Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Orlean admits that she wants to feel the passion other people feel for their interests.

Scene 62 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Orlean

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 37 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 62

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 59
Darwin’s voice reads about life descending from a common origin.
Scene 60
Charlie dictates a creation-of-life opening and insists on silence before the story begins.
Scene 61
Laroche teaches Orlean about pollination and orchid forms, but she remains detached from the spectacle.
Scene 62
This scene

62INT. APARTMENT - EARLY EVENING

Orlean stares at photos of orchids on her bulletin board. She can't find a way in. She looks over at her husband reading. He smiles at her. She smiles back, but there's a terrible distance between them. She looks at us sadly.

ORLEAN

I wanted to want something as much as

people wanted these plants but it isn't

part of my constitution.

Orlean stares out the window at the empty street below. A plastic bag dips and rises in the breeze. She inhales.

ORLEAN (cont'd)

I suppose I do have one unembarrassed

passion.

(beat, looks back at us)

I want to know how it feels to care about

something passionately.