Charlie Kaufman is known as one of the most innovative filmmakers that influenced and inspired newcomers to cinema. He started his filmmaking journey as a screenwriter and he made a breakthrough with the success of his first feature film “Being John Malkovich” which was also Spike Jonze’s directorial debut. Their collaboration alongside their friendship began with this movie. In their films; Kaufman was responsible for the general feeling and the atmosphere courtesy of his background in literature whereas Jonze was offering his technical expertise in camerawork. Although they made two films together, Jonze and Kaufman were nominated and won numerous awards which made their names in the industry. After their collaboration, Jonze continued his fame by making critically acclaimed films; unlike Spike Jonze, there was another director, Michel Gondry, who could not maintain his successful career after working together with Charlie Kaufman. Similar to Jonze, Michel Gondry started earning his reputation with the movie “Human Nature” written by Kaufman. Thereafter, their Academy Award-winning second film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” became a landmark in their filmography. Despite the differences in the course of their careers, similarities between Jonze and Gondry’s collaboration with Kaufman were inevitable. LaRocca stated that although the conventional way of referring to a film includes the director’s name, films written but not directed by Kaufman also known as “Kaufman Films” as he is the main creative power of the film under the favor of the crucial effect of his screenplays (2011, p.2). His way of storytelling was leaving the audiences with existential questions such as what it is like to be a human, is unquestioned love possible or what is like to be someone else. He was able to write these philosophical subjects masterfully owing to his unique and creative mind. After building his successful career in writing, he wanted to make a movie over which he has ultimate control. He made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York courtesy of what he learned from directors who worked with him before. With Synecdoche, New York he started to use characteristics of the motion-picture medium as a contribution to his storytelling. Especially editing, sound, and make-up became significant factors in his movies. Firstly, he used editing in Synecdoche, New York to show time passages unperceived until the story comes to its end. In a similar way that how life slips out from people’s hands without being noticed until the very last moment of their life. As a second example, the sound had a crucial point in Anomalisa. Every character other than the protagonist is voiced by the same person and being surrounded by the same people created the feeling of loneliness which is one of the outstanding focal points of Charlie Kaufman’s work. Lastly, in I am Thinking of Ending Things; he used make-up for realistic aging and giving the last scene more depth. Not only editing, make-up, or sound but also music, acting, and mise-en-scene were contributing to the story of movies, and thus these artworks became unexplainable in words without watching them. When he has full control of his work, movies are started to be more depressive and harder to follow for many. It is believed that directors who worked with him were making the atmosphere of the movies more hope-inspiring, but he always said that he is not trying to be depressive about life; he just tries to be truthful. He tried to create an opportunity for people to recognize their common humanity and vulnerability as he said. Charlie Kaufman mentioned topics that philosophers speak of, but not in their conventional way, which was one the reasons why his movies became much more than just their plot. As it is indicated by Hill, even the plots of Kaufman’s films are simple; by force of his creative narrative construction and cinematizing; all elements have coalesced into a unique film which causes different individual experiences and exploration of various feelings for each viewer (2011, p.221). Charlie Kaufman believed that if something should be done in that way then it should be done in that way. Thus, he was attentive to be sure what he wants to tell should be told in a film form, hence; he created phenomenal artworks in cinema from his stories originating from his philosophy. Although Charlie Kaufman has a commercially successful filmography, his approach to the cinema was unconventional, absurd, and bizarre, unlike other filmmakers’ perspectives on motion pictures in Hollywood. He was accomplished as both writer and director who make films that seemed impossible to bring into film form when first heard and this, inspired and encouraged people to think out of the box while they are thinking about an idea for a feature-length movie. His style has begun to take a form when he was only concerned about scripts and by the time of progress one genre or method was inadequate to describe his works. Therefore, the term ‘Kaufmanesque’ emerged to be able to define his or others’ work of art which mentions anxiety, reality, puppetry, anomaly, interiority, memory, and mortality in a surreal and abstract way. Even though Charlie Kaufman says that ‘I feel like the stuff that I write is personal, and I would like to be in charge of it’ as is quoted by Larson in Mercer Street (2017, p.39), when his oeuvre is examined; it can be seen that main subjects are not extraordinary, they are just rarely spoken about. Owing to his minimalist and detail-oriented scene design, he was able to embody these abstract topics into stories. After becoming a director, watching his movies carefully became a significant factor to capture the metaphors and meanings in each scene. As an example, he pays attention to his characters so much that their last names correspond to their personalities. Moreover, in Synecdoche, New York he even wrote the lyrics of background music in some scenes to ensure that it fits with the tone of the story. However, even though these details cannot be seen, ‘Kaufman’s films were still meaningful and satisfying for the audience due to being emotionally grounded. For many, it was inevitable to connect with the characters, think about the themes, and ask questions that may be ignored before. The main reason why the audience internalize his art was the fact that he always had a reason to create it. That is to say, Charlie Kaufman will be continuing to make movies as long as he has something to tell.
