"Adapted Screenplay" is a very interesting film. It was adapted by Charlie Kaufman, who is known as a "genius screenwriter" in the film industry. As the title says, the film itself is about how a genius screenwriter adapts a book Original story.
The interesting point of this film is that many people after watching it will feel that this film is satirizing the story training class of "screenwriting godfather" Robert McKee, as well as the Hollywood narrative routines about sex, drugs, car chases, A series of old stalks such as epiphany and happy ending. The first time I watched it, it was the same impression. So I re-read the English-subtitled Adapted Script again and found that things were completely wrong.
The film tells the story of screenwriter Kaufman. When he was adapting the script for a film, his attitude towards life changed irreversibly.
Before that, I need to clear up one question: First, the real screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, who wrote himself into the film. Now, let's put aside the real-world screenwriter Kaufman and focus on the world of the film, which features a screenwriter named Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage), also a very talented screenwriter, who receives A job to adapt a book about orchids, The Orchid Thief, into a movie.
At the same time, the real screenwriter also designed a twin brother for himself in the film. The younger brother is Donald Kaufman (Nicholas Cage plays two roles), and the appearance of the younger brother Donald is to elicit the McKee story. The clue of the training class is also a variable factor in the process of adapting the script for brother Charlie.
After receiving the assignment, Charlie began to study the original book with great ambition. He hoped to break through the traditional Hollywood narrative routine, and hoped that the adaptation could get rid of the evil routines such as sex, drugs, car chases, life epiphanies and happy endings, but he found that he Got into a mess because there is no story in the book at all.
Charlie, 42, is a recognized gifted craftsman, but his life outside of creation has been a failure. Why do you say that? Because he was dissatisfied with his appearance, thought he was "fat and bald," no one would like him at all, and he even felt compelled to apologize for his existence, even though he did nothing wrong.
The girl he likes also likes him, but he is always cowardly and does not dare to take that step. He can only take action in his fantasy, then withdraw into his own world and continue to escape. Regarding the fact that he knew that the girl liked him, but he did not dare to show his feelings, at first you would worry about him and blame him for being a coward, but later it will be revealed that he had witnessed the tragic incident of his brother Donald. Donald flirts with the girl he likes, the girl accepts his flirtation, and he looks happy. But after Donald left, the girl and her friends taunted him, saying he was "sad". Charlie felt like they were mocking him, and it became a lingering psychological shadow for him, and he always felt pathetic.
This psychological barrier will only be broken through in the final climactic scene. Charlie gains strength from his brother Donald's words. No matter how others mock me, that's her business, not mine. I love her, it's my right, she doesn't love me, even mocks me, that's her problem, not mine.
It's a bit like a problem with how emotions are handled. If someone gets angry at you that you shouldn't, it's his fault, not yours. You don't need to be mad about it. You just need to be aware of it and not react emotionally. That way, you won't get angry at the ignorance and lack of education of others.
The younger brother Donald and he are twin brothers, but completely different from him. Although he looks the same, fat and bald, the younger brother lives confidently and feels heartless. Compared with him, he is more free and easy and brave.
In parallel with Charlie's adaptation of the script, there is also a story line. This storyline is about Susan (Aunt May), the original author of The Orchid Thief, who wrote the book. Susan, a reporter for The New Yorker, interviewed Lao Xu, the protagonist of the book, and wrote the book. The story between Susan and Lao Xu is a suspense that has been deliberately hidden, and it is also the key plot point of the film's turning point.
Charlie's adaptation of the script, months have passed, and still nothing can be done. At the same time, Donald, as a rookie screenwriter who just entered the industry, attended McKee's story training class and made great strides in his creation every day. Of course, he also always remembered the lessons of Anli McKee for his brother Charlie. As a talented screenwriter who wants to resist Hollywood routines, Charlie is naturally dismissive of McKee.
Charlie had a very hard and boring life every day. He often masturbated, sometimes thinking about the waitress he just met in the restaurant, and sometimes looking at Susan's photo, but in reality, he repressed and suppressed his feelings. With an evasive attitude, he watched helplessly as his girl fell into the arms of others, but did not dare to express his love.
Susan has a husband, but the relationship between the two is very strange, lacking warmth and emotional communication. Susan is lonely and her eyes are full of sadness. As for why she did this, there is no explanation in the film. But she also explained that she wanted to end this desperate state of marriage with her husband, but she did not dare to divorce for no reason. Although she was painful, sad and unhappy, she chose to continue to endure it.
Lao Xu lacked a row of front teeth, which looked ridiculous, which was not in line with his age, but in fact he was still very energetic. He lives with his father and always misses his dead mother. Lao Xu also has a sad story. He was in a car accident with his car. Both his mother and uncle died in the car accident, and his wife divorced him. Since then, he has lived a self-blaming, lonely life. Lao Xu also has a lonely wish in his heart, hoping that one day, someone will come into his life, fall in love with him, and he will no longer be alone. In this regard, his attitude is to wait patiently.
