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Donnie Darko

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Donnie Darko
File:Donnie Darko Film Poster.jpg
Directed byRichard Kelly
Written byRichard Kelly
Produced bySean McKittrick
Hunt Lowry
Casey La Scala
Drew Barrymore
Nancy Juvonen
StarringJake Gyllenhaal
Holmes Osborne
Maggie Gyllenhaal
James Duval
Patrick Swayze
Mary McDonnell
Beth Grant
Jena Malone
Noah Wyle
Drew Barrymore
Katharine Ross
Distributed byNewmarket Films
Release dates
January 19, 2001 (Sundance Film Festival)
October 28, 2001 (USA)
Running time
113 min.,
133 min. (director's cut)
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,500,000

Donnie Darko is a 2001 cult film, the first by writer and director Richard Kelly. Set in 1988, the movie is a psychological science fiction film about a boy named Donnie Darko who, after narrowly escaping death, has visions of an eerie, bipedal, giant rabbit named Frank who predicts when the world will end. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The film did not perform well in theaters, but since its release on home video, it has become a cult hit. 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 shot to No. 1 in the DVD sales chart.

Cast

Plot synopsis

Template:Spoiler

The plot of Donnie Darko is somewhat confusing, and much of it deals with existentialism and includes paradoxes that are never explained. As such, multiple interpretations exist.

The film is set in 1988, an election year, in Middlesex, Virginia.

In the middle of the night, on October 2, 1988, Donnie is awakened from his sleep by a strange voice and led out onto a golf course where he converses with a demonic-looking, man-sized rabbit named Frank who tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. (There are many theories as to why this number was chosen. Some believe that it relates to the amount of time the moon takes to orbit around the Earth [29 days, 5 hours, 41 minutes and 11 seconds], but no confirmation of this has been attained.) After waking up on the golf course the next morning, Donnie returns home to discover that a huge jet engine has fallen from the sky and into his bedroom. So begins a series of events which bring together Donnie and a young woman named Gretchen.

There is an early indication of Donnie's mental illness (specifically psychosis) when his sister accuses him of not taking his medication. Donnie continues to see Frank and begins to see "liquid spears" emerging from people's chests, the paths of which indicate the actions those people will undertake in the immediate future. Whether this is indicative of mental illness, science fiction, or both, is left to the viewer.

Richard Kelly, while not denying the viewers' personal interpretations, has made his own clear through the audio commentaries on the two DVDs, the included Philosophy of Time Travel, and in various interviews. His intended plot is as follows: At midnight a tangent universe spins off of the Primary Universe, signified by the appearance of an Artifact; here represented by a jet engine. Tangent Universes are inherently unstable and will collapse in less than a month, taking the Primary Universe with it, if not closed off. Closing the Tangent Universe is the duty of the Living Receiver (Donnie), given super powers to perform this task. Those who die within the Tangent Universe are the Manipulated Dead (Frank and, according to the back of the book, Gretchen) who are also given certain powers, understanding of what is going on, and the ability to contact the Living Receiver via the Fourth Dimensional Construct (water). Everyone else in the orbit of the Living Receiver are the Manipulated Living, who are subconsciously drawn to push and prod the Living Receiver towards his destiny, closing the Tangent Universe and, apparently, dying by the Artifact.

If we follow Kelly's interpretation, the chain of events in brief is as follows: the Manipulated Dead, Frank, rouses Donnie, the Living Receiver, from his bed, and compels him to leave his house, starting a causal loop. Frank tells him that the Tangent Universe will collapse in 28 days. The next day Donnie goes to school. His English teacher, strangely, tells new girl Gretchen to sit next to the cutest boy in the room and she chooses Donnie (this begins the romance that ends badly and pushes Donnie to his final action). That night Frank appears to Donnie and makes him flood the school. As a result Donnie walks Gretchen home and asks her out. A bit later, Frank appears to Donnie and tells him to "burn it to the ground", so Donnie burns down the house of Jim Cunningham, a motivational speaker. When the firemen come to investigate the fire, they discover a secret room filled with pedophilic material. As a result, Donnie's conservative physical education teacher decides to defend Cunningham, who she believes has been framed. This causes Donnie's mother to chaperone her daughter's dance troupe on their way to California to perform on Star Search (they board the airplane whose engine becomes the artifact in the Tangent Universe). Because of this, Donnie and his older sister, Elizabeth, are able to throw a party while the parents are away. This leads to a romantic interlude between Donnie and Gretchen. At the same time, Frank, Donnie's sister Elizabeth's boyfriend, realizes they've run out of alcohol at the party and drives off with a friend to pick up more beer.

File:Donniedarkoskelcostume.jpg
Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko.

