Product Description

The Shooting Script of the new movie by the team that made Being John Malkovich: writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze - starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep Adaptation concerns Laroche, an eccentric collector of rare orchids (played by Chris Cooper), a journalist called Susan Orlean (played by Meryl Streep) who's writing his story and a screenwriter called Charlie Kaufman (played by Nicolas Cage), who, in adapting the resultant book, writes himself into the movie...OK? Off-the-wall it may be, but Adaptation really is an adaptation - of a book called The Orchid Thief, which tells of a scheme hatched up by a Florida orchid hunter to use Seminole indians to lift the extremely rare 'ghost orchid' from protected swampland, clone it and sell it to orchid fans all over the world. As with Being John Malkovich, this new film is shot through with Charlie Kaufman's bizarre imagination, most notably the way he folds his own adventures into the story that he himself is trying to adapt, much as John Malkovich entered his own portal in the earlier film. A Columbia Pictures film, Adaptation also stars Catherine Keener (from Being John Malkovich) and the British actress Tilda Swinton. This new title in the NHB Shooting Scripts series includes the complete screenplay, an introduction by Charlie Kaufman, stills and credits.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169344 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
'Kaufman is one of Hollywood's hottest... his scripts are like the products of chaos theory' Time Magazine, April 2002

About the Author
Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplays for Being John Malkovich and Human Nature. Spike Jonze directed Being John Malkovich and Harold and the Purple Crayon as well as many music videos.

Customer Reviews

"You are what you love, not what loves you..."
"Adaptation" is one of the most creative and original scripts that I have read in a long time. I actually bought this before seeing the film, which told me that I had a lot of faith in the fact that the film would be more than extraordinary. I was right and I read the script the day after seeing the movie.

Charlie Kaufman wants to adapt Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief" into a movie script. He wants to create something that is true to the book and doesn't have to include numerous chase scenes, violence, sex, drugs, or nudity to have it appeal to the public. The only problem is that Kaufman is having trouble in trying to adapt it and comes across a major case of writer's block. He ends up writing himself into the script and it turns into a screenplay that is about him trying to adapt the book into a movie. That is only part of this off-the-wall and unpredictable script.

The screenplay is written by Charlie Kaufman; the man who wrote "Being John Malkovitch." The dialogue and characters are really excellent. There are numerous parts that you'll want to re-read over and over again. You actually find yourself repeating some of the lines because once they get into your head, they stay in there for a long time. This is really something you should consider purchasing if you loved the film. As subtle and off-beat the film is, you miss certain things and pick up on them later after further evaluation.

The screenplay also includes a foreword by Susan Orlean, a critical commentary by Robert McKee, and an interview with Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze. They all really give you an interesting look into the film. There are also b&w photos from the movie as well.

"Adaptation" is a fantastic script that I enjoyed reading, and even read it for a second and third time. If you love a good screenplay and loved the movie, this is a worthy purchase to make.