort in the ingenuity and creativity, if not the subject or feeling it leaves you with.
i watched it recently and the feeling of dread it gave me after it is indescribable. im a very lonely person and enjoy my own company a bit too much, but i still sometimes think about getting old alone. how will it feel? will I regret it? it sits at the back of my mind and eats at me. this film unearthed a whole plethora of fears and anxiety in me on a very emotional level.
Bruh, you have no idea how much I was looking forward to this video. And as always you didn't disappoint 💫
Happy to hear you liked it! :) Had a lot of fun with it.
When I first watched it, I thought she had been kidnapped by him, and was creating an imagined reality in her mind while in captivity in his basement. That interpretation comes from the fact that I was very into youtube videos about real life crime stories at the time, mostly murders and kidnappings. I also had The Collector in mind, a book which I had read not many years ago. In that first viewing I loved the movie, but the ending didn’t quite fit with my theory, which I was so sure to be correct. Confused and intrigued I downloaded the book and read it all in one sitting that same night. Then I understood. It’s funny because my reading experience was largely thwarted by my previously made expectations, by the desire to see my theory confirmed, and it took me longer to figure out what was going on than it would’ve normally taken. What I find interesting though is that I can’t help thinking that, in a way, my first interpretation is somewhat correct. She is his victim, abducted from real life, constructed by him from the idea of a real person, and trapped in his mind. I find it amusing that this wild theory I came up with due to specific circumstances in my life led me to a completely singular viewing (and reading) experience, increased the shock of the revelation and still brought me a fascinating perspective on the story. I love this movie.
Nothing to say except i love this interpretation!
I recently finished reading "The Collector", I loved the first part, the ending didn't fulfill my satisfaction vessel, and although, I did watch a lot of kidnapping documentaries and crimes, my brain did get absolutely nothing, my brain stopped concluding hense speculating explanations off of this movie.. it blew my mind, well it's my first time with Kauffman.
I just watched this movie yesterday and actually had the exact same theory about kidnapping throughout the movie. I thought maybe she was being drugged or something. Btw I REALLY like what you wrote in regard to the girlfriend being a captive in his mind since she may have been a real person, kinda eerie. Although now that I think about it, the only things keeping me from believing she was someone he really met are just how bad his anxiety seems to be and the fact that the story for how the two of them met isn’t consistent.
This is a movie about one thing
Maladaptive Daydreaming
And its very hard for people who don't have made up scenarios and fantasy worlds in their heads to understand
I think there's multiple ways to interpret this movie and it's not necessarily about just one thing. But it certainly hit hard for me, considering how much time I've spent on imaginary scenarios.
@@Maurrokh i think you're right in that there's multiple things you can take away from this movie but daydreaming is the main thing that's happening throughout both the book and the movie
maladaptive Daydreaming had me create entire video game stories over the years.
But NONE of them will realize lmao
@@ptrcrispy I basically have enough and not enough material for a manga that will never get made LOL
@@nunyabiznes33 Hey at least you "only" gotta learn to draw mangas well.
I gotta be a whole Triple A producer over here lol
I love horror movies but they rarely make me genuinely unsettled and uncomfortable like this movie did, beware to anyone watching this that has experienced soul crushing bouts of depression. Extremely good movie, I felt tense and frightened the whole time. Like midsommar but way less fun and pretty
One of the best movies I've seen in my entire life. The fear of the end, the fear of ending things, the fear of a lost or wasted life, the fear of loneliness, the fear of heartbreak, the fear of loss, the fear of disappointment, the fear to be alone, the fear of dying alone, the fear of coming home and that this is something terrible, as the poem "Bonedog" says so well. That's the key to the movie. In that poem. "Bonedog". Beautiful poem, but also extremely nihilistic and pessimistic, and fatalistic. But beautiful anyway. A film that invites you to think on various things, from a quite existentialist and profound point of view, at times also philosophical, and sometimes quite nihilistic, or sad or tragic. One of those movies that stays with you and becomes part of you. In my opinion, one of the best movies I've seen, among some others. I take it to eternity. And yes, as you said at the end of the video, along with that scene from the movie that is beautiful, this movie is going to leave you thinking about many things, but also about the endings of things. And everything that has a beginning has an end. We must never forget the mortality of things. A movie that is much more than just a movie. Something unique, beautiful, sensitive, poetic, and existentialist. Something necessary and fundamental I would say. Thanks for the analysis.
