Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 08:37, 26 August 2009

Donnie Darko is a 2001 psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell. The film depicts the reality-bending venture of the eponymous character as he seeks the meaning and significance of his troubling end-of-the-world visions.

The film was initially slated for a direct-to-video release before being picked up by Newmarket Films. Budgeted with US$4.5 million, and filmed over the course of 28 days, the film missed breaking even, grossing just over $4.1 million worldwide. The film has since received favorable reviews from critics and developed a large cult following, resulting in the director's cut receiving a two-disc, special edition release in 2004.

Plot

This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Donnie Darko (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is a troubled teenager in suburban Middlesex, Virginia in October 1988. He appears to be suffering the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. At the start of the film, he has recently stopped taking his medication. His parents, Rose and Eddie (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne) and his sisters, Elizabeth and Samantha (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Daveigh Chase), are concerned about him. One night at dinner, Donnie and his sister get into a profane argument during which Elizabeth reveals she knows Donnie is no longer taking his medication. Rose confronts Donnie in his bedroom asking him where her little boy has gone and who is the stranger that has taken his place. As she leaves the room, she hears him call her a "bitch" from the other side of the door. Feeling guilty, Donnie resumes taking his medication. On October 2, however, he sleepwalks and meets Frank (James Duval), a man in a menacing bunny costume. Frank tells him that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, the world will end. While he is outside, a jet engine mysteriously crashes through the roof of the Darkos' house, destroying Donnie's bedroom.

As Eddie drives Donnie to the office of Dr. Thurman (Katharine Ross), Donnie's therapist, Eddie nearly runs over Roberta Sparrow, also known as "Grandma Death" (Patience Cleveland). A senile old woman who spends her days walking back and forth from her house to the mailbox across the street, Grandma Death whispers in Donnie's ear that "every living creature on this earth dies alone". This greatly troubles Donnie, who worries that life has no meaning.

A few days later, Frank appears to Donnie in a hallucination and urges him to flood the school that he attends by breaking open the water main with an axe. Donnie also embeds the axe in the head of the school's solid bronze statue of its mascot and spray-paints "They made me do it" on the sidewalk. School is canceled that day and Donnie walks the new girl, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone), home. She reveals that her stepfather nearly killed her mother and hasn't been caught. Donnie reveals his own troubled past as well as his intelligence. Gretchen calls Donnie weird (which was a compliment in her case), prompting Donnie to nervously ask Gretchen to 'go' with him, meaning dating, to which she agrees before going home. Donnie feels insecure afterward, thinking he made a fool of himself, although Gretchen was visibly happy with Donnie.

Donnie has a troubled relationship with the faculty at his high school. Ms. Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore) appreciates his intellect and ability to engage with and understand the difficult material she assigns them to read in English class. The science teacher, Dr. Monnitoff (Noah Wyle), finds his questions hard to take on due to staff limitations on religion, and Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant), the high-strung and priggish health instructor, is highly offended that he questions her use of popular psychology self-help tapes in class. After he profanely rejects her use of the simplistic methods espoused by local celebrity Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze), Donnie finds himself suspended from after-school activities for telling Miss Farmer to 'forcibly insert the lifeline exercise card into her anus.' When Donnie verbally assaults Cunningham during an appearance at the high school, he gets in even deeper trouble, although he shows no physical signs of regret for his actions.

Frank continues to appear to Donnie and tells Donnie that he can do anything and won't get caught. Frank also tells Donnie about time travel, further confusing him. Soon, Donnie sees tubes of fluid light extending out of his family's chests, indicating where they will go. His own tube beckons him to follow as it enters his parents' room and reveals the gun his father keeps in a box in the closet. Donnie speaks about time travel with Dr. Monnitoff who gives him a book, The Philosophy of Time Travel, written by Roberta Sparrow. She used to be a nun and a teacher at the high school. However, the climate at the school is becoming increasingly polarized as Kitty Farmer leads a protest against Ms. Pomeroy's choice of reading material; one of the stories she had assigned, Graham Greene's "The Destructors," features teenagers who flood a man's house by breaking a water pipe. Ms. Pomeroy is fired and Dr. Monnittoff, who is also her boyfriend, refuses to discuss time travel with Donnie once his questions take a theological direction for fear he could also lose his job.

