Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Orlean recalls seeing a ghost orchid with Laroche, but cannot feel what he feels as he cuts it down.

Scene 194 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three

Laroche
Orlean

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:43 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 194

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 191
Charlie chooses to approach Orlean and discovers her intimate life with Laroche among the ghost orchids.
Scene 192
Laroche beats Charlie and, with Orlean, plots to kill him before Donald watches from outside.
Scene 193
Orlean mocks Charlie’s imagined romance and admits that she lied about the ending of her book.
Scene 194
This scene

194EXT. SWAMP - DAY

Laroche leads Orlean through the swamp. He spots something on a tree, circles it, and stands there, awestruck. Orlean comes around and sees a beautiful ghost orchid hanging from the tree.

LAROCHE

The jewel of the Fakahatchee.

Orlean looks at it, tries to feel some passion for it, can't.

ORLEAN

I still don't get it. I mean, there it

is. I can see it's pretty, but --

LAROCHE

You'll get it.

Laroche pulls a saw from his bag and cuts the branch.