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Donnie Darko

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Donnie Darko
File:6990 poster.jpg
Donnie Darko Theatrical Poster
Directed byRichard Kelly
Written byRichard Kelly
Produced byAdam Fields
Nancy Juvonen
Sean McKittrick
StarringJake Gyllenhaal
Jena Malone
Drew Barrymore
Patrick Swayze
James Duval
Noah Wyle
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Music byMichael Andrews
Distributed byNewmarket Films
Release dates
January 19, 2001 (Sundance Film Festival)
October 28, 2001 (USA)
Running time
113 min.,
133 min. (director's cut)
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Budget$ 4.5 million

Donnie Darko is a 2001 feature film, the first by writer and director Richard Kelly. The movie is a psychological thriller/science fiction film about the bright but troubled teenager Donnie Darko, who, after narrowly escaping death, has repeating visions of an eerie 6-foot tall anthropomorphic rabbit who tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.

It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Donnie Darko's themes include love, sacrifice, existentialism and time travel. The movie's plot presents paradoxes never fully explained, and multiple interpretations of the film's storyline exist.

Cast

Plot

Template:Spoiler

File:Donniedarkoskelcostume.jpg
Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko.

The film is set in 1988, in Middlesex, Virginia during the 1988 presidential election campaign. After the viewer is introduced to the Darko family, Donnie Darko is awoken from sleep on the night of October 2 and led out of his house by a disembodied voice, where he is confronted by a demonic man-sized rabbit named Frank. Frank tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Donnie wakes up the next morning on a golf course and sees 28:06:42:12 written on his arm. He returns home to discover that a jet engine has inexplicably fallen onto his house, and has crushed his bedroom.

The next day Donnie goes to his (private) school. His English class is in the middle of a discussion on Graham Greene's short story "The Destructors" when a new girl, Gretchen, walks in late and asks where she should sit. Donnie's English teacher Ms. Pomeroy strangely instructs Gretchen to "sit next to the boy you think is the cutest." After a few moments, Gretchen eyes Donnie and the teacher tells the girl sitting next to him to move.

That night Frank wakes up Donnie and tells him to flood the school. Donnie obeys and breaks the school's water main with an axe. While waiting for the school bus with his friends the next morning, Donnie hears that school has been cancelled because of the flood. Meanwhile, the police and school officials are baffled because aside from the flooding, the solid-bronze school mascot, the mongrel, has an axe stuck into its head and the phrase they made me do it has been scrawled on the pavement. On his way home, Donnie spots Gretchen being harassed by the two school bullies and she asks Donnie to walk her home. Donnie tells her he is happy that school was cancelled, and then awkwardly asks her to "go" with him. She agrees.

Some time later Frank asks Donnie if he believes in time travel. Donnie then questions his science teacher about the idea, and the teacher gives him The Philosophy of Time Travel, a book written by a Roberta Sparrow, the 101 year-old woman nicknamed "Grandma Death" who lives alone in a decrepit house and spends all her time checking her mailbox.

Later, Donnie finds the wallet of Jim Cunningham on the sidewalk. Cunningham is a successful motivational speaker whose methods Donnie had loudly denounced in front of a microphone at a school assembly. Donnie and Gretchen then go on a date to a movie theater; Gretchen falls asleep in the empty theater and Frank appears. After being asked by Donnie to remove his rabbit mask, Frank reveals a human face with a bullet hole in his right eye and then commands Donnie to "burn it to the ground" -- implying the recently discovered home address of Jim Cunningham. Donnie obeys again. The arriving firemen soon discover a secret room filled with pedophilic material. As a result Ms. Kitty Farmer, the school's phys ed/social studies teacher and fervent believer in Cunningham's methods, decides to defend Cunningham. So Ms. Farmer consequently asks Donnie's mother to chaperone the school dance-group (of which their daughters are members) to California to perform on Star Search. Meanwhile, (rabbit) Frank has told Donnie to write to Grandma Death about his views on her book.

With both of their parents out of town and his older sister Elizabeth just accepted into Harvard, Donnie and his sister throw a Halloween party. During the (large) party, Elizabeth's (human) boyfriend Frank decides to drive off to pick up more beer. After a brief romantic interlude Donnie and Gretchen leave the party and ride their bikes to the basement of Grandma Death's house to see her "cellar door"; there they come upon the two school bullies already in the basement. A struggle ensues between Gretchen, Donnie, and the two other kids, and Gretchen is thrown out onto the road. The viewer then sees Roberta Sparrow standing in the middle of the same road, reading Donnie's letter, when a red Trans Am appears a short distance away. It swerves to avoid the old lady and runs over Gretchen, killing her. Donnie runs to her and sees that she is dead. Out from the car steps first a kid in a clown suit, and then from the driver's seat, Frank in a large bunny suit holding in his hand the rabbit mask. Willing to do what needs to be done to save Gretchen, he shoots Frank in the eye, killing him.

