Donnie Darko
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Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2008 | 2001 films | 2001 Sundance Film Festival | American films | Art films | Avant-garde and experimental films | Coming-of-age films | Directorial debut films | Donnie Darko | Drama films | English-language films | Existentialist works | Films set in the 1980s | Films set in Virginia | Neo-noir | Philosophical films | Psychological science fiction films | Satirical films | Teen films | Time travel films | Tragedy films | Wormholes in fiction
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For the fictional character, see Donnie Darko (character).
Donnie Darko is a 2001 drama/psychological thriller/science fiction film written and directed by Richard Kelly. The film had a small opening upon its release in the U.S., but gained newfound popularity upon its DVD release and a cult following over the years.
PlotThe story takes place in 1988 in the town of Middlesex, Virginia, during the time of the United States presidential election. Donnie Darko is an intelligent though emotionally troubled teenager who sleepwalks, and is in the medical care of a psychiatrist with whom he discusses his deepest thoughts. One night, a mysterious jet engine from a commercial aircraft falls into Donnie's bedroom; he avoids death by obeying a voice in his head causing him to sleepwalk outside from his room, corrupting space and time. The voice is that of Frank, an (arguably) imaginary friend dressed in a ghastly man-sized rabbit/skull costume. At midnight on October 2nd, Frank prophesizes to Donnie that the end of the world will occur in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Frank instructs Donnie to perform further acts, provoking a certain chain of events allowing the finale to occur: he floods his high school, giving him the opportunity to court a new classmate and potential love Gretchen Ross; he pursues time travel, leading to a conversation with his science teacher, who gives him the book The Philosophy of Time Travel, by Roberta Sparrow, an aged town resident known as "Grandma Death" among the neighborhood youth. Donnie begins seeing ripples in space-time, depicted as a water-like tentacle flowing out from people's chests, brought on by the corruption of the current timeline. The tentacles indicate where the person will travel in the near future (the next thirty seconds or so): he sees one tentacle snake into the room, followed by his younger sister skipping through the room. These singularities are described in Roberta Sparrow's book. Another tentacle leads Donnie to a pistol in his parents' closet, which he takes and keeps. He and Gretchen go to the cinema to watch a double feature, The Evil Dead and The Last Temptation of Christ, she falls asleep, Frank appears and