Gretchen and Donnie grow closer. She is one of the few people he opens up to about his time travel visions, and they discuss how they wish they could travel back in time and prevent the bad things in their lives from happening. Dr. Thurman increases Donnie's medication and begins hypnotherapy with him. But Frank continues to appear to Donnie. One night, Donnie and Gretchen go to see the cult horror film The Evil Dead. Gretchen falls asleep and Frank appears. When Donnie asks Frank why he wears a "stupid bunny suit," Frank asks Donnie why he wears a "stupid man suit," then acquiesces and takes the head off, revealing a young adult (who looks like Elizabeth's boyfriend, Frank) with a gruesome wound in his right eye. When Donnie asks about the cause of the eye wound, Frank replies "I am so sorry". Frank asks if Donnie has "ever seen a portal?" and then directs Donnie's attention to the movie screen. A portal opens, revealing Jim Cunningham's house. Frank tells Donnie to burn it to the ground. Donnie leaves the sleeping Gretchen in the theatre and does as Frank tells him to. He is not caught, and firefighters discover a dungeon of child pornography in a hidden room in the mansion. Cunningham is arrested the next morning. Kitty Farmer, a friend and devoted follower of Cunningham's, is convinced he has been framed and decides she must lead his public defense. She asks Rose to take her place accompanying the school's dance team, Sparkle Motion, to Los Angeles to appear on Star Search. Samantha is Sparkle Motion's lead dancer and, against her better judgment, Rose agrees. Eddie is away on business, so this means Elizabeth and Donnie are on their own.

Elizabeth is accepted into Harvard, and she and Donnie decide to throw a Halloween party to celebrate. The night of the party (October 30), Gretchen comes to Donnie's house for safety because her mother has suddenly disappeared. Donnie comforts her and repeatedly ignores phone calls from his desperate therapist (who knows that Donnie is responsible for the vandalism to the high school and Jim Cunningham's house) and Rose, who calls to announce that Sparkle Motion won their initial Star Search competition and that they will return on a red eye flight that night.

At midnight, Donnie has another hallucination about the fluid light tunnels. He realizes that the 28 days have passed, and that only 6 hours remain until the end of the world. Convinced that Grandma Death is in some way connected to Frank, Donnie persuades Gretchen and two other friends to leave the party and go with him to her house. When they get there, they are assaulted by the high school's resident bullies (Alex Greenwald and Seth Rogen). In the fight, Gretchen is thrown dazed beside the road. While trying to avoid running over Grandma Death, the car driven by Frank, Elizabeth's boyfriend who is on his way to their Halloween party, is forced out of the road and strikes and kills Gretchen. Frank and his friend get out of the car. Donnie realizes that Frank is wearing the creepy bunny Halloween costume that his hallucination wears. Dismayed, he uses his father's gun to shoot Frank in the right eye, killing him and giving him the exact appearance of his hallucination of Frank in the cinema. He then carries Gretchen's body to his home, steals the car keys from a sleeping Elizabeth and, taking Gretchen's body with him, drives into the hills above town.

From that vantage point, Donnie can see a time tunnel forming over the town. The red eye flight carrying Rose, Samantha and the rest of Sparkle Motion enters the turbulence created by the time tunnel, and one of the engines on the jet breaks free and falls into the tunnel. Donnie looks at Gretchen with love and the primary universe is reset to October 2.

It is once again October 2. Donnie is in bed, creating a predestination paradox. On this occasion however, he chooses to stay in bed, presumably to prevent the harm he caused to several lives in the tangent universe, including Gretchen, the girlfriend he will never meet. Shortly after he goes to sleep, the jet engine from the red eye flight on October 30 crashes through the roof, killing him. All the people affected by Donnie's actions awake as if from a nightmare, having some fragments of memories remaining: Frank, Elizabeth's boyfriend, subconsciously touches his right eye. Jim Cunningham, perhaps in guilt and remorse for being a pedophile, a hypocrite and phony, awakens crying. As Donnie's body is taken away, Gretchen, having never met Donnie, rides by the Darkos' house on her bicycle. She learns from a neighbor boy what has happened and waves to Rose, who is smoking a cigarette. There is an air of mutual recognition between them.

Director's interpretation

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Writer/director Richard Kelly does not deny the validity of personal interpretations, but has expressed his own theories through the extra commentary on the two DVDs, and in various other interviews.

According to Kelly and his Philosophy of Time Travel (a book which does not exist in any format in real life), at midnight on October 2 a Tangent Universe branches off the Primary Universe around the time when Donnie is called out of his bedroom by Frank, immediately before the appearance of the Artifact, the faulty jet engine. The inherently unstable Tangent Universe will collapse in just over 28 days and take the Primary Universe with it if not 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 die within the Tangent Universe (and would not have died otherwise) are the Manipulated Dead (Frank, Gretchen). Frank, at least, is also given certain powers in that he is able to 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 (e.g. Ms. Pomeroy, Dr. 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.

