Synecdoche, New York

As far as movies go, I might as well start with this one. Right now I'm in Massachusetts, staying with my sister andher family at their place outside Boston. During my stay, I've been busy catching up on movies that have been released during my extended travel, and exploring the area cinemas.

Synecdoche, New York has been in theaters a couple weeks now, listed in a few of the area independent movie houses. I had no idea how long it was going to be around, so I made a point of seeing it this week. The nearest place was in Waltham, which is about forty minutes drive.

I saw it on Tuesday, which was an extremely rainy day in New England. A storm front was passing through. Luckily it brought a bit of warm air, so it wasn't bitterly cold.

Since I'd never been the particular theater before, and had already gotten burned on getting lost a couple times from not checking Google maps well enough in advance, I went in early. The theater was on the south side of the Charles River. There was a covered municipal lot. I braced myself for the price, but it cost only a dollar for twelve hours. With a little time to spare, I grabbed my umbrella and crossed the Charles on the nearby pedestrian bridge to inspect the Charles River Museum of Industry. It turned out to be closed that day, but the outdoor plaques were verbose enough to give the gist of what I was seeing. The entire riverside brick complex had been constructed in stages during the Nineteenth Century as part of the Boston Manufacturing Company, a cloth mill operation.

What surprised me was learning that the earliest part of the operation had been constructed in 1814---a very early date, and that it was (as the plaque claimed) the first-ever power loom operation in the United States (or the world, I can't recall, but should). That is, it was the first ever operation to manufacture cloth entirely automatically. The operation in Waltham was the prototype upon which later "model towns" such as Lowell were based. At one time, the entire flow of the Charles was diverted into the mill.

I felt exhilarated to learn all this---it fit like a puzzle piece right into my knowledge about early industry in the U.S., a subject that greatly fascinates me. I felt ashamed that I didn't know all this already. Waltham was now a huge name in my mind.

I spent about a half hour exploring central Waltham in the downpour before circling back across the river to the cinema. Even though I held my umbrella close, the walk around the town square left my shoes, socks and pant legs soaked. Thankfully the theater was well-heated, but I realized that it would not be good to sit my wet socks like that, especially since I was planning to see another movie later that afternoon.

The auditorium was empty but for me, so I took the liberty of shedding my shoes and socks, rolling up my pant legs, and lodging my bare feet into the sleeves of my coat during the screening.

I enjoyed the movie greatly, although at times it was excruciating to watch. It is not a movie I would recommend to a lot of people, because it is very postmodern-self-aware and surrealist. Samantha Morton is one of my favorite actresses, and Philip Seymour Hoffman seems able to pull off anything. The high concept of the movie was unique and interesting, and I liked that the movie never backed down from its accelerating premise, but kept upping it right until the end. Also, it got major points from me for explicitly addressing the culturally taboo subject of loneliness, but in an existential and societal level.

But definitely not for everyone.

The Landmark Embassy Cinema was clean, new, and very comfortable. By the end of the screening, my socks were slightly drier---enough to put them back on and feel comfortable going back out. The rain had mostly stopped as well.

I look forward to going back to Waltham again for another movie at the Landmark, and to visit the museum when it is open.