After their interlude Donnie decides to take Gretchen to see Grandma Death (aka Roberta Sparrow, the author of Philosophy of Time Travel). They stumble upon two bullies that were searching through Ms. Sparrow's cellar for her rumored treasure. Donnie, Gretchen and the bullies struggle, and Gretchen is thrown into the road. Roberta Sparrow, a senile old woman, is standing in the middle of the road checking her mail because Donnie wrote her a letter earlier, when Frank comes upon her in his car. He swerves to avoid her, but hits Gretchen, killing her. Donnie becomes enraged and kills Frank, becoming willing to do what must be done in order to save Gretchen. The plane with his mother and sister passes by the wormhole (or timestorm as referenced in the DVD) and the engine is ripped off and thrust back in time. The audience knows that the mom and sister are on this plane, after Mrs. Darko leaves a message saying that they are catching the red eye back. Donnie reappears back in his room in the Primary Universe, and lies in his bed laughing as the engine falls through the roof and kills him. After experiencing the Tangent Universe, and seeing the paths that every living thing follows throughout time, Donnie dies so that Gretchen, his mother, his sister and Frank may live. According to the Philosophy of Time Travel, every Living Receiver dies by the Artifact. A simple explanation of the movie and its ending, based on the DVD commentary, is that Donnie had to make sure, with Frank the rabbit's guidance, that the chain of events that caused the engine to go through the portal occurs. If he failed, the portal would have caused the end of the world (like Frank said).

The film carefully leaves open the possibility that the entire alternate-universe sequence of events may be Donnie's (or even, perhaps, his mother's) hallucination, reverie, fantasy, or dream (and Kelly has hinted in interviews that dreams and alternate universes just might be the same thing). At any rate, the story draped on this science-fiction backbone includes a good deal more than speculative inquiry into time travel; the film is also, for example, a darkly comic satire of public education (although Donnie's school is in fact private), and so-called self-help gurus; and Jake Gyllenhaal has received much praise for his performance as the disaffected, alienated, yet charming Donnie.

Much of the backstory is explained on the official Donnie Darko website, which acts as a combination puzzle and teaser for the movie. It shows that Donnie was institutionalized before the events of the movie occur, and offers other details that help in explaining the goings-on of the movie. The director's commentary on the DVD also gives crucial details, such as the point of departure between the real world and the alternate universe — not when the engine crashes through the ceiling, but instead a few minutes before, when Donnie is called out to meet Frank for the first time.

There are many easter eggs present in the film, including a reflection of Ronald Reagan being visible in the principal's office.

Production

The movie was shot in 28 days, exactly the time-span of the movie itself, on a budget of under US$5 million. Some viewers have seen here a reference or homage to the 1950 motion picture Harvey, but director Kelly has denied any such intention and in fact has stated that he had never seen Harvey before directing this film. However, the film is situated within a larger cultural discourse in which rabbits have a paranormal quality, including the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland which leads Alice into a parallel universe through a rabbit hole — perhaps an echo of the wormhole — see below.

"I'm voting for Dukakis"

"I'm Voting for Dukakis" is the very first line of dialogue. It is spoken in a deadpan voice by Donnie's elder sister Elizabeth (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) to their father, Eddie Darko, a strongly committed Republican.

Fans of the movie have appropriated the line as a catchphrase. Some regard it as humorous nonsense, given Michael Dukakis's historical role as a failure in the U.S. presidential election, 1988. Others interpret it to mean "I'm deliberately trying to annoy you." A few liberal viewers have suggested that it means, "I know I'm going to fail, but at least I'm on the right side." However, such an interpretation is dubious since Donnie is never established as representing the right side of any moral argument, his actions being depicted merely as the results of a deterministic universe. Some film critics suggest the phrase can be seen as a cryptic summary of the entire movie, as Donnie rebels against absurd authority figures (Farmer and Cunningham, not his father) and comes to terms with the necessity of his impending doom. It certainly encapsulates the alienated and ironic tone of the film.

The reference to largely forgotten and somewhat tedious political history situates the events in the epoch when the writer-director - and perhaps his target audience - were adolescents. Such a historical rootedness is unusual for a science fiction movie and serves to give the movie an unusual and even "realist" quality.

The phrase is also a quote from Isaac Asimov in 1988.

Director's cut

File:Donniedarkodvd.jpeg
The UK DVD cover for the director's cut.

A director's cut of the movie debuted on June 4, 2004 in Seattle, Washington and was released in New York and Los Angeles on July 23, 2004. Twenty minutes of footage, including interstitial excerpts from the in-movie book The Philosophy of Time Travel, were added, as well as some soundtrack changes. The director's cut DVD, released on February 15 2005, included the new footage and additional soundtrack changes, as well as some additional features exclusive to its two-DVD set, including 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. A director's cut DVD was released as a giveaway with copies of the British Sunday Times newspaper on February 19, 2006. In the director's cut, Donnie simply follows the spear, as opposed the spear forming a finger and beckoning him. Also, Donnie’s psychiatrist informs Donnie that his pills are placebos and the Holiday Inn scene is lengthened. Many scenes in Ms. Pomeroy's classroom were put back in, including a poetry reading, the banning of Graham Greene's The Destructors and replacing of with Watership Down, and the class later watching the animated movie Watership Down. Additionally, Frank's apology during the cinema / Evil Dead scene is removed, Karen Pomeroy's firing scene is shortened, and the scene in which Donnie asks her about "Cellar Door" is longer and shows almost entirely different dialogue.

