Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is one of those movies you've always heard about but never saw. Here's why: Donnie Darko is about a young man in high school who sleepwalks at night, just in time to avoid a jet engine smashing through his bedroom.
Right around September 11, 2001.
So Donnie Darko, like the titular character of the same name, disappeared with nary a trace. Fortunately, we now have a DVD version and there will be a new theatrical re-release of a director's cut of the film in July, 2004. Perhaps Donnie will still get his day.
Donnie Darko is about the Darko family. They're an average family, with an older sister heading for college (Elizabeth, played by Jake's real life sister Maggie), a cute-as-a-button younger sister (Samantha, played by Daveigh Chase), a white-collar mom and dad (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne), and then there's Donnie. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Donnie as an alternately awkward, exhausted, strung out teenager who exhibits brief flashes of rage at the inanity of modern life. Donnie also suffers from a troubled past, a past that requires him to see a therapist and take medication.
Donnie's life is a textbook troubled soul on the road to nowhere. We could easily see him committing suicide, getting involved in drugs, getting some girl pregnant, maybe joining a gang, or even shooting up his school. All's the pity, because Donnie is also extremely bright and has a piercing wit that embarrasses adults.
All that changes when Frank shows up. Who's Frank, you ask? Why, Frank's a deranged bunny rabbit.
That's a simplification, of course. To be precise, Frank is a deranged being in a bunny rabbit suit. The distinction matters.
In fact, in Donnie Darko, EVERYTHING matters. Every word, every nuance, like an Edgar Allen Poe poem, has significance and meaning. Ironically, the director and writer, Richard Kelly, feels the movie has only one interpretation as a science fiction story. In spite of himself, Kelly has created a movie that alternately weeps at the desperate loneliness of so many humans living next to each other and exults in the sheer joy of existence.
Frank whispers suggestions to Donnie, things that, at least on the surface, seem like very bad things to do. Donnie, in his sleepwalking, always performs these acts of vandalism. And each time, Frank tells Donnie how much he has left before the world ends. He starts the film with 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. Screen shots remind us that the end of the world is coming in a manner similar to The Ring (which came out in 2002, one year after Donnie Darko).
Reality lurks in the background. No one can explain where the jet engine came from. Government agents shadow Donnie's every step. In the mean time, town life goes on: Samantha's dance group gets discovered by an agent, a self-help guru (played by Patrick Swayze) spreads his mind-numbing spiritual pap, a book gets banned by the conservative elements for fear that it influences students to commit vandalism, bullies make fun of kids, teenagers do drugs and fool around...in other words, it's a microcosm of Everytown, USA.
All around him, Donnie's life slowly falls apart even as it starts to make sense. Each person in his life is challenged by their mediocrity and must face whether to rise above or succumb to their fears. The movie emphasizes the madness of putting "Fear" and "Love as diametrically opposed elements, emphasizing that the world is never that simple and often involves a mixture of the two. It also struggles with the issue of God's existence, of personal choice vs. destiny, of life and death, of madness vs. sanity, and more.
Drew Barrymore stars as an English teacher who attempts to open the student's minds. She's also executive producer. Unfortunately, her character comes off as stilted and unbelievable. Noah Wyle makes an appearance that's appropriately low key.
Kelly's camerawork is exceptionally mature for a new director. He doesn't shy away from wide-angle scenes and takes on some breathtaking shots; the most memorable being one sweeping panoramic scene that manages to encompass all that is high school in the span of a few seconds.
At least as integral to the film is the 80s music that permeates it. This movie is a love letter to the misbegotten youth of year 2000 twenty-somethings. The music is always appropriate and conveys the slow tumble of Donnie's life very effectively. The song "Mad World" sums up the essence of the film and its fundamental disagreement with what passes for our own mundane reality.
Donnie Darko has a lot in common with movies like Groundhog Day and Fight Club. The themes of personal choice, of growing beyond one's own selfish nature, of facing down one's demons in a universe that doesn't exist make for though-provoking cinema in the tradition of the silver screen. We don't get many films like this anymore.
As the movie comes to a close, Donnie must make a choice. It's not the choice that really matters, but that he was comfortable with his decision in the end. Viewers who stick with the movie and pay close attention will not be disappointed.