Here's what I think is the best way to summarize the literal events of the film:
*SPOILERS*
The woman was a figment of Jake's imagination, an amalgamation of women he had wanted to ask out over the years but never had the courage to due to his crippling social anxiety. Jake is the 70-year-old janitor, and Jesse Plemmons is what he looked like when he was younger (as evidenced by the family photos). The film takes place on the last day of Jake's life, in which he spends it daydreaming about what could have been. What we see is his fantasy of simply having a girlfriend to bring home to Mom and Dad, but because his poor self esteem permeates even his fantasies, said girlfriend is unhappy in the relationship and constantly judging traits and behaviors that Jake is self-conscious about. His parents have been dead for decades, and he never left home. Remember the scene where he's feeding his mom and she says "I keep telling him, over an over, it's time for him to leave"? She's not referring to the girlfriend's repeated pleas to leave the farmhouse; she's referring to all the time Jake's parents tried to get him to move out and live on his own, which he never could.
What the hell was that ending auditorium scene about?
@Brian Mason A fantasy of him as a successful man in career, life and love, which he was thinking of as he killed himself.
@@brijmsn two things. 1) it was based on the Nobel acceptance speech at the end of A Beautiful Mind; he was recreating that scene in his head to give himself a Hollywoodized happy ending. 2) he sings "Lonely Room" from the musical Oklahoma, about a loner character who wishes he could marry the main love interest.
i think you're right
On a level I think it’s saying a man’s imagination can be anything he wants it to be. The woman was real, not to us but to Jake.
Charlie Kaufman is one of the most incredible screenwriters and directors of all time. I love all of his films. This one did not disappoint.
Synecdoche, New York is another masterpiece by Kaufman, it’s laden with existential dread, surreal imagery and time-related horrors.
I really like the term "time-related horror", for it beautifully captures what I felt while watching (and, even more, while later thinking about) I'm Thinking of Ending Things. This sense of irreversibly lost opportunities, a life not fully lived, and the realization that this is one's own fault can truly be described as horrifying. Haven't seen Synecdoche, New York yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
@@VallisYT I really thought I couldn't get more depressed today.
@@lizc6393 probably not the best idea to read these kinda comments if your feeling like this
I couldn’t get into Synechdoche, NY but Adaptation is one of those movies I could watch 100 times. He’s brilliant.
this movie led me to Synedoche and it became one of my favourites movies. i like everything ive seen of Kauffman's work, but i know that im not always in the mindset for one of his movies. (english is my second language, so i hope my writing makes sense)
Let me tell you the best thing I liked about the movie:
The cinematography looks like my nightmares, and the dialogues are like my thought processes which make the absurd movie almost subjectively realistic to me.
Sadly I watched it when I wasn't feeling like watching complex movies so my first impression was a bore. Haha but it reminds me of silent hill shattered memories.
That was one of my favorite things about the movie. The dialogue seemed at first to just be weird and artsy just to be weird and artsy
After the ending the dialogue made perfect sense. It's exactly like thoughts and debating people in your own head.
It really hit the nail on the head so impressively
Another suggestion: David Lynch's *Lost Highway* & *Mulholland Drive*
Kaufman has an impressive list of movies
Being John Malkovich
Adaptation
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Synecdoche, New York
Anomalisa
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Is he one of the great writers? I'd say so
Don’t forget kungfu panda 2
@@Mooseu00oh he wrote this. No wonder Shen is the deepest and most complex villain of that franchise
Loved the book, wasn’t so sure of the movie upon first watch. It took about a year for the stories to fully marinate with me though, they’re both narratives containing so many layers to unfold. Great video essay mate.
It's hard for me to put into words how this movie haunts me. There's too many connections to my real life. It's all coincidence but when combined with it's surreal construction I can't help but feel like it's made for me. Obviously it's not. I'm not delusional. But this movie put me into a serious depressed state for days after watching it the first time.
That said I highly recommend it. It's a seriously amazing and powerful piece of surreal art. I also think it says a lot about how to live a meaningful life in a seemingly meaningless world.
Charlie Kaufman is the modern philosopher we need that not only speaks to reality but also pushes it to the masses in a way that makes them have to work to realize it. He is the easily one of the best film writers and directors around. This film is going to become a Donnie Darko or American Psycho esk film that transcends its era.
I too have a basement of my collected dreams that I visit it from time to time, pretty amazing how mostly everything is still so vivid..
Spikima’s voice is so calming
Yooo I paused 10mins in to check out the film, and ended up sitting down and watching the whole thing on my phone in the garage at 1am and man, was it a vibe.
I was not disappointed. Thank you for bringing this film to my attention. It's a whole new kind of psychological horror, or at the very least, not overdone enough to be expected.
I understood the ending as an old man with a tumor, or parasite from the farm, succumbing to lack of impulse control continuously, either in the literal sense or in his mind, throughout the course of the disease. He died like the pigs.
My god thank you so much for the content you have been making. Movies like these matter so much to me and your explainations only make them better.
I believe she's his Anima. The book/movie seemed to be a great depiction of carl jung's psychological theories.
