Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Donald teaches Charlie about building an image system while they pursue Laroche’s van.

Scene 190 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three

Kaufman
Donald

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:38 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 190

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.
Scene 184
Donald’s notes push Charlie toward the brothers, the swamp, and a dramatic ending.
Just before
Scene 187
Donald tails Orlean as she arranges a flight with Laroche.
Scene 188
Charlie says he does not want to meet Orlean, but Donald cheers him up and the twins sing together.
Scene 189
Orlean leaves the airport with Laroche as the brothers follow in a car.
Scene 190
This scene

190INT. CAR - A BIT LATER

Donald drives, keeping up with the van, which speeds and swerves through traffic. Kaufman is sweaty, nervous.

KAUFMAN

It's so weird to actually see that van in

real life.

DONALD

So you want to build the symbolic charge

of the story's imagery from the

particular to the universal. Okay?

KAUFMAN

Okay, but when you're creating an image

system, how do you know --