Adaptation. (2002)
This is the proper way to do a meta-movie. I have had various issue with movies about movie such as Babylon, Nope and The Artist, because they felt overly self-indulgent and felt too much like it was aimed at creative type people working within the industry. By focusing on a personal story from a screen writer we get a much more interesting and personal connection to the struggles of creative work. In addition it is also very much self aware with all its meta and self-references, but also toys with the viewer by mixing fiction and real events into a giant lovely mess.
Like Bergman Island it fundamentally deals with the struggling artist, but unlike in that movie, Kaufman’s state of mind and struggle was more open to the viewer and basically just more interesting and entertaining to follow. What I like about this approach is that it isn’t framed to be an admiration for the artist or we should feel particularly sorry for him, but we just get a view into his internal voice (voiceover and all) and how his writers block is used to tell a story not just about himself but also the orchid story that started this journey for Kaufman. Despite Kaufman turned this script about a book orchid into a story about himself, the orchids and the story with Susan and Laroche isn’t neglected. At the core for every character in this movie is some pursuit for understanding the nature of passion.
Another bold move is how it openly mocks conventional “rules” for movie script and storytelling, but then again isn’t afraid to actually use them to make the same point. The fictional ending will likely be divisive because it is sort intentionally bad and cliché, the exact thing Kaufman wants to avoid, but somehow he makes it work anyway in showing viewers that it might not always be great to get what we think we want from a story.
Rating: 4