Thank you for this wonderful analysis of this masterpiece of a film. Charlie Kaufman is truly one of the greatest ARTISTS of our time, not just filmmakers, and I am so grateful that he bares his heart and soul in every film he writes/directs.
I'll never forget the intense feeling I got when she broke the fourth wall, I was already entranced just by the poetry and her looking directly just made me so vulnerable sending chills to my spine. I wish I could go back to that day, randomly scrolling through Netflix seeing the interesting title, and just watching it blindly.
I watched this film in the lead up to my first breakup and it broke me. I couldn't finish it because of the emotion it brought over me. I would like to try and finish it soon but God it was so perfect.
this was beautiful, it actually gave me chills lol
You called here Lucy, Luisa, Lucia, Amy,... Nice little detail 😁
I like how throughout your video you switched through the various names of "Lucy" lol a clever touch
Honestly the first time I watched the movie it really confused me but interested me. When I watch movies I'm always thinking about what'll be next, theorizing about what's going on, and at every step the movie just didn't do what I expected and left me brain constantly working. By the end I was just left baffled. I couldn't even quite tell if I LIKED the movie or not, but I wanted to show it to someone else because I needed to talk about it with someone. I showed it to my mom and she seemed to catch along much quicker than I did, maybe the age and experience difference played a part, but for me my second watch was when I was really able to take in all the details and realize what was really being conveyed. I've really never had quite an experience like that with a film and that kind of puts this movie amongst my favorites.
The 2006 film Stay did something similar to this one in that the explicit story you're given is not really the "true" story. They both essentially tell a story from the mind of the protagonist, in really creative ways in terms of editing and shot composition, and I think that's really brilliant and inventive. It's a shame Stay has been so overlooked and underrated for the last decade or so because of that, while I'm Thinking of Ending Things has gotten so much praise. I suppose it came out in the wrong era.
Simply a mind trip. Very beautiful camera angles/shots and music.. gave me such a modern 80’s vibe…
오늘 발견했는데 너무 보석같은 채널이네요… 자막 달아주셔서 감사합니다 잘 보겠습니다!!!!
Oh my god you have no idea how fucking happy this makes me ,my favourite youtuber making a video about my favourite movie !!! This cant be real ahhh
Wow! This is on another level of interpretative thinking. I felt sick after watching it. An outstanding visual representation of the compartments of the mind and the way the internal and external process “life” that constant fucking snow storm was a perfection representation of his life through that time. That snow… it’s everyone’s life.
this channel is criminally underrated. the editing and effort put into these is chefs kiss. love these
I really wanted a more explicitly dark tone, a horrific visual manifestation of the psychological horror & dread built up in the first two acts
A brilliant and beautiful analysis of a brilliantly devastating movie.
This movie hits like a Dostoevsky novel, it just takes a different approach; Dostoevsky writes freaks of nature whom you think you cant relate to, but then something in there claws at some part of you that relates to it, something that was buried deep, and once you find it you project fully onto the character and feel like a monster. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is broad and vague, but there's a tone in the overall project like the pages and pages of Dostoevsky's monologues that you fall in, finding similarities between you and the character. Only with IToET it starts with our projection of ourselves that we place to fill Kaufman's purposeful void, which then slowly relates more and more to ourselves with the application of the character's depression and anxiety, yet both end with you accepting yourself in the same predicament as the character. Its about finding the saddest part relatable about you, then spinning off of it with you still attached, to convince you you're just like the character.
This movie is SO WEIRD, but it's smart & aesthetic & absolutely keeps your attention 100% of the way through - but yeah it's generally uncomfortable and jarring and bizarre - that being said - we did both really like it.
i watched this and really wasn’t sure how to take it, i absolutely love this perception and analysis of the film, thank you for this !!
midway through the movie, I started crying. I don't know how it started. But I know I did.
I revisited this movie for the first time in a while tonight and the flood of emotions are coming back. It’s so heavy, arguably it’s own brand of sadistic horror. Im saying that but at the same time taken a back with how beautiful it is.
I loved the movie. It made me feel incredibly calm, like I was dreaming.
The framing of certain shots was downright painterly. I did not expect that from Kaufman.
Good work on the music. Chords and space. Sounds a little like some of Greenwood's compositions. There's definitely a Radiohead chord in there :)
been waiting for this gold ! thanks for always putting so much work into these analysis vids :) love you and your work 💖
also your music is sickkk 👏🏻
Thank you! Glad you like the musiqueeeee!
i just found your channel- and its everything i love. your presentation is beyond astonishing and shows a lot of care put into your videos. it's amazing, keep up the good work :)
That's the most interesting explanation for a J and L cut I've ever heard...great video
this is probably a coincidence but J & L - Jake and Lucy?
