Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Young Laroche tells his mother that collecting every turtle is the only purpose that makes life worth living.

Scene 49 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Mother
Boy

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 28 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 49

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 46
Charlie drives past women working in shops and leaves without approaching Alice.
Scene 47
Charlie types orchid imagery while Donald proposes adding the Swamp Ape and asks to borrow a murder idea.
Scene 48
Young Laroche watches the night from a bedroom surrounded by turtles.
Scene 49
This scene

49INT. LIVING ROOM (1972) - CONTINUOUS

The boy comes downstairs. His father, in his backbrace, watches TV; his sister lies on the couch, semi-conscious, more pale than before. His mother pats the girl's head with a damp cloth. There's a little Hindu altar with candles.

MOTHER

(praying softly)

For certain is death for the born/And

certain is birth for the dead/Therefore

over the inevitable/Thou shouldst not

grieve. Sweet, sweet Diane.

The boy surveys the sad scene. His mother looks up, smiles.

MOTHER (CONT'D)

A slice of pie for my turtle expert?

The boy beams with pride, then gets solemn.

BOY

Mom, there's something I feel I have to

do. I don't know how to do this, but I

feel in my stomach that I have to.

MOTHER

What do you have to do, honey?

BOY

Collect one of every turtle in the world.

(beat)

It's a long list, ma. Cuora

galbinifrons, Graptemys versa, Callagur

borneoensis, all the Galapagos species,

people think there's only one, but that's

hardly the case. Cycloderma frenatum,

Cuora pani...

(sighs)

I don't think my life is worth living if

I can't do this.

The boy and his mother look at each other.

MOTHER

Well, we'd better get started, huh, baby?

The boy nods his head solemnly.