Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

A girl swings alone as her parents stare away from each other through separate windows.

Scene 63 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 37 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 63

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 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
Orlean admits that she wants to feel the passion other people feel for their interests.
Scene 63
This scene

63EXT. SUBURBAN BACKYARD - NIGHT

The seven year old girl swings sadly by herself. From high up she sees her mother in a window at one end of the house, her father in a window at the other end. Both stare blankly in opposite directions. The swing completes it's arc and the girl descends, losing sight of her parents.