Anomalisa: Charlie Kaufman explains depressing reason he hasn’t made more movies
'There are certain things that are being made and certain things that aren’t. And I guess I’m one of those things that isn’t.'
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Your support makes all the difference.Charlie Kaufman is almost like the screenwriter’s screenwriter, having penned some very intricate and meta scripts over the years which have been turned into brilliant and thoroughly original movies like Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York.
Anomalisa, a surreal but incredibly human new film made using stop-motion animation lodged firmly in the uncanny valley, is his first film in seven years, so why the delay?
“Well, I’ve had a very hard time. I haven’t been able to get anything made since Synecdoche, New York. I’ve been struggling. I’ve written a bunch of stuff,” he told Uproxx.
Understandably surprised, the site countered: "You just named a movie people love. I don’t understand why."
“Well, apparently somebody understands it because they haven’t given me any money,” Kaufman replied.
It seems the sad truth of the matter is that at a time when cinemas are littered with superhero sequels, no-one really wants to finance more experimental and less bankable work like his.
“Well, you can look at the film business and sort of see there are certain things that are being made and certain things that aren’t,” Kaufman concluded. “And I guess I’m one of those things that isn’t.”
Anomalisa did get picked up by Paramount thankfully, and the film, which has been labelled a “masterpiece” and an “essential movie” opens in theatres on 30 December, 2015.
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