Jump to content

Adaptation (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 68.34.4.188 (talk) at 03:41, 27 September 2007 (→‎Miscellanea). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Otheruses2

Adaptation.
Adaptation. film poster
Directed bySpike Jonze
Written bySusan Orlean (book The Orchid Thief)
Charlie Kaufman (screenplay) and Donald Kaufman (screenplay)
Produced byJonathan Demme
Vincent Landay
Edward Saxon
StarringNicolas Cage
Meryl Streep
Chris Cooper
Ron Livingston
Brian Cox
Maggie Gyllenhaal
CinematographyLance Acord
Music byCarter Burwell
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
December 6, 2002
Running time
115 min
LanguageEnglish

Adaptation. is a 2002 film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, although Donald Kaufman is also given writing credit. It earned Chris Cooper an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, along with overwhelming critical acclaim. It is the second film to be both written by Kaufman and directed by Jonze (the first being the critically acclaimed Being John Malkovich).

Summary

The screenplay is partially based on a true story except Donald Kaufman is not a real person. After the success of his screenplay for Being John Malkovich, Kaufman was hired to write a screenplay based on Susan Orlean's book, The Orchid Thief. However, he soon realized that the book simply couldn't be filmed. As he came under increasing pressure to turn in a screenplay, the "adaptation" became a story of a screenwriter's attempt to write a screenplay about a book that cannot be adapted into a screenplay. Kaufman handed the script to his employers in the firm belief he would never work again. Instead, the backers enjoyed the script so much they decided to abandon the original project and film Kaufman's screenplay instead.[citation needed]

The film is self-referential, in that we see the creative process behind the movie we are watching. At one point, Charlie is unable to think of a satisfactory ending for the script, and asks his brother Donald (also played by Cage) how he would end it. At that moment, the style of the movie changes to Donald's style of scriptwriting, with intrigue, sex, drugs, car chases and guns replacing abstraction and angst. Another example is during Mckee's seminar while we hear Charlie in a voice over Mckee screams at his audience "God help you if you use voice over!" and immediately Charlie's voice over stops.

Throughout the course of the film, Charlie writes or dictates ideas for his script of The Orchid Thief that are in fact used in this movie itself, such as the rapid timeline of Earth's development, or even of himself sitting there talking into a tape recorder. As well, after Charlie tells the producer the things that he doesn't want his script to turn into (a 'typical' Hollywood movie, where characters fall in love, or it turns out to be about drugs, or somebody unexpectedly dies), virtually all of them occur after Donald "takes over" the writing of the movie.

The self-referential nature of the film raises questions as to Donald's existence: that is, whether he is a real person, or merely an embodiment of one aspect of Charlie's personality (as he is in real life). Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, Donald is not only credited as a co-writer for the film, but the movie's end credits feature a dedication to his memory (implying that, if he is indeed an existing individual, he died during the writing of the screenplay). In addition, The 3 is assumed to be an existing screenplay, and an excerpt from it is also featured in the credits. Another reference to Donald and his film can be found on the DVD release in the filmography section on the disc. It includes a page for Donald, listing his works as Adaptation. and The 3.

An ironic aspect of the film's post-modern self-referencing is the appearance of Robert McKee (Brian Cox), a real-life host of screenwriting seminars. McKee is renowned for warning his students about the technique of the deus ex machina. In the film, Kaufman represents McKee as the deus ex machina, as he gives Charlie the solution to his problematic situation.

The movie talks about the "Holy Grail", but all of the characters' quests in the story either fail or turn out to be futile:

  • Charlie Kaufman wanted to write a movie just about flowers, and to impress Susan Orlean. He failed on both counts. Also, he failed in writing a screenplay wherein nothing much changes, as in "real life", seeing as his character prevails and finishes his screenplay.
  • John Laroche wanted to be a leader in many different and obscure fields. Whenever he accomplished this, however, he would abandon his hobby for a completely new one.
  • Susan Orlean wanted desperately to see the Ghost Orchid and care passionately about something. When she saw the Ghost Orchid, she was disappointed. When she found passion, she devolved into a hopeless addict.
  • Donald Kaufman didn't really want anything out of life but he lucked into all the things his brother Charlie was desperate for and wrote a hit script called The 3.

Cast

Awards

Adaptation. won one Academy Award (Cooper for Best Supporting Actor) and was nominated for three others:

It won best adapted screenplay awards from these institutes:

Financial measures

  • Production Budget: $19 million[1]
  • Opening weekend U.S. gross: $2,636,924
  • Total U.S. box office gross: $22,498,520
  • Total Foreign box office gross: $10,302,653

Miscellanea

  • In one scene, Charlie comes home and checks his mail. He is in front of a mirror, and Donald is talking to him behind him. The reflection of Donald in the mirror is actually the real Charlie Kaufman.
  • Nicolas Cage's brother, New York radio personality Marc Coppola, often stood in for one of the Kaufman brothers during shooting.
  • Robert McKee personally suggested Brian Cox to the producers to play him in the movie.

See also

References

  1. ^ Gray, Brandon. "Box Office Mojo: Adaptation". Retrieved 2006-07-24.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Adaptation (film).


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adaptation_(film)&oldid=160622746"