Writer-director Charlie Kaufman doesn't make things easy for his characters. Some of them are sealed in a glass box (Human Nature) or coerced by the government (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). Some of them are controlled by girlfriends and boyfriends (Being John Malkovich) or painful memories (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). All of them live somewhere between reality, perception and imagination... which just makes things all the more interesting for his audience. Here's a look at some of the head trips he's taken us on.

Synecdoche, New York, Emily Watson, Samantha Morton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Noonan, 2008. © Sony Pictures Classics. Courtesy of the Everett Collection.