Wonderfully unusual cinema (Adaptation (DVD))

Member Name: gillyman

Product:	Adaptation (DVD)
Date:	21/10/03 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original, Great case

Disadvantages: Weird!

Generally a fan of films which don't require too much in terms of cerebral activity, I recently found myself watching a film which is completely the opposite. Adaptation, nominated for 4 Oscars and winner in the Best Supporting Actor category, caught my eye due mainly to its cast, which features one of my favourite actresses; Meryl Streep (who just gets better with age). The fact that I remembered it being mentioned at Oscar time also contributed to my desire to see it.

I challenge anyone to read the synopsis on the back of the box without thinking - "that sounds like an interesting concept" - whether your response would then be to take it home or shove it back on the shelf and look for something with more explosions and less story is a matter of taste. I chose the former and am glad that I did.

Story synopsis

The film is rather difficult to classify in terms of genre. Based on actual events - the extent to which the boundary between fact and fiction is blurred is very unclear to say the least.

Cage plays Charlie Kaufman, the scriptwriter responsible for "Being John Malkovitch", upon the set of which the film begins. (That much is true). Kaufman has been engaged to produce a script for a film based on "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean (Streep) (also true - you can buy it on Amazon for 14 quid). The book deals with maverick orchid collector John LaRoche played to amazing effect by Oscar winner Chris Cooper - imagine (if you can) a University Professor crossed with a trailer park bum and you're getting close to the character.

Rather than presenting us with the film The Orchid Thief, we are instead treated to the story of how it came to be that Kaufman was handed the job in the first place and how he sets about the task - from LaRoche's initial (debated) theft of Orchids, The New Yorker journalist Orlean's initial and subsequent developed interest in the story and in LaRoche as
a person (both intellectually and perhaps inevitably, romantically) and the path of development which tortured writer Kaufman takes trying to develop a script.

We are introduced to an additional weapon of torture - Kaufman's less talented twin brother Donald (also played by Cage). It is unclear whether or not Donald actually exists or whether he is a device being used to symbolise the frustrations faced by Charlie when Donald, a novice to the writing business, has a formulaic script picked up by Charlie's agent.

My take on this part of the story is that Charlie has two possible roads that he can follow. Either he can remain true to himself, struggling to produce work which can be considered to be truly art or he can prostitute himself to Hollywood to churn out scripts by formula so as to make a quick buck. The fact that Donald seems to be a far happier character than Charlie also seems to suggest that the second road will leave him in a better state of mind and therefore may be a preferable route to take.

Donald pushes Charlie to confront his demons by confronting Orlean whilst Charlie seems to do everything possible to avoid it - this adds to my feeling that the two characters represent the inherent schizophrenia inside each of us - we know we should do something but try to talk ourselves out of doing it (or the other way round).

If this all sounds very weird then I have conveyed it quite well! However it seems to work in telling us the story, albeit in a strange way - effectively what we are seeing is the writer trying to unravel the story but only succeeding in writing himself into his own screenplay. It is unusual, fresh and in places rather funny - it is certainly not like any movie I have ever seen before.

The Cast

Nicholas Cage turns in two contrasting performances as the Kaufman brothers. Charlie is morose, tortured and pessimistic whilst Donald is full of life; an optimistic womaniser.

>Meryl Streep's performance is probably the least impressive of the main cast members in that it is a fairly straight forward piece for her. She is pure class, very convincing and an exceedingly attractive older woman.

Chris Cooper is superb as the exceedingly eccentric LaRoche and I feel that his Best Supporting Actor Oscar was deserved.

Conclusion

This is not a film to watch with someone who needs an explanation of what is going on every five seconds. It is also not for the end of an evening - you need to be concentrating on the various threads or you will lose track very quickly. It is an intelligent movie, an excellent example of a well worked and original script and very much a cutting edge piece of cinema.

Recommended!

Summary: