Nimesh Bastola
Movie: Adaptation (2002)
Director: Spike Jonze
Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman
Story by: Susan Orlean
Adapted from: The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
“To begin. How to start? I am hungry. I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think. But I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee. Coffee and a muffin. Okay, so I need to establish the themes. Maybe banana-nut. That’s a good muffin.”
The self denouncing screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman takes oneself as a miserable and pathetic who keeps mumbling relentlessly with himself for his inability and helplessness to write. The above discomfort is Charlie’s when he is haunted by the writer’s block, sitting in front of his typewriter intending to write a movie script.
The 2001 film ‘Adaptation’ shows similar discomfort and struggle of Charlie Kaufman, the real American screenwriter when he was hired to write a screen play of the book ‘Orchid Thief’ by Susan Orlean based on the true story of a horticulturist, John Laroche and his quest to find rare orchids. His struggling condition to escape from the writer’s block and to adapt the book into a movie leads him to create a script putting himself and his non-existential fictitious twin brother Donald Kaufman into the script and dedicating the film to himself, taking an extra step than most of the screenwriters widely do.
The original screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman has written masterpieces such as ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999), ‘Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind’ (2004), ‘Synecdoche New York’ (2008), ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ (2020) and more. He is known for offbeat films and ambitious narrative style which seems unparallel to most of the contemporary film writers. ‘Adaptation’ is his one of the most mind blowing surrealistic work where the viewers may delude themselves on the original and adaptation.
This movie is incongruent to the other adaptive screen plays because none of the other screenwriters had ever put solely themselves into the story by putting his alternative aspects of the same person suffering from owns multiple personality. The ability of Charlie Kaufman getting out from the writer’s block by taking himself as a part adaptation is truly unparallel, turning ones inability into the artistry realm shows just an epitome of perfection.
The screen writer which he has caste inside the movie wants to adapt the book as it is and don’t want to ruin the story by adding cheap Hollywood things like as car chasing, drugs, sex, obstacles and about learning profound life lesions from it. “Why can’t there be a movie simply about flowers?” His intention is all about to adapt the book at it is and how life is thematically flavored with it. But there was an obstacle, to write as original as it can be, even being an adaptation.
‘Adaptation’ gives a feeling like someone creating his own existence and living through it, being the creator of his own faith. The story of movie is plotted by the character himself in such a way, being inside the same movie and giving owns life story where the viewers fall into the obliviousness by creation of the character. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the character himself creates his faith being a parasite of the viewer’s mind. Like, the act of God, creating his owns creation for the existence of the self in the different realm of owns creation, in the fictional and mystical world.
The screenwriter inside the movie plots story in such an absolute way that viewers may awed being clueless, from where and how the mere character is shaping the movie by himself, living inside the story. The ending explains the beginning and the beginning explains the ending making the story mysterious and breathtaking.
Spike Jonze, a legendary film director who has directed movie such as ‘Her’ (2013) does not need much introduction in film world. He has done collaboration with Kaufman in ‘Being John Malkovich’ too. And the result of that collaboration is still well applauded by the people as to the ‘Adaptation’.
Nicolas Cage, an Oscar winning actor as both Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman has played an elegant role showing the diverse ability to cope in a single work. Every cinephile knows the strange act of Cage that how his indifference cinematic charisma has been hugely impacts the Hollywood industry. From the ‘Ghost Rider’ to the ‘Dream Scenario’ and his latest one, ‘Longless’ he has given unique performances making negative criticism dull and awkward as his performance in ‘Adaptation’.
‘Adaptation’ is a movie that put lights on how much obstacles can a man can weigh in his head just to figure out the answer to his quest. Movie dwells well on the discomfort arises in search for the passion. Chris Cooper as John Laroche changing hobbies depicts that how our desire to get changing and still we cling into it moving and expecting satisfaction from it.
Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean even ends her book, as put in a movie “I wanted to want something as much as people wanted these plants. But it isn’t part of my constitution. I suppose I have one unembarrassed passion. I want to know what it passionately feels like to care about something passionately.” Monologue continuous “If the ghost orchid was really a phantom it was still a bewitching one that it could seduce to people to pursue it year after year and mile after miserable mile. If it was a real flower, I wanted to see one. The reason was not that I love orchids. I don’t even especially like orchids. What I wanted to see this thing that people were drawn to in such a singular and parallel way.” which also shows the similar haunting towards the ambition which is astoundingly uncertain and unknown to the self.
I like to say, ‘Adaptation’ is altogether mind bending and mind bewitching, if I have to conclude in a sharp one conclusion. But it will be incomplete and unjustifiable even after sculpturing thousand words about it. Adaptation is such. It is most purposeful to the writers and to the movie enthusiastic who is ready to witness the adventure of creation binding within the creation.
(Reviewer Nimesh Bastola is from Sunsari, Itahari, and can be reached at nimesh.bastola101@gmail.com.)
