Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Laroche finds a ghost orchid, names it reverently, then orders Russell to cut its tree.

Scene 11 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Laroche

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 7 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 11

Unable to find a conventional story in The Orchid Thief, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman turns his own crisis into an increasingly self-referential adaptation.

Scenes 1–9
Charlie inhabits an isolated, self-condemning world while Orlean’s book supplies a distant model of obsession.
Just before
Scene 8
Ranger Tony radios about Seminole men in the swamp, then tells his dispatcher the poachers are there for a reason.
Scene 9
Valerie asks Charlie to adapt The Orchid Thief; he resists adding romance, action, or conventional lessons.
Scene 10
Charlie tells Margaret he will adapt the orchid book, and she urges him to pursue its subject seriously.
Scene 11
This scene

11EXT. SWAMP - MORNING

Hot, dirty, miserable. Laroche leads the Indians through waist-high black water. He points out a turtle on a rock.

LAROCHE

Pseudemys floridana. Did you fellas know

you fellas believe the world rests on the

back of a turtle? Not you fellas

specifically. Although, maybe you fellas

specifically. That I can't speak to.

The Indians ignore him. They trudge. Laroche spots something else, a dull green root wrapped around a tree. He stops, circles the tree. His eyes widen in reverent awe.

LAROCHE (cont'd)

A ghost. Polyrrhiza Lindenii.

The Indians come around. Laroche stares at a single beautiful, glowing white flower hanging from the tree. He tenderly caresses the petals. Then, business-like:

LAROCHE (cont'd)

Cut it down, Russell.

Russell pulls out a hacksaw, begins sawing through the tree.