The Serious Business of Comedy: the films Charlie Kaufman

Funny isn’t it; while comedy is probably more popular than drama at the Box Office, we rarely see it given recognition at film awards: drama reigns supreme*. The reasoning? Because comedies make us laugh, they are not taken seriously. But making us laugh is a serious business – it takes a lot of skill, good filmmaking and insight into the human condition to tickle an audience’s funnybone. Just ask Charlie Kaufman, possibly the most talented comedy writer working in Hollywood today.

Kaufman seems to have cornered the market on comedy since his first, Being John Malkovich from 1999. A decidedly odd film about decidedly odd – yet perfectly familiar – characters, BJM introduced us to Kaufman’s peculiar take on life and love. It was a crossover hit directed by (former) music video maker Spike Jonze, and starred John Cusak and Cameron Diaz. Cusak plays a forlorn puppeteer who takes a “McJob” at a bland office building only to discover it’s anything but. Accidentally he finds a portal behind a filing cabinet that leads him into the “actual” mind of actor John Malkovich...

It shouldn’t have worked but it did, and so did Adaptation (2002), Kaufman’s second feature with Jonze, equally surreal and hilarious. Adaptation is an adaptation of a Susan Orlean’s novel, a kind of ‘documentation’ of his real life struggle to complete the screenplay. The lead character is the “real” Charlie Kaufman (he’s played by Nicolas Cage). We hear Charlie’s neurotic thoughts about everything – from brushing his teeth and writing to women and writing.. Then there’s his “brother” Donald (also played by Cage). With Charlie struggling to finish - and start - the screenplay, his annoying twin is beating him to it. When Charlie finally starts writing, the film we’re watching actually becomes the screenplay he’s writing. The “real” intersects with “fiction”, culminating in a wild tragi-comic, almost farcical ending.

Kaufman’s most resounding success with audiences came with Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004), a sleeper hit with mega-stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Carrey plays downbeat writer Joel, whose thoughts - like Adaptation’s “Charlie” – are audible to us, neurotic and melancholy. His funk is briefly lifted when Joel meets the very colourful life-loving Clemantine (Winslet). They fall in love, break up – and that’s when the fun really starts; each visits a “clinic” and have a ‘procedure’ that erases the memories of each other from their minds. “Rom-com meets sci-fi meets the everyday”. It’s a bitter-sweet film, equal parts desperately moving and desperately funny...

Kaufman teamed up with French music video maker Michel Gondry to make Eternal Sunshine. Equally revered as Jonze for his inventive music videos, Gondry had in fact cut his feature film teeth on an earlier and equally odd Kaufman script, the underrated and little-known Human Nature (2001). This was Kaufman’s first attempt to marry romantic comedy with science; Welsh actor Rhys Ifans plays “Puff”, a man reared by apes in the jungle. He is the object of naturalist Lila’s affection (Patricia Arquette) and her scientist boyfriend Nathan’s jealousy (Tim Robbins). Described as a “philosophical burlesque”, this bizarre love triangle/nature movie may not be Kaufman’s most accessible comedy, but it’s certainly is his most subversive.

- Megan

* Kaufman is one of the chosen ones recognised at the Oscars for his comedy writing. Nominated twice for Best Original Screenplay (Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind), and once for Best Adapted screenplay (Adaptation), he won for Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind in 2005.

Charlie Kaufman Comedies on DVD

Adaptation (MA15+)  2002 Available Saving Charlie Kaufman writes the way he lives... With Great Difficulty. His Twin Brother Donald Lives the way he writes... with foolish abandon. Susan writes about life... But can't live it. John's life is a book... Waiting to be adapted. One story... Four Lives... A million ways it can end. Freque...   more View trailer

Being John Malkovich (MA15+)  1999 Available Saving Craig Schwartz (john cusack) is a struggling street puppeteer. In order to make some money, Craig takes a job as a filing clerk. One day he accidentally discovers a door... a portal into the brain of John Malkovich (played by john malkovich)! For 15 minutes, he experiences the ultimate head trip-HE ...   more View trailer

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (MA15+)  2002 Short wait Saving George Clooney ( Ocean's Eleven ), Julia Roberts ( Erin Brockovich ) and Drew Barrymore ( Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle ) star in the comedy thriller that poses an irresistable question: what would happen if a wildly successful TV producer was also a top-secret CIA assassin? While C...   more

Human Nature (MA15+)  2001 Long wait Saving HUMAN NATURE is the clever, colourful new comedy from Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) and celebrated French music video and commercial director Michel Gondry, making his feature debut. An hilarious...   more

West Wing, The-Season 1 - Disc 5 (PG)  1999 Available Saving Critically acclaimed and multi-award winning , The West Wing takes a behind-the-scenes look at the White House, following fictional President Bartlett and his staff as they strive to guide the world's most powerful nation through domestic and international crises.   more