A Paradoxical Life - "Adaptation of the Screenplay" looks like John loves orchids. Some rare orchids are only found in the swamps of the Indian Reserve, but local laws prohibit collecting them, but John has his own trick: hire Indians to pick them, because the area where the swamp is located is the ancestral land of the Indians, so only the Indians can pick flowers. legitimate. The incident was reported to a famous New York magazine. The magazine thought it was an event that could attract public attention, so it sent a female reporter Susan to interview. Susan wrote her interview into a non-fiction novel. , this strange English word came from Truman Capote), the editor of a certain publishing house was very interested after reading it, and it really sold well after it was published. Next, the book was bought by a Hollywood production company and was ready to be made into a movie, so he hired a talented playwright Charlie Kaufman to adapt the book into a script, but Kaufman racked his brains and didn't know how to do it. adaptation. The movie "Adapted Script" (Hong Kong translation of "Orchid Thief") tells such a story, which looks ordinary on the surface, but it is extremely unusual if you think about it carefully. Some people may say: Isn't it just that the screenwriter is exhausted and suddenly wants to write his own experience into the script? But it is by no means so simple. It can be said that this film interprets the "split personality" experienced by the creator in the creative process to the extreme - one is a story about a female reporter interviewing an orchid thief, and the other is adapted by playwright Kaufman The story of the script. As the film progresses to the end, the two clues naturally converge, leading to a seemingly mediocre, but actually absurd ending. The meaning of "split personality" in the film is the twin Kaufman brothers - Charlie and Donald. Charlie is talented, neurotic, not good at dealing with women, and disdain for Hollywood commercial films; Donald is the complete opposite. He likes to socialize and please women. I wrote a very cliché script, but it was picked up by filmmakers and sold for one million. After a little pondering, it can be seen that the twin brothers are actually the same person, and they represent the dual personalities of typical Hollywood screenwriters. Art and business, innovation and cliché, shabby and dashing... These completely contradictory things can appear in all Hollywood screenwriters and become their perpetual troubles. The screenwriter of this movie is Charlie Kaufman, one of the most original screenwriters I know of today. The twin brother Donald Kaufman in the film is a fictional character and does not exist in reality. Nicholas. Cage plays two roles by one person, and one person plays two completely different people. They complement each other on the contrary, that is, self and him and me, which makes the audience wander on the edge of identity and contrast, which is very innovative. In the film, there are both self-playing self-such as John Malkovich (immediately reminiscent of the masterpiece "Becoming John Malkovich" written by Charlie Kaufman), director Spike Jones ( He is also the director of "Becoming John Malkovich"); there are also actors who play real people - such as Cage as Charlie Kaufman, Aunt May as the female reporter Susan, Chris Cooper as John the Orchid Thief, etc. And the purely fictitious Donald is treated like a real person. Generally speaking, no matter any form of art work, there is still a clear line between reality and fiction, but this "Adapted Screenplay" is to blur the line between reality and fiction, especially the ending. It's a typical Hollywood scene. But it's not that the screenwriter's talent is exhausted, it's a metaphor that he still has "miscellaneous thoughts" that bow to Hollywood commercial films in his subconscious, or that he wants the audience who love art films to taste what it's like to mix commercial elements in art films. Of course, each audience can have their own completely different interpretation of the design of this bridge, and the dialectical thought contained in it is quite interesting. "Adapted Screenplay" is full of contradictions, and it simply plays with contradictions as a joke and a burden in comedy. For example, it's Charlie. Kaufman's monologue: "Do I have an original idea in my head?" And my answer: This is still one of the most creative screenplays of the century. When meeting the producer for the first time, Charlie emphasized: "I don't want to adapt this book into a Hollywood-style script, that would ruin it. I don't want to put sex, guns, chases, etc. in the script, or the protagonist realizes. What philosophy of life... This book is not like this, and life is not like this." However, the ending of the film is that Charlie slaps himself in the face. In the two lines of interviewing the orchid thief (Aunt Mei) and adapting the script (Cage), although the latter basically has no entertainment elements, the main creator has more and more ink on this line. The film shows us the hardships of the script creation process. Although a lot of voiceovers are used (the script master in the film repeatedly emphasized: "Only fools rely on voiceovers"), it does not affect the overall visibility of the film. There are many references to the pursuit and meaning of life in the film. Susan, played by Aunt Mei, asks a park worker why some people are so obsessed with orchids, and the latter replies: "Orchids are beautiful, mysterious, and unknowable. In addition, I think Life is meaningless, at least not obvious - you get up, go to work, do things, everyone is looking for that little, extraordinary thing that just makes it easier to pass the time. That's it. "And the message conveyed by the film is also similar to what the gardener said: a kind of detachment after seeing through the red dust. What kind of movie is a first-class movie? Can a first-class film reveal life? Can't the best movies be used for killtime? Are pretentious literati really smarter than Hollywood filmmakers? Maybe these are the ideas that "Adapted Screenplay" wants to express, or maybe the whole movie is a pointless self-debate. As for acting, Aunt May is as competent as always, and Cage also contributed one of the few top-level performances in his acting career. Although it can't be said that he was possessed by the twin Kaufman brothers, it was enough to attract attention. The real highlight of the film is Chris. Cooper, he portrayed the orchid thief John who was at the bottom of the society and the ruffian ruffian is vivid and ready to come out. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this film, which is well deserved. In the film, his character represents a spirit, that is, a certain kind of person we see in our lives: a fanatical/self-absorbed fascination with something that can't help itself. John was initially obsessed with fishing and became famous in the industry, but one day he suddenly gave up the hobby and fell in love with orchids instead. Contrasted by his flamboyant, unscrupulous personality, whether it is Susan or Charlie, these two literati seem to lack enthusiasm for life and worry about gains and losses. The last thing I want to say is that the super machine in Hollywood has produced not only "Titanic", "Transformers", "Batman" and "Reunion", but also "Groundhog Day" and "Death Illusion" , "All the time" and "Adapted screenplay" such anomalies. Generally speaking, experimental works such as "Adapted Screenplay" can only be screened in art theaters in first-tier cities or universities with film majors, and then disappear, becoming a "relict" occasionally mentioned by film critics. But because Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jones collaborated on "Becoming John Malkovich", which was so brilliant and spread by word of mouth among movie fans, their geeks were recognized by Hollywood, so they would have Such a magical work full of narcissism, self-pity and self-pity. Attachment 1 The title "Adaptation" has two meanings: one is that the screenwriter adapts literary works of different genres into scripts; the other is the adaptation of flowers to the natural environment. Attached 2 Hollywood has made at least three masterpieces related to screenwriting - 1 "Sunset Boulevard" (1950/Billy Wilder). This is a noir film, mainly depicting the dark side of Hollywood, the main line is the screenwriter played by William Holden) 2 "Barton Funk" (1991/The Coen Brothers) 3 "Adapted Screenplay" Attached 3 More than 100 in Hollywood In the history of the past few years, the status of screenwriters has not been too high, which is related to the devaluation and suppression of filmmakers intentionally or unintentionally. As early as the 1930s, MGM producer Irving W. Talberg (the U.S. has an award specially awarded to producers, the "Talberg Award" is named after him) once said: "The most important job in filmmaking is done by the screenwriter. We’re going to do everything we can to cover it up.” Still, being a screenwriter in Hollywood can earn many times more than royalties as a writer. Therefore, some famous writers in the history of literature have worked for Hollywood, such as Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Chandler in the early days. It can be said that they all came to Hollywood for money. Judging from their post-mortem recollections, it was an unpleasant experience. Recently, in addition to the Coen brothers and Quentin, who are both screenwriters and directors, and who tell stories with gusto or whimsy, there are also two eccentric screenwriters in Hollywood, one is Guillermo Arriga from Mexico, who has always been admired by fans The queen screenwriter of AG Inaritu, one of Ledao's three outstanding Mexicans, "Love is a son of a bitch", "21 Grams" and "Babel Tower", this multi-line narrative and disrupted chronological structure, although not Ariega is original, but he is the master of it. The other is Charlie Kaufman, in addition to "Becoming John Malkovich" (1999. A translation of "Puppet Life") and "Adaptation" (2002), his works also "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002) ), "Beautiful Mind and Eternal Sunshine" (2004. One translation of "Warm and Containing Light" and "New York Allusion Law" (2008), etc. Interested group friends may wish to search on the Internet. By the way, Personally, I like "New York Alchemy" the most, but it is too complicated. Attached 4 Tucao. Although the box office of Chinese films exceeded 60 billion in 2019, 60 billion is just a number and has nothing to do with the quality of the film, just as Ang Lee said It is said that there are no good movies in mainland China, only movies with high box office (to the effect). What are our movies lacking? The most lack is originality. What is originality? The excavation of truth/truth. It is precious and rare. Chinese film and television companies could not find originality, so they had to go to Japan and South Korea to find them, but they bought them all. 2020-03-13 Inaritu's royal screenwriter, "Love is a bitch", "21 Grams" and "Babel Tower", this multi-line narrative and disrupted chronological structure, although not original by Ariga, but he is the master of it. The other is Charlie Kaufman, in addition to "Becoming John Malkovich" (1999. A translation of "Puppet Life") and "Adaptation" (2002), his works also "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002) ), "Beautiful Mind and Eternal Sunshine" (2004. One translation of "Warm and Containing Light" and "New York Allusion Law" (2008), etc. Interested group friends may wish to search on the Internet. By the way, Personally, I like "New York Alchemy" the most, but it is too complicated. Attached 4 Tucao. Although the box office of Chinese films exceeded 60 billion in 2019, 60 billion is just a number and has nothing to do with the quality of the film, just as Ang Lee said It is said that there are no good movies in mainland China, only movies with high box office (to the effect). What are our movies lacking? The most lack is originality. What is originality? The excavation of truth/truth. It is precious and rare. Chinese film and television companies could not find originality, so they had to go to Japan and South Korea to find them, but they bought them all. 2020-03-13 Inaritu's royal screenwriter, "Love is a bitch", "21 Grams" and "Babel Tower", this multi-line narrative and disrupted chronological structure, although not original by Ariga, but he is the master of it. The other is Charlie Kaufman, in addition to "Becoming John Malkovich" (1999. A translation of "Puppet Life") and "Adaptation" (2002), his works also "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002) ), "Beautiful Mind and Eternal Sunshine" (2004. One translation of "Warm and Containing Light" and "New York Allusion Law" (2008), etc. Interested group friends may wish to search on the Internet. By the way, Personally, I like "New York Alchemy" the most, but it is too complicated. Attached 4 Tucao. Although the box office of Chinese films exceeded 60 billion in 2019, 60 billion is just a number and has nothing to do with the quality of the film, just as Ang Lee said It is said that there are no good movies in mainland China, only movies with high box office (to the effect). What are our movies lacking? The most lack is originality. What is originality? The excavation of truth/truth. It is precious and rare. Chinese film and television companies could not find originality, so they had to go to Japan and South Korea to find them, but they bought them all. 2020-03-13
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