Synecdoche, New York

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• Philip Seymour Hoffman's character's last name is a reference to the Cotard delusion or Cotard's syndrome, also known as nihilistic or negation delusion, which is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs.
• Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut.
• At the start of the film, when 'Phillip Seymour Hoffman' is reading the news at the breakfast table, he reads out that "Harold Pinter has died.... wait.... no - he's won the Nobel prize". This is a reference to a famous Sky News clip whereby Sky, in their rush to be first with breaking news, accidentally announced that Harold Pinter was dead. In fact it had just been announced that he was to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature.
• When Caden sees Hazel at the box-office, a brief shot reveals she is reading: page 1 of Marcel Proust's Swann's Way, the first book of his multi-volume novel Search of Lost Time. A recurring character throughout Proust's novel is Dr. Cottard, reportedly based somewhat on Proust's own father, a noted physician, and on the Cotard who gives the delusional syndrome it's name.