Das absurde Menschenbild in den Filmen von Charlie Kaufman

Abstract

Charlie Kaufman is considered one of the most original contemporary screenwriters. His
stories deal with existential themes such as mortality, memory and the nature of the
self and share characteristics with plays of the Theater of the Absurd.
This raises the question of whether Charlie Kaufman’s films are absurd and, if so,
what factors can be used to determine this.
To answer this question, three of his feature films are analyzed: Adaptation (2002),
Synecdoche, New York (2008) and Anomalisa (2015). The widespread model of the hero’s
journey is used as the basis for the film analysis. Based on a comparison of Campbell’s
hero’s journey and Albert Camus’ concept of absurd art, three criteria are developed
that ultimately serve to assess whether the analyzed films are absurd.
The analyses show that all three films deal thematically with the absurd concept of
man, but only one of them, Synecdoche, New York, fulfills all three criteria.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Corinna Antelmann (Supervisor)