@@worrywirt definitely a coincidence, but good catch! J and L cuts are movie editing terms. At least they were the last time I was in to editing lol
This movie had a bigger impact on me than anything I've seen before or after. It was like a spiritual experience almost and made me reflect on so many things. It's a masterpiece
"Home is where I no longer exist" I had to slow the video to .25 and review it multiple times to find it. Haunting and well-placed. 11:35
This is a really interesting interpretation/review of the film. I haven’t read the book, so when I watched the film the first time, I thought the characters reflected the deterioration of the elderly Jake’s memory, and for some reason I felt this really unnerving sense that he had buried the memories of a murder he committed in his youth, and that now he was suffering from dementia and straining so hard to remember his own self, manifested as Amy (who I thought might be based on a past gf) wandering aimlessly through his own mind, that he was stumbling through his own guilt and consciousness … and after he comes face to face with Amy, with himself, he finally dies. But anyway, this is really interesting. I found this film beautiful and haunting and so intriguing based on the poetry of the entire story. Great video!
love your work spikima, love your narration and voice, love your films selections, when im bored, i check your videos and watch the films you cover only to see then your analysis, i discovered a lot of all time favs films thanks to you, love kauffman works btw. ty have a nice day and wish you the best
Very happy to hear that. Thank you :)
this is a very well edited and incredibly involving video essay, props!!!
Thank you for making this
I love your videos, they are something special for me. And you encouraged me to watch more movies.
So you're telling me that her monologues were manifestations of his insecurities?
I’m not always one to enjoy more artsy films like this, but Kaufman is the one exception, he just makes his films so engrossing and I can never look away or stop thinking about them after.
when i watched this movie i remember feeling so nuanced. i loved it. i hated it. i felt numb, i felt acutely. i was bored, i was extraordinarily intrigued. i wanted to change movies, i couldn’t look away. everything about this movie was so real it made me uncomfortable to the point wanting to take it away yet i was absolutely unable to do so
God damn. I have finally found a worthy, thoughtful and just interesting channel to watch. My favourite screenwriter's bleakest film so beautifully meditated upon. Also, lost my shit when hearing Synecdoche, New York score in the background. Tremendous work, already a fan!
YMS' explanation on this movie really helps for anyone who's still confused on what happened on a less abstract level in the film.
I appreciate this video immensely. I have a strange obsession with this film, and I can't stop rewatching or rereading the book it is based on. I'm always eager to see more videos like this one!
Thoughts as parasites...
Wow Spiki, wow. 🤯
The way this movie made me feel like I should give up, that my life is nearly over, and how I will never accomplish my dreams or feel satisfied at 22
I love your videos because they put me onto new movies to watch.
It’s a sense of impending doom that never comes. I felt schizophrenic at the end
i had a hard time watching this film because it made me so uncomfortable that i was constantly looking away. i’ll revisit it eventually, but as of right now I have no desire to go through the viewing experience again 😭
I understand you released this quite a while ago but this is the best video essay ive ever watched
felt like i was waiting for a jumpscare the whole time and nothing came, just two hours of horror and dread and like 10 minutes of absolute confusion
Great analysis! I've been meaning to watch thia movie again and have also read numerous theories on it. This may be my favourite.
I loved this movie. It was so unsettling and… real? I just instantly understood what it was trying to say and I get it, I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks like that
this is the type of movie that i would only watch once. or maybe not again in 25 years. i went into it excited for some thriller/horror action but ended up questioning everything for a whole week after that.
Was watching this film as you uploaded this...
The best analysis of this movie I’ve seen on CZcams thus far and I have watched every single one since the movie came out
Damn he does a really good job
i love the synecdoche soundtrack, thanks so much for actually using it :)
I love the way this guy words things. pretty much the only channel im watching currently
my favourites things about this movie are the performances of Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette and especially David Thewlis.
Synedoche is my favourite in Kaufman's filmography
Awesome video man, really made me think about the movie in a deeper sense, also what was the song that you used for the outro/credits of the video? really vibed there
I am so glad tht u have analysed this movie. I have seen this few months back and loved it so much... except for the ending.
Oh when the music from Synechdoche faded in, chills.
This movie is in my top 3 movies ever,it was so good that I will actually read the book,absolutely an amazing film.i hope there's more films like this in the future.especially with these actors
one of my fav movies ever, great video!
When I first saw this movie, I had no idea what was going on. However, when I looked at it with understanding, I realized that there was an unpleasant dull pain and a faint feeling of comfort, as if I had pressed my finger on a bruise. Now I watch it every night before I go to bed.
Nice analysis 😀 one of my favorite movies ever
Love your choice of naming her by all her different names in turn like the movie does.