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 183
Charlie calls Donald to congratulate him and invites him to help in New York.
- Scene 184
Donald reads Charlie’s pages and urges him to emphasize the brothers, sharpen the drama, and use the swamp.
- Scene 185
Donald finds Laroche’s online site and discovers Orlean’s image among the pornographic material.
- Scene 186
This scene
