Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Charlie piles up books on his abandoned interests and begins reading Darwin.

Scene 58 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 35 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 58

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 55
Teenage Laroche photographs an orchid with his mother and continues his count toward cataloguing every Florida species.
Scene 56
Charlie tells his therapist he wants to be loved for himself, then catches himself staring at her body.
Scene 57
Laroche tells Orlean that orchid collecting becomes a sickness, while she resists his enthusiasm.
Scene 58
This scene

58INT. EMPTY BEDROOM - NIGHT

A depressed Kaufman fishes on his floor through an ever increasing pile of books: books about turtles, mirror resilvering, tropical fish, Hegel, etc. He picks up The Portable Darwin. The cover features a daguerreotype of Darwin. Kaufman paces and reads.