Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

A flower blooms in time-lapse as a narrator explains orchid anatomy.

Scene 38 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Sensuous Female Narrator

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 24 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 38

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.
Scene 10
Valerie and Margaret give Charlie the assignment to adapt The Orchid Thief.
Scene 31
Donald’s rivalry and affection give Charlie a living counterpoint to his isolated view of himself.
Just before
Scene 35
Charlie imagines the bookstore cashier exposing a heart tattoo, then hears a heartbeat become knocking.
Scene 36
Donald pitches Charlie a serial-killer thriller built around a killer who is also cop and victim.
Scene 37
Orlean approaches Laroche after the hearing and tests whether he will give her an honest quote.
Scene 38
This scene

38EXT. FIELD - MORNING

MUSIC: lush, profound orchestral piece.

A glorious orange, large-petalled orchid blooms in dramatic time-lapse. We slowly, lovingly circle the flower.

SENSUOUS FEMALE NARRATOR

The Orchidaceae is a large, ancient

family of perennial plants with one

fertile stamen and a three petalled

flower. In most orchid species, one petal

is enlarged into a lip and is the most

conspicuous part of the flower.