Besides, Frank told you to see it.
Right around September 11, 2001.
So Donnie Darko, like the titular character of the same name, disappeared with nary a trace. Fortunately, we now have a DVD version and there will be a new theatrical re-release of a director's cut of the film in July, 2004. Perhaps Donnie will still get his day.
Donnie Darko is about the Darko family. They're an average family, with an older sister heading for college (Elizabeth, played by Jake's real life sister Maggie), a cute-as-a-button younger sister (Samantha, played by Daveigh Chase), a white-collar mom and dad (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne), and then there's Donnie. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Donnie as an alternately awkward, exhausted, strung out teenager who exhibits brief flashes of rage at the inanity of modern life. Donnie also suffers from a troubled past, a past that requires him to see a therapist and take medication.
Donnie's life is a textbook troubled soul on the road to nowhere. We could easily see him committing suicide, getting involved in drugs, getting some girl pregnant, maybe joining a gang, or even shooting up his school. All's the pity, because Donnie is also extremely bright and has a piercing wit that embarrasses adults.
All that changes when Frank shows up. Who's Frank, you ask? Why, Frank's a deranged bunny rabbit.
That's a simplification, of course. To be precise, Frank is a deranged being in a bunny rabbit suit. The distinction matters.
In fact, in Donnie Darko, EVERYTHING matters. Every word, every nuance, like an Edgar Allen Poe poem, has significance and meaning. Ironically, the director and writer, Richard Kelly, feels the movie has only one interpretation as a science fiction story. In spite of himself, Kelly has created a movie that alternately weeps at the desperate loneliness of so many humans living next to each other and exults in the sheer joy of existence.
Frank whispers suggestions to Donnie, things that, at least on the surface, seem like very bad things to do. Donnie, in his sleepwalking, always performs these acts of vandalism. And each time, Frank tells Donnie how much he has left before the world ends. He starts the film with 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. Screen shots remind us that the end of the world is coming in a manner similar to The Ring (which came out in 2002, one year after Donnie Darko).
Reality lurks in the background. No one can explain where the jet engine came from. Government agents shadow Donnie's every step. In the mean time, town life goes on: Samantha's dance group gets discovered by an agent, a self-help guru (played by Patrick Swayze) spreads his mind-numbing spiritual pap, a book gets banned by the conservative elements for fear that it influences students to commit vandalism, bullies make fun of kids, teenagers do drugs and fool around...in other words, it's a microcosm of Everytown, USA.
All around him, Donnie's life slowly falls apart even as it starts to make sense. Each person in his life is challenged by their mediocrity and must face whether to rise above or succumb to their fears. The movie emphasizes the madness of putting "Fear" and "Love as diametrically opposed elements, emphasizing that the world is never that simple and often involves a mixture of the two. It also struggles with the issue of God's existence, of personal choice vs. destiny, of life and death, of madness vs. sanity, and more.
Drew Barrymore stars as an English teacher who attempts to open the student's minds. She's also executive producer. Unfortunately, her character comes off as stilted and unbelievable. Noah Wyle makes an appearance that's appropriately low key.
Kelly's camerawork is exceptionally mature for a new director. He doesn't shy away from wide-angle scenes and takes on some breathtaking shots; the most memorable being one sweeping panoramic scene that manages to encompass all that is high school in the span of a few seconds.
At least as integral to the film is the 80s music that permeates it. This movie is a love letter to the misbegotten youth of year 2000 twenty-somethings. The music is always appropriate and conveys the slow tumble of Donnie's life very effectively. The song "Mad World" sums up the essence of the film and its fundamental disagreement with what passes for our own mundane reality.
Donnie Darko has a lot in common with movies like Groundhog Day and Fight Club. The themes of personal choice, of growing beyond one's own selfish nature, of facing down one's demons in a universe that doesn't exist make for though-provoking cinema in the tradition of the silver screen. We don't get many films like this anymore.
As the movie comes to a close, Donnie must make a choice. It's not the choice that really matters, but that he was comfortable with his decision in the end. Viewers who stick with the movie and pay close attention will not be disappointed.
Besides, Frank told you to see it.
Labels: Drama, Movies, Science Fiction
posted by talien | 9:06 AM
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