Charlie Kaufman
Sto pensando di finirla qui

Charlie Kaufman, 61 years old, is today considered one of the most authoritative figures in Hollywood. And it is precisely in the adjective just stated that we agree and can without hesitation bestow upon him the title of Author. Author of cinema.

He came to prominence as the screenwriter for “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation,” and the cult film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (but don’t say the title in Italian, they’ll look at you malevolently, from the most brilliant cinephile to the most rustic moviegoer with flat cola and popcorn) and transitioned to directing in 2008 with “Synecdoche, New York,” directed “Anomalisa” in 2015, leading up to the film in question “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” of 2020, a cinematic adaptation of the eponymous novel by Canadian writer Ian Reid and released directly on the Netflix streaming platform.

I’m thinking of ending things. This is what Lucy (Jessie Buckley – Chernobyl) is mulling over while she’s in the car with her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons The Irishman), whom she met just 6 or maybe 7 weeks ago. They’re heading to a farm where his parents live, it’s cold outside and it’s snowing…

Describing beyond the beginning becomes difficult. The film doesn’t follow a linear plot, neither in space nor in time. It is permeated by an aura (a dark aura) that conveys discomfort, unease, a subtle sense of angst and inadequacy. It has a disquieting, nauseating progression, reminiscent of seasickness or more simply, a loss of orientation. At times, if you knew nothing about the author, it might seem like you’re watching a horror movie, but that’s not the case at all. It’s a symbolic, poetic, philosophical film, almost “pessimistic” if it weren’t for the fact that I am a pessimist myself… (pay attention to the dialogues, especially in the car).

So it is one of those films you try to “understand” but it will be futile because it will only reveal its hand at the end, even though it releases some “clues” throughout its development but you, as a viewer, will recognize them as such only at the end (if you’re sharp enough, that is). It is the kind of film that, if you liked it even a little, you’d want to watch again, if only to be able to say “ah! …that’s why then…”.

We are undoubtedly facing a complex, fascinating work, at times cumbersome, or rather “leaden,” but undoubtedly original, like its Author, indeed.