I do not believe it is editorializing to claim that Charlie Kaufman is a genius. His work speaks for itself, but one needs only to hear the man speak to realize that his mind is not like ours. His imagination is boundless, and his creativity knows no ends. This was more than apparent in Kaufman-penned films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, and Adaptation. However, Kaufman is more than just a wordsmith. His directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York was one of the most inventive, visually stimulating films of the decade, while remaining impeccably written and wrought with emotion. To quote Walter Sobchak from The Big Lebowski, "he's not exactly a light-weight." Thus, the release of his new stop-motion animated dark comedy (which he wrote and directed), Anomalisa, is somewhat of a big deal. The film already holds a 100% on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, and has held the entire film-watching world in anticipation. Kaufman recently sat down with New York Magazine to discuss his career, his thought process, and his upcoming film.
The film has been lauded for its commitment to realism, despite it's all-puppet cast. When asked if it was weird to see such a realistic portrayal of puppet sexual intercourse in the film, Kaufman told Vulture, "It's not weird. Almost everybody we speak to feels that way. We worked really hard on that scene. It took six months to shoot. We were very aware of people coming into it thinking it was going to be like Team America, that it was going to be a joke, and we didn't want it to be [like that]. We knew there would probably be some laughing at first because it's puppet sex. We weren't opposed to that, but what we found is that there is the occasional laugh at that point out of nervousness, but then people get really quiet."
Kaufman also took time in the interview to expound on a few of his cinematic heroes and influences. According to Kaufman, one of the most important accomplishments a filmmaker can achieve is stylistic individuality paired with emotional impact. Kaufman says certain filmmakers do this well, including, "David Lynch. I love David Lynch. He's really important to me. Also, [Lars von Trier's] Breaking the Waves has some sense of artifice in it to me, but the performances are extraordinary, and felt. I really like the Coen Brothers. I think Barton Fink does that in spades. It's got really funny stuff in it, really over-the-top characters, but I feel things in that movie, too."
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