Donnie then takes the dead Gretchen in his arms and drives to the hilltop where the storm is gathering strength. The plane carrying his mother and sister back from California at this moment passes through the storm and one of its engines tumbles out of the sky after being ripped off the wing; this engine is then thrust back through the open time-portal. At this point a collage of fireworks and past scenes suggest Donnie traveling backwards in time. In the next scene he is back in his bed on October 2, laughing. His sister comes home from her date as in the beginning of the movie. Then, the plane engine falls through the roof and into Donnie's room, killing him.

Afterwards we see the main characters alive, perhaps recollecting varying memories from the future Tangent Universe. In the last scene the Darko family is shown outside, crying, as construction crews remove the jet engine from the house and a forensic team wheels away Donnie's shrouded corpse. Gretchen rides her bike down the street and asks a neighbor what happened. Donnie's mother and Gretchen then exchange looks and Gretchen waves. Donnie's mother waves back.

Director's cut

File:Donniedarkodvd.jpeg
Director's Cut: USA DVD Cover

A director's cut of the movie debuted on May 29, 2004 in Seattle, Washington at the Seattle International Film Festival, and was released in New York and Los Angeles on July 23, 2004. This new cut includes twenty minutes of extra footage, an altered soundtrack, and most significantly excerpts from the book The Philosophy of Time Travel. The director's cut DVD, released on February 15, 2005, included the new footage and more soundtrack changes, as well as some additional features exclusive to the two-DVD set: excerpts from the storyboard, a 52-minute production diary, "#1 fan video," a "cult following" video interviewing British fans, and the new director's cut cinematic trailer. The director's cut DVD was released as a giveaway with copies of the British Sunday Times newspaper on February 19, 2006.

Differences

In the director's cut:

  • The opening-scene song was changed from Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" to INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart". The INXS song was the intended original number. "The Killing Moon" later replaces "Under the Milky Way" by The Church during the party scene. "Under The Milky Way" is now playing on the radio in the car scene with Donnie and his father.
  • In the original cut, when Donnie walks into the kitchen at the end of the opening-scene, the music faded down and it was revealed that The Killing Moon was playing on a radio in the kitchen. This is not done for Never Tear Us Apart in the Director's Cut.
  • While watching the football game, Donnie follows an opaque sphere; the sphere does not form a finger and beckon him, as in the original (many thought the beckoning finger was out of place and that the sphere better suits the film's atmosphere).
  • Donnie's psychiatrist tells Donnie that his pills are placebos and informs him that he is an agnostic, and not an atheist as Donnie thought.
  • The Holiday Inn scene is longer.
  • Several scenes in Ms. Pomeroy's classroom are re-inserted: Donnie reading his own poetry, the banning of Graham Greene's "The Destructors" and its replacement with Watership Down, and the class later watching the animated adaptation of Watership Down.
  • Frank does not apologize in the theater during the The Evil Dead.
  • Karen Pomeroy's firing scene is shorter, while the scene in which Donnie asks her about the words "cellar door" is longer and contains almost entirely different dialogue.
  • Various transition scenes show chapter excerpts from Roberta Sparrow's book (giving the viewer a better understanding of the movie time-travel "rules.") Some fans and critics feel that the inclusion of the book excerpts gives away too much.[1]
  • There is more of Donnie and Gretchen, including an arcade scene with Donnie playing the race-car game Outrun. In the game the car is red, as is human Frank's car.
  • In an added scene Donnie's mother and father are shown eating dinner in a restaurant, discussing Donnie.
  • Donnie and Elizabeth are shown carving pumpkins. Donnie carves his into the shape of Frank's mask.
  • When Donnie's face enters the sphere at the Halloween party, the shot of his eyes bulging is completely removed.
  • A montage of fireworks and shots from Outrun video game are superimposed over Donnie's final narration at the end of the film.
  • The scene in which Frank first wakes Donnie is longer.
  • Certain events first appear as images within Donnie's eye. We first see the image of Frank flash in Donnie's pupil as Frank wakes him, and there is a shot of fire in Donnie's eyes before Frank tells him to burn Cunningham's house down (replacing a full-screen shot of Cunningham's house on fire).

Interpretations

Director's interpretation

Director Richard Kelly does not deny personal interpretations but has expressed his own theories through the extra commentary on the two DVDs, his own (fictional) book the Philosophy of Time Travel, and in various other interviews.

According to Kelly and his Philosophy of Time Travel, at midnight on October 2 a Tangent Universe spins off the Primary Universe at the moment when Donnie is called out by Frank for the first time, immediately before the appearance of the Artifact, the errant jet engine. This has started a causal loop. The inherently unstable Tangent Universe will inevitably collapse in less than six weeks and take the Primary Universe with it if not closed off (i.e. corrected). Closing the Tangent Universe is the duty of the Living Receiver, Donnie, who wields certain supernatural powers to help him in the task.

Those who have died/will die within the Tangent Universe are the Manipulated Dead (Frank and Gretchen). They are also given certain varying powers in that they subtly understand what is happening and have the ability to contact and influence the Living Receiver via the Fourth Dimensional Construct (water). All others within the orbit of the Living Receiver are the Manipulated Living (Ms. Pomeroy, Mr. Monnitoff), subconsciously drawn to push him towards his destiny to close the Tangent Universe and, according to the Philosophy of Time Travel, die by the Artifact.

There are two "Franks" in the story: the living boyfriend of Donnie's sister Elizabeth, and the (same?) dead Frank who appears to Donnie as a premonition from the future in the disturbing rabbit suit. [The second Frank is dead (or undead), for at the end of the film he is killed by Donnie]. Dead Frank, as the most powerful of the Manipulated Dead is aware of Donnie's fate and destiny, and has the ability to appear to Donnie via time travel and thus guide him. Frank alone consciously understands the world is doomed if Donnie dies on the "first" October 2, or if Donnie cannot complete his quest, for then the paradoxical causal loop (caused by the portal) will tear the Primary Universe apart.

Other possibilities

Some of the backstory is explained on the official Donnie Darko website. It tells how Donnie was institutionalized before the events of the movie, and reveals the fates of some of the characters in the corrected Primary Universe after Donnie's death: Cunningham shoots himself, and Dr. Monitoff mysteriously dies in a car accident after being apparently run off the road.

The film leaves open the possibility that the entire alternate-universe sequence of events is Donnie's hallucination, fantasy, or dream. Yet in the deleted-scene commentary Kelly states that the pills being revealed to be placebos enforces the fact that Donnie is not crazy. Kelly's commentary also leaves open the possibility that Frank may be a representative ("vessel") of God, or that the entire Tangent-Universe dilemma is in fact being caused by an advanced future society dangerously experimenting with time travel. In an ultimately deleted scene, Frank on the golf course initially tells Donnie: "God loves all his children. And God loves you."

If undead/dead Frank is a vessel of God, then human Frank and dead Frank are not the same person at all; instead God's vessel has been chosen to appear in the form of the dead Frank. With this interpretation, when dead Frank tells Donnie "I'm so sorry" in the movie theater in the original film, he may not be referring to the death of Gretchen, but rather to the fact that Donnie must give up his own life. [2] Template:Endspoiler

Production

The movie was shot in 28 days, on a budget of $4.5 million US dollars. It almost went straight to DVD, but was saved by financial backing from production company Flower Films.[1]

The story takes place in Middlesex, Virginia, but was filmed in California. The scenes at Donnie's school were filmed in part in Loyola High School, a prominent Catholic institution located in Los Angeles, California. The Aero Theatre where Donnie and Gretchen watch the double feature is an actual movie theater in Santa Monica, California.

Music

Main article: Donnie Darko soundtrack

Reception

Publicly screened for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival, critic Andy Bailey billed Donnie Darko as a "Sundance surprise" that "isn't spoiled by the Hollywood forces that helped birth it."[2]

Although critically acclaimed, Donnie Darko debuted in U.S. theaters in October of 2001 to only 58 screens nationwide. The film grossed $110,494 in its opening weekend and had a total gross of $517,375 when it closed on April 11, 2002. The release of a film involving an airline accident as the central occurence, soon after the September 11th attacks, severely limited its prospects at the box office. This may be responsible for the small number of debut screens.[3][4]

Despite its initial poor showing the film has since attracted a huge cult following and devoted fan base. Donnie Darko was originally released on DVD in March 2002. During this time, the Pioneer Theatre in New York City's East Village began midnight screenings that continued for 28 consecutive months. In the United Kingdom, it sold moderately well on DVD before being reissued in a budget edition (with no director's commentary or other extras), where it reached #1 in the DVD sales chart. Soon after, composer Michael Andrews found his piano-driven cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" at the top of the UK music charts, sung by Gary Jules.

Strong DVD sales led Newmarket Films to release a "Directors Cut" on DVD in 2005. Newmarket President Bob Berney described Darko as "a runaway hit on DVD," citing U.S. DVD sales of more than $10 million.[5]

Awards and nominations

2001 — Richard Kelly won with Donnie Darko for "Best Screenplay" at the Catalonian International Film Festival and at the San Diego Film Critics Society. Donnie Darko also won the "Audience Award" for Best Feature at the Sweden Fantastic Film Festival. The film was nominated for "Best Film" at the Catalonian International Film Festival and for the "Grand Jury Prize" at the Sundance Film Festival.

2002 — Donnie Darko won the "Special Award" at the Young Filmmakers Showcase at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The movie also won the "Silver Scream Award" at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival. In 2002 Kelly was nominated for "Best First Feature" and "Best First Screenplay" with Donnie Darko, as well as Jake Gyllenhaal being nominated for "Best Male Lead" at the Independent Spirit Awards. The film was also nominated for the "Best Breakthrough Film" at the Online Film Critics Society Awards.

2003 — Jake Gyllenhaal won for "Best Actor" and Richard Kelly for "Best Original Screenplay" for Donnie Darko at the Chlotrudis Awards, where Kelly was also nominated for "Best Director" and "Best Movie."

2005 — Donnie Darko ranked in the top five on My Favourite Film, an Australian poll conducted by the ABC.[6]

2006 — Donnie Darko ranks ninth in FilmFour's 50 Films To See Before You Die.[7]

It also came in at number 14 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.)

Trivia

  • Kelly’s DVD commentary reveals that the man in the red jogging suit is an FAA agent monitoring the Darko family.
  • Elizabeth Darko, Donnie's sister, is played by Jake Gyllenhaal's real sister Maggie Gyllenhaal.
  • The classroom scene where Kitty Farmer makes the students go through Cunningham's fear/love exercise is based on a similar exercise Richard Kelly remembers from his own school days.
  • Graham Greene was born on October 2, the same night on which Donnie sees Frank for the first time.
  • The "famous linguist" who said cellar door were the most beautiful words in the English language was in fact J.R.R. Tolkien, though Richard Kelly in the commentary says it is Edgar Allan Poe. In any case, Tolkien was a philologist, not a linguist.
  • The wallpaper on the Darko's staircase (seen when Donnie is following the sphere) is in the pattern of rabbit Frank.
  • The poster on Donnie's bedroom wall is M. C. Escher's "Eye".
  • The "cured" boy in the Cunning Visions tape also appears at the school assembly; he asks Cunningham "how can I learn to fight?". He is also shown throwing leaves into the fan during the "autumn angel" talent show routine.
  • The "they made me do it" graffitti on the school plaza is in the same handwriting as human Frank's message on the refrigerator dry-erase board at the Halloween party: "Frank was here, went to get BEER."
  • There are two nods to Steven Spielberg in the movie.
    • The pivotal night of events in the movie takes place at Halloween, with Donnie dressed in a skeleton costume and wearing a grey hoody top. The four individuals leaving the party also do so on bikes at night cycling past a forest. In the Spielberg movie ET, a pivotal night in the story, taking ET to the forest to make contact, also takes place on Halloween night, where Elliot is dressed in a skeleton costume and wearing a grey hoody top. He also cycles at night through a forest.
  • The 'They made me do it' graffiti is very similar to the hoax shark scene in Jaws, in which two kids are pulled from the water with a fake fin to scare swimmers. One kid looks at the other and proclaims...'He made me do it'.
  • The Donnie Darko Book (ISBN 0-571-22124-6) was released in 2003. Written by Richard Kelly and introduced by Jake Gyllenhaal, the 192-page book explained some of the details for the film.
  • NECA released a six-inch (15 cm) figure of Frank the Bunny, and later, a foot-tall (30 cm) 'talking' version of the same figure.

References

  1. ^ "'Darko' takes a long, strange trip". USA Today. Retrieved 2005-02-14.
  2. ^ "Donnie Darko". Indie Wire. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  3. ^ "Donnie Darko". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  4. ^ "Donnie Darko". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  5. ^ "Donnie Darko". Indie Wire. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
  6. ^ "My Favourite Film". ABC. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
  7. ^ "C4 relaunches Film4 with '50 films to see before you die' countdown". Brand Republic. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
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