Just watched Adaptation last night... - Orchid Board

got ants · #1 08-13-2009, 08:56 AM

The movie was about the making of the movie about The Orchid Thief, book.

The scene where John LaRoche had the greenhouse with all those Ghosts was surreal. I mean, they looked real.

I wonder if any of the footage in the wild with the ghost orchid was real. They were in fact, at Fakahatchee Strand.

Movie was a lil loopy, but I liked it.

WhiteRabbit · #2 08-13-2009, 01:22 PM

cool - I have heard mixed reviews of the movie - seems you love it or hate it lol
still have been meaning to check it out

thanks for the review

flhiker · #3 08-13-2009, 04:54 PM

I really didn't like the movie that much. What I didn't like about it is they fabricated a lot of it. The author never had an affair with La Roche. La Roche is still alive and never was attacked by a Alligator. And the big one is You can not get HIGH on the Ghost Flower.

Parts of the movie was in fact shot there but I don't think that they were real flowers in any of the scenes. Just my opinion, I don't really know.
I do recommend watching it, just know that much of it is not factual.

What I did like about it was seeing them walking around the swamp. Reminds me of home.

Andrew · #4 08-14-2009, 02:27 AM

I thought the book was a bit scant on factual information as well.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #5 08-14-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flhiker

I really didn't like the movie that much. What I didn't like about it is they fabricated a lot of it. The author never had an affair with La Roche. La Roche is still alive and never was attacked by a Alligator. And the big one is You can not get HIGH on the Ghost Flower.

There are times when I bring up orchids in a social setting, and I get the question, "So...can you get high off the Ghost Orchid?"

Man, I hated that question. I never watched the movie so at first I had a hard time figuring out where the referrence was (social blunder). Then I had to either say I didn't know because I never smoked one, or no that's bs (watch the conversation slowly die - awkward).

Stupid movie. Luckily this fabricated piece of info hasn't really caught on (or has it???)...

Don't need any more social mishaps happening, it blows.

Maybe I should figure out a way to turn this into a joke. Get the social juices running while killing this garbage.

got ants · #6 08-14-2009, 02:21 PM

The parts of the movie about snorting the green powder and such, that and the wild scene before the ending, were whacky to say the least, but afterall, it was a movie.

The whole time the screen writer kept saying he just wanted to make a movie just about a flower. Other than us with the bug, orchid-delirium, who would watch it?

So the screen writer interjects himself into the subject, and voila, now he has a story, though it's not just about an orchid.

It's called "creative license".

Like I said, I liked the movie. It wasn't great, but I liked watching it.

WhiteRabbit · #7 08-14-2009, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by got ants

The parts of the movie about snorting the green powder and such, that and the wild scene before the ending, were whacky to say the least, but afterall, it was a movie.

The whole time the screen writer kept saying he just wanted to make a movie just about a flower. Other than us with the bug, orchid-delirium, who would watch it?

So the screen writer interjects himself into the subject, and voila, now he has a story, though it's not just about an orchid.

It's called creative writing.

Like I said, I liked the movie. It wasn't great, but I liked watching it.

and thats what movies are supposed to do

flhiker · #8 08-14-2009, 08:42 PM

It all depends on what you call creative. You can take a true story and add a bunch of things that didn't happen and call it creative. But taking a boring true story and making it interesting without fabrications is truly creative.
I don't know if the movie sparked a surge of orchid theft's because they thought you could get hi, but the book sure did.

kjackson · #9 08-09-2010, 01:54 PM

I know this reply is very late but.... I just joined the board because I bought an orchid recently, but have seen Adaptation many times because it's one of my favorites.

What you have to understand about the movie is that the screenwriter (Charlie Kaufman, the screenwriter in real life) couldn't make the book into an interesting screenplay, so he made all the wacky stuff up. The part about the love affair, the drugs, the alligator, that was all created by the screenwriter. It's sort of a movie within a movie. He puts himself in the movie to explain how he couldn't come up with an idea for the movie. And yes, it kind of loops back on itself.

I have the DVD and the screenwriter credit on the case goes to Charlie and Donald Kaufman. Of course, Donald the brother was made up as well. There is no Donald Kaufman.

Karen