Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Charlie encounters Orlean in the elevator and follows her into the street.

Scene 157 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:20 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 157

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.
Scenes 10–88
Charlie wants to write honestly and make flowers matter, while also longing to be desired and understood.
Scenes 89–105
He leaves his familiar writing room and goes to Florida to search for the story firsthand.
Scenes 106–126
The swamp is ordinary, Orlean’s research fails, and Charlie experiments with increasingly personal versions of the book.
Scenes 127–144
Charlie finds a way to focus the material by putting himself in it, then commits to meeting Orlean.
Just before
Scene 154
Charlie waits outside the elevator as people pass without him getting on.
Scene 155
Laroche leads Orlean into the black water and points out orchids while promising to find her a ghost.
Scene 156
Charlie steels himself in a coffee shop across from the New Yorker and finally leaves.
Scene 157
This scene

157INT. ELEVATOR - A FEW MINUTES LATER

Kaufman rides up in the crowded elevator. It stops a few times; people get off and on. Kaufman sweats. The doors open. The New Yorker logo is painted on the wall opposite the elevator. Nobody gets off or on. The doors close. The elevator continues up. Kaufman hates himself. Soon the elevator is emptied out with the exception of Kaufman. It begins its descent and stops once again at the New Yorker. This time Orlean gets on. Kaufman is absolutely panicked. Orlean looks at him blankly, presses "lobby", and faces front. Kaufman sweats, studies the back of her head. The elevator arrives at the lobby. Orlean gets out. Kaufman hesitates, then follows.