Frank appears in the story in two guises (indeed, three guises if we assume that he 'never' dies on account of the restoration of the Primary Universe through the negation of the Tangent Universe). First, there is the Manipulated Dead Frank who appears to Donnie as a premonition from the future of the Tangent Universe in the disturbing rabbit suit. Dead Frank is aware of Donnie's fate and destiny, and impels him to realize it so that the Primary Universe can be restored at the point where/when the Tangent Universe branched off from it. Secondly, Frank appears alive as Donnie's sister's boyfriend, whose fate unfolds within the Tangent Universe by means of Donnie's successes in realizing his mission. This living boyfriend is fatally shot by Donnie towards the end of the film, a killing which was foreseen by Donnie (albeit through a glass darkly).

Cast

• Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko
• Jena Malone as Gretchen Ross
• James Duval as Frank
• Maggie Gyllenhaal as Elizabeth Darko
• Mary McDonnell as Rose Darko
• Holmes Osborne as Eddie Darko
• Katharine Ross as Dr. Lilian Thurman
• Drew Barrymore as Karen Pomeroy
• Noah Wyle as Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff
• Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham
• Daveigh Chase as Samantha "Sam" Darko
• Beth Grant as Kitty Farmer
• Stuart Stone as Ronald Fisher
• Alex Greenwald as Seth Devlin
• Seth Rogen as Ricky Danforth
• Patience Cleveland as Roberta Sparrow ("Grandma Death")
• Jolene Purdy as Cherita Chen
• Ashley Tisdale as Kim
• Jerry Trainor as Lanky Kid

Production

Filming

Donnie Darko was filmed in 28 days on a budget of US$6 million. It almost went straight to home video release but was publicly released by the production company Flower Films.

The film was shot in California. The "Carpathian ridge" scenes were shot on the Angeles Crest Highway. Loyola High School, a prominent Catholic school in Los Angeles, California, was used as Donnie's high school. The house where the Darko family lives is located in Long Beach, California. Donnie awakens in a golf course in Long Beach, California; the hotel where his family lodges is the Burbank, California, Holiday Inn; and the Aero theater where Donnie and Gretchen watch the double feature is a cinema in Santa Monica, California.

Music

In 2003, composer Michael Andrews and singer Gary Jules found their piano-driven cover of the Tears for Fears' hit "Mad World", featured in the film as part of the end sequence, and the song was the UK Christmas Number One single in 2003.

One continuous sequence involving an introduction of Donnie's high school prominently features the song "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears, Samantha's dance group, "Sparkle Motion," performs with the song "Notorious" by Duran Duran, and "Under the Milky Way" by The Church is played after Donnie and Gretchen emerge from his room during the party. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division also appears in the film diegetically during the party and shots of Donnie and Gretchen upstairs. However, the version included was released in 1995, although the film is set in 1988. The opening sequence is set to "The Killing Moon" by Echo & the Bunnymen. In the theatrical cut, the song playing during the Halloween party is "Proud to be Loud" by Pantera, a track released on their 1988 album, which would concide with the time setting of the movie. However, the band is credited as "The Dead Green Mummies".

In the re-released Director's Cut version of the movie, the music in the opening sequence is replaced by "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS; "Under the Milky Way" is moved to the scene of Donnie and his father driving home from Donnie's meeting with his therapist; and "The Killing Moon" is played as Gretchen and Donnie return to the party from Donnie's parents' room.

Release

The limited release of this film happened the month after the September 11 attacks. It was then held back for almost a year on the international releases, where it fared much better and was viewed by many more cinema goers. From here the cult following of this movie began, and the DVD release of the film brought it again to American audiences.

Marketing

• The Donnie Darko Book, written by Richard Kelly, is a 2003 book about the film. It includes an introduction by Jake Gyllenhaal, the screenplay of the Donnie Darko Director's Cut, an in-depth interview with Kelly, facsimile pages from the Philosophy of Time Travel, photos and drawings from the film, and artwork it inspired.

• NECA released first a six-inch (15 cm) figure of Frank the Bunny and later a foot-tall (30 cm) 'talking' version of the same figure.

Home video

The film was originally released on DVD and VHS in March 2002. Strong DVD sales led Newmarket Films to release a "Director's Cut" on DVD in 2004. Bob Berney, President of Newmarket Films, described the film as "a runaway hit on DVD," citing US sales of more than $10 million.