Soundtrack

See the Donnie Darko soundtrack.

Quotes

  • Kitty [to Donnie's Mother]: Rose! Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!
  • Donnie: Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?
    Frank: Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
  • Principal Cole: Now let’s go over this again. So what exactly did you say to Mrs. Farmer?
    Kitty Farmer: I’ll tell you what he said, he asked me to forcibly insert the lifeline exercise card into my anus!
  • Gretchen: What if you could go back in time, and take all those hours of pain and darkness and replace them with something better?
  • Karen Pomeroy: I don’t think you have a clue what it's like to communicate with these kids. We are losing them to apathy and this prescribed nonsense. They are slipping away.
  • Donnie [to Cunningham]: You're right actually, I am pretty troubled and I am pretty confused and I'm afraid, really, really afraid, but I think you're the fucking anti-christ. [applause]
  • Donnie: You're such a fuck-ass.
    Elizabeth:(laughing) What? Did you just call me a fuck-ass? You can just go suck a fuck!
    Donnie: Please tell me Elizabeth, how exactly does one suck a fuck?
    Elizabeth: You want me to tell you?
    Rose Darko: We will not have THIS at the dinner table.
    Donnie: I'm all ears.
    (Pause)
    Samantha: What's a fuck-ass?
  • Karen Pomeroy: A famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English Language...of all the endless combinations of words in history, that "cellar door" was the most beautiful.
    Donnie: ...cellar door...
  • Frank: Twenty eight days, six hours, forty two minutes, twelve seconds...that is when the world will end...
    Donnie: ...why?
  • Frank: Wake up, Donnie... I've been watching you... Come closer... closer... closer...
  • Donnie: So why'd you move here?
    Gretchen: my parents got divorced, my mom had to get a restraining order against my dad, he has emotional problems.
    Donnie: Hey I have those too, what kind of emotional problems does your dad have?
    Gretchen: He stabbed my mom four times in the chest.
  • Grandma Death (Roberta Sparrow): Every living creature on this earth dies alone.

Receptions

Audiences and critics both agree Donnie Darko is a film that cannot be fully grasped in just one viewing, making it a perfect blockbuster hit while explaining its box office flop. In fact, the film only made a box office total of around $0.7 Million.

Donnie Darko has occasionally been attacked for encouraging and romanticizing suicidal behavior and insanity. Fans often respond that this misses the point, and looks at the film from exactly the shallow level of thought it is trying to combat.

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 ranks in top five films on the ABC movie show

Trivia

  • When Donnie’s mother calls to say she’s catching the red-eye flight back, the airport announcement in the background says “Flight 2806 is boarding at gate 42 and leaving at 12 am.” This is a reference to the countdown, 28:06:42:12, Frank reveals.
  • In Kelly’s commentary he reveals that the man in the red jogging suit is an FAA agent monitoring the family members.
  • The movie was shot in 28 days, the same amount of time Donnie had to save the universe.
  • In the commentary the director mentions that in the Smurfs-scene the boys are supposed to shoot Smurf-dolls. The team eventually got permission to shoot them; however the prop-master was unable to acquire a doll.
  • The name of the main character Donnie is a diminutive of Donald. The name Donald comes from the Gaelic name Domhnall which means "ruler of the world", composed of the Old Celtic elements dumno "world" and val "rule". Two kings of Scotland have borne this name. [1]
  • Donnie's surname Darko is derived from Slavic dar meaning "gift". [2]
  • Elizabeth Darko, Donnie's sister, is played by Jake's real life sister Maggie.
  • The "famous linguist" who claimed that the words Cellar Door were the most beautiful in the English language is often identified as J.R.R. Tolkien.
  • In the film, Kitty Farmer, using a Jim Cunningham infomercial-style tape, teaches that all human acts and emotions can be split into one of two categories: fear and love. Donnie takes great issue with this stating "You can’t just lump things into two categories. Things aren’t that simple... There are other things that need to be taken into account. Like the whole spectrum of human emotion. You can’t just lump everything into these two categories and then just deny everything else."

    Writer/director Richard Kelly has since stated that this scene was "plagiarised" from a similar exercise he was put through at school. However, it bears a striking resemblance to the closing speech of the comedian Bill Hicks' Salvation (1992) tour in which Hicks states, "Here's my point folks, in the blink of an eye: we can have Heaven on Earth - it's a choice, that's all it is... You can look through the eyes of fear, you can look through the eyes of love, it's the only two ways to look. The eyes of fear is insanity, it's not really there, the eyes of love are the only real eyes. Bing. Go. Bing fucking go. Heaven on Earth right now if you want it. [beat] (Right now.) It's a choice! To look through the eyes of love instead of the eyes of fear, just once."
  • Graham Greene, whose short story, "The Destructors", is cited in the film, was born on October 2, a date of significance in the film.

Advertising

In the commentary, Kelly explains that he intentionally uses a modern Blockbuster card on the key chain for Blockbuster endorsement purposes. why is my penis so hard?

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