Lao Xu is actually a cynical figure, but in his heart, he is as lonely as Susan and as lonely as Charlie.
The agent called to urge Charlie to adapt the script, but Charlie still didn't make any progress, but his younger brother Donald was doing well, and the script "The Three" was a great success. In desperation, Charlie went to McKee's writing class and was severely criticized by McKee. McKee tells Charlie that the last scene of the movie is crucial, and as long as the last scene is right, and there are some flaws in the front or in the middle, the audience will forgive you. However, let the characters change themselves, and don't arbitrarily move characters out of the siege.
Charlie then called his brother Donald for help and asked him for advice. Donald, pretending to be Charlie, went to interview the original author, Susan, and was acutely aware that Susan was lying.
The two began to spy on Susan and Lao Xu, and found a fact that Susan had concealed, which was the lover relationship between her and Lao Xu. At night, Susan and her husband lay on the same bed, but she was sad. She clearly knew that she had lied. She lied in the book, lied to her husband, lied to the readers. It wasn't what she wrote in the book: she ended up not seeing the legendary ghost orchid and felt a lingering disappointment. The fact is that she saw the legendary "Ghost Orchid" and found that it was just a flower. It's not that I didn't see it, and I felt disappointed because of it, but I saw it, and it was just such a disappointment.
Not only did Susan deliberately tamper with this fact, but Lao Xu also told her a secret that day, a truth that Lao Xu had deliberately concealed before. That is, "Ghost Orchid" was secretly picked and cultivated by the Indians, and was used to make poisonous powder for smoking. Regarding this, there is a foreshadowing ahead. Susan went to interview an Indian. He was very obsessed with Susan's hair and the sadness in his eyes. In fact, it was because of the drug powder that he had hallucinations.
Susan lived a stagnant life and longed to be broken. Lao Xu sent her the refined poison powder. After she took it, she had hallucinations and felt the vitality and happiness that she had not seen for a long time. In this way, she and Lao Xu became lovers. Of course, she has been taking drug powder. This is the change she has produced after contacting with Lao Xu, but she dare not face it or tell the truth to anyone. She lived very divided, like two people. One is a professional journalist in a social role, and the other is a sad poisonous worm indulging in private life.
So the two brothers, Charlie and Donald, who discovered the truth, were hunted down. This climax of drugs, sex, car chases, and murder has the nerves of the audience, and it kind of feels like McGee is right.
In the end, brother Donald died. Charlie had an epiphany with Donald's remarks, to the effect that your love makes you who you are, and whether others love you or not, can't affect you. (You are what you love, not what loves you).
Lao Xu was also bitten to death by a crocodile. Although it is very sad, it also means that there will be evil retribution. Susan cried and confessed that she had gone wrong from the beginning, and she hoped to go back to the past, become a baby, and start all over again.
For a long time, Charlie felt that he was sad and unworthy of love, and the death of his younger brother gave him the courage to find his love again. He is convinced that love is not wrong, even if rejected, he will speak his love, even if you no longer love me. Coincidentally, the girl is also in love with him. So, happy ending. Charlie finished the script and was full of hope for the first time in his life.
The setting of the character of Donald is to bring out the truth of the character of Susan. In the end, his death has awakened Charlie's acceptance of himself, the courage to love, and the hope of life. Some people say that Donald is Charlie's alter ego and exists as a contrast. It is real in the play, but in reality, the genius screenwriter Charlie Kaufman does not have a twin brother, so it can be understood in this way. Donald is Charlie's ideal self, which means he wants to be like this, and he understands this truth about love, but it has never been externalized into actions and choices. Only after Donald died did he become his ideal self and gain a new life. .
Going back to the title Adaption, it means both adaptation and adaptation. The adaptation obviously refers to Charlie's adaptation of the script. Adaptation is the adaptation of humans and plants to the environment.
The title shows a brief history of the evolution of life on Earth over hundreds of millions of years. The film cites Darwin's theory of evolution and mentions the adaptation process of organisms to the environment. The way humans adapt to the environment is to escape. Charlie has social phobia, extreme low self-esteem, and excessive self-esteem. He often adopts an evasive attitude towards the people he likes and the people he wants to see; Susan's marriage tortures her, she has been enduring it, Don't dare to face the decision of divorce, and turn to drugs to stimulate your enthusiasm for life.
Charlie's final epiphany was actually about the way to be human. He chose to face it, and he adapted to his environment. Because the problem of being a person is solved, the problem of adapting the script is also solved. I have to say that the scheming implied in the title is the best idea of "Ghost Screenwriter" Kaufman.
Even at the age of 42, life can still be reborn. If you haven't lived to your satisfaction, maybe it's not that you're not good enough, but that your cognition of yourself has entered a paranoid misunderstanding. Accept that you are not perfect, ordinary, and confidently pursue the person you love, and you will be born again.
View more about Adaptation. reviews