The director's cut of the film was released on May 29, 2004, in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle International Film Festival and later in New York City and Los Angeles on July 23, 2004. This cut includes twenty minutes of extra footage, an altered soundtrack, the director's interpretation, and visual 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.

The film was released on Blu-ray on February 10, 2009.

Reception

Box office performance

Donnie Darko had its first screening at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2001, and debuted in U.S. theaters in October 2001 to a tepid response. Shown on only 58 screens nationwide, the film grossed US$110,494 in its opening weekend. By the time the film closed in U.S. theaters on April 11, 2002, it had grossed $517,375.

Despite the poor showing at the box office, the film had attracted a devoted fan base. It was originally released on DVD and VHS in March 2002. During this time, the Pioneer Theatre in New York City's East Village began midnight screenings of Donnie Darko that continued for 28 consecutive months.

Critical reception

The film received widespread critical acclaim—Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 83% rating, while Metacritic gave it a 71 out of 100. Critic Andy Bailey billed Donnie Darko as a "Sundance surprise" that "isn't spoiled by the Hollywood forces that helped birth it." Jean Oppenheimer of New Times (LA) praised the film, saying, "Like gathering storm clouds, Donnie Darko creates an atmosphere of eerie calm and mounting menace -- stands as one of the most exceptional movies of 2001." Writing for ABC Australia, Megan Spencer called the movie, "menacing, dreamy, exciting" and noted that "it could take you to a deeply emotional place lying dormant in your soul." At first when the movie was released, Roger Ebert gave the film a less than positive review but later became more enamored by the film after seeing the release of the director's cut.

Awards

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. 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 "Best Actor" and Richard Kelly "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.

2006 — Donnie Darko ranks ninth in FilmFour's 50 Films to See Before You Die.

2009 — Donnie Darko ranks #131 on IMDB's Top 250 Films.

It also came in at number 14 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies and landed at number 2 in their "Greatest Independent Films of All Time" list.

Sequel

A 2009 sequel, S. Darko, centers on Samantha Darko, Donnie's younger sister. Again played by Daveigh Chase, Samantha begins to have strange dreams that hint at a major catastrophe. Donnie Darko creator Richard Kelly has stated that he has no involvement in this sequel, as he does not own the rights to the original. Daveigh and producer Adam Fields are the only creative links between it and the original film. The sequel received mostly negative reviews.

Adaptations

Marcus Stern, Associate Director of the American Repertory Theater, directed a staged adaptation of Donnie Darko at the Zero Arrow Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the fall of 2007. It ran from October 27 to November 18, 2007, with opening night fittingly scheduled on Halloween. An article written by the production dramaturg stated that the director and production team planned to "embrace the challenge to make the fantastical elements come alive on stage." In 2004, Stern adapted and directed Kelly's screenplay for a graduate student production at the American Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training (I.A.T.T./M.X.A.T.).

References

1. ^ Template:Cite directors cut DVD commentary per director Richard Kelly
2. ^ "Donnie Darko film review". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN.com. 2001. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
3. "'Darko' takes a long, strange trip". USA Today. Retrieved 2005-02-14.
4. Poster, Steven (Cinematographer) (2004). Donnie Darko Production Diary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
5. "Donnie Darko". Indie Wire. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
6. "Donnie Darko". Indie Wire. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
7. "Donnie Darko". Indie Wire. Retrieved 2006-05-17.
8. Review of Donnie Darko, by Megan Spencer, for ABC Australia.
9. "Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
10. "My Favourite Film". ABC. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
11. "C4 relaunches Film4 with '50 films to see before you die' list countdown". Brand Republic. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
12. "IMDB". Brand Republic. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
13. Sarah Wallace (2007-08-07). "Bringing the End of the World to Life". American Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 2007-10-14.

• Commentary with Kevin Smith (2003), Donnie Darko Directors Cut, Faber and Faber, ISBN 0571221246.

External links

• DonnieDarkoFilm.com - Official website
• Donnie Darko at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• Donnie Darko at Rotten Tomatoes
• Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut at Rotten Tomatoes

• 2001 films
• American films
• Art films
• Avant-garde and experimental films
• Coming-of-age films
• Directorial debut films
• Drama films
• English-language films
• Existentialist works
• Films set in the 1980s
• Films set in Virginia
• Psychological thriller films
• Neo-noir
• Satirical films
• Goth films
• Teen films
• Time travel films
• Tragedy films
• Wormholes in fiction
• Films directed by Richard Kelly
• Plays based on media
• Albert Einstein
• Quantum mechanics