A simple viewing of a film does not entail the interpretation or analysis of the process in which the film was made. Yet, somewhat involvement in any film class or even after a simple Wiki read (we're all guilty of it), one wonders the steps of the creative process taken, most specifically by the eyes and mind of the piece: the director. Three popular "meta" films, 8 1/2 by Italian director Federico Fellini, Synecdoche, New York by Charlie Kaufman, and Day for Night by French director François Truffaut, all explore this aspect of a director's struggle of creating his masterpiece and it's subsequent lackluster outcome.
An overzealous and apparently vividly important thematic element to these self-referential films is the classic case of the melancholy director filling the void in his existence with his masterpiece. In 8 1/2, we see our anti-hero, Guido, consistently dreaming of his paradise (which may I add is being surrounded by women attending to his needs) while alternating gaining confidence in his art and then losing complete interest (or losing his memory of the film's following plot, as some would argue). Guido’s disinterest in the life surrounding him has caused him to indirectly make his epic about his own life, casting beautiful women to fulfill whatever it is he has lost (self-pity maybe). As well, Synecdoche includes Caden’s lust for acceptance in his marriage and family life while subsequently pursuing his maidens (to be truthful- they simply are Hollywood's brand of neo-femme fatales). Just as in 8 1/2, he begins a over budget epic, spanning what seems to be 20 years in the making, a play becoming more and more alike his life after the success of his adaption of Death of a Salesman.
Will Schiffelbein of firstshowing.net writes that the creativity and longevity of film/theatre process “a labor intensive process, often wrought with difficulty and strife”. This is seen firsthand in Synecdoche, New York: as the production extends 20 years, Caden grows older and older, yet he still latches on to his past, like when his trip to Germany to find his daughter goes sour when he claims she is “only four!” This ignorance to time is apparent in 8 ½ as well, when Guido imagination takes hold and he envisions his first sexual experience with a local prostitute. Both egocentric directors bring us through the trip of each respective film, while we explore, with them and without them, existential, abstract ideas of love, acceptance, and self-realization.
It’s not out of the blue that these two films are very related, as Charlie Kaufman claimed 8 ½ as a large inspiration for the film. Yet, there is a relation between not only our somewhat uninviting narrator with a mission of others acceptance. Day for Night explores a more group-oriented view of the creative process. The film’s crew, surrounded by beautiful young people doing beautiful young people things, find themselves lost in an entanglement of unrequited love, dissatisfying marriages, and a lack of budget.
Arguably the biggest difference of 8 ½ and Synecdoche, New York, and Day for Night is the relation of the unfilled void to the man. Both 8 ½ and Synecdoche, New York include a hyper-first-person exploration of the pressure of the creative process, while in Day for Night, the jumbled point-of-view explores and opens the idea of the film-making process as a conglomerate of apprehensive, over-sexualized and overdramatic actors and crew. Our director is still relevant, but he is one of the most relative characters; he attempts to solve the actors problems instead of getting lost in this self-centrism. It still proves to be meta-referential, as the other two films are, when he uses a personal phrase in his film that actress Julie Baker tells him in private. This is among the only met-referential phrase in the film though, applying a further departure from films like 8 ½ and Synecdoche, New York.
An interesting relation of these films includes the use of deep-space composition. Fellini is applauded for this film, known as one of the most influential made, and it’s attention to detail. Neither Synecdoche, New York or Day for Night can attempt to suffice it’s tenacity or intrepidity to create this existential of a film, not yet seen in the mainstream at this time. Synecdoche, New York’s Charlie Kaufman knows film, as he worked on the masterpieces of thought-provoking films, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich, and includes uses of deep-space in a skillful way, as in the scene where we are first, very briefly, introduced to Caden’s “doppleganger” actor playing himself. We see a incredibly brief shot of this at a point when Caden and Hazel walk around his life-size replica of New York City for his play. Without a second watch, the viewer may not notice this, making this film even more observational. Day for Night’s very meta deep-space use comes from the film within the film, when Julie, or Pamela in the creation, waves at her fake in-laws from an organized and an artificial window made simply for that shot. This attention to detail can highlight each of the film’s pragmatic and interpersonal view of the hardships of creating these personal scenes.
With no background in self-revelations or meta-referential themes in film (or in life, may I add), a viewer’s head may feel a bit drained after watching these films. As “meta” as these films get, the average viewer does not think of what goes into the creative process, and these film’s perfectly explore the director/actor degradation of self, family, and thought.
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