Spike Jonze’s “Adaptation” (2002)

The Novel

The Orchid Thief is a non-fiction novel written by The New Yorker’s Susan Orlean. In it, Orlean beautifully narrates her time with John Laroche, a florida horticulturalist, notorious for his involvement in a court case regarding his poaching of rare orchids from Fakahatchee Strand State preserve with the help of three Seminole men. In the novel Orlean delves into Laroche’s unconventional lifestyle and motivation, still despite it’s notorious subject, The Orchid Thief is at it’s core a novel about the nature and effect of passions and obsessions in life.

The Film

Jonze’s film is a dizzying, often confusing, foray into the writing process of screenwriter Charlie Kauffman played by Nicholas Cage in the film, and his struggle to adapt Susan Orlean’s novel The Orchid Thief into a film. The film itself often shifts without warning from idealized notions and “real” life with the result that “reality” is then warped and confounded. This can be seen in the amorous scenes where Charlie Kauffman envisions various sexual encounters with different women which leads the audience to believe (at first) that they are real with the next scene after that showing Charlie Kauffman alone in his bed taking care of business on his own. The interposing of the story of John Laroche and Susan Orlean also disconcerts the viewer as they happen in tandem with Charlie Kauffman’s struggle to write so the viewer is never quite sure if this is part of the finished movie, a flashback, or merely the imaginings of Charlie Kauffman. The way that Adaptation is structured visually models the often non-liner narrative of the novel.

The Adaptation  

Like the novel, the Jonze’s film revolves around the passions and obsessions of it’s characters. Charlie Kauffman’s passion is writing and it is this passion that eventually leads him to obsess over creating a perfect, and faithful film adaptation that will do the film justice. Likewise, Susan Orlean’s arc centers around her quest to find something that she is passionate about and it is this fervent desire that leads her to become more and more entrenched and obsessed with John Laroche’s story whom she believes embodies everything that is not: Namely, that he thrives off of passion (though some could call his behavior more obsessive rather than passionate). The effects of these passions and obsessions can be seen in the neurotic, anxious behavior of Charlie Kauffman and in the quiet desperation of Susan Orlean as she interviews and gets to know John Laroche.

Criticism 

In this video essay Luke Gernert analyses the some of the work of Director Spike Jonze and his cinematographic decisions. Gernert analyses the way in which Jonze directs music videos, commercials, and feature length films and how he warps reality and even uses the audience expectations in order to produce a poignant message in his work.

In “The Implicit Soul of Charlie Kauffman’s Adaptation” Author David L Smith portends that “Adaptation” is essentially a study into life and what it means to be human. Smith talks at lenght about the process of writing and the struggle to define the events of life into words and then again into film. A process that is embodied in the character of Charlie Kauffman as he struggles to write about a book that is considered unadaptable to film. Smith portends that the film is “about disappointment”, the inability to portray life through writing, but also elevates real life as the driving force in this quest for “purity.”

In an interview with Spike Jonze and Charlie Kauffman, both director and writer talk about the difficulties in creating the film version of adaptation Kauffman also talks at length about his own struggle to adapt the Orchid Thief and how this lead him to write himself into the script, fully expecting to be turned down, but was instead pleasantly surprised. Kauffman also mentions that though he modeled Charlie Kauffman’s insecurities on his own experience, the mannerism of the film character are not his own.

Critical Analysis 

One of the central motifs surrounding Spike Jonze’s and Charlie Kauffman’s “Adaptation” is the pursuit of passion. Both Charlie Kauffman and Susan Orlean are completely involved not only in the pursuit of passions but in the expression of passion. Charlie Kauffman’s dedication to his writing and Susan Orlean’s dedication first to understanding John Laroche and then to understanding herself and finding her own passion is a prime example of their drive experience and document true passion. In a sense, both Kauffman and Orlean struggle with documenting life at its most in writing. Curiously, this trait is also shared by Tristram Shandy who, in the novel, also tries to create a faithful rendition to his own life. Thus, “Adaptation” is a film that explores the creative aspect of life and the difficulties that arise from trying to render these moments into words (or film), and also an exploration of the way that different individuals respond to and search for motivation and passion.

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Primary Source

Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random House, 1998. Web.

Secondary Sources

Gernert, Luke. “Spike Jonze: A Video Essay.” YouTube. YouTube,Web.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LGhI6cjrVg&gt;.

Smith, David L. “The Implicit Soul of Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation” Philosophy and Literature (Baltimore, MD) (30:2) [Oct 2006] , p.424-435. Web.
<http://literature.proquest.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/searchFulltext.do?id=R03947619&divLevel=0&queryId=2870137515711&trailId=14D8644AE2C&area=mla&forward=critref_ft&gt;

Murray, Rebecca, and Fred Topel. “Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman Interview – Adaptation.” About.com Hollywood Movies. Web.
<http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aaadaptationintb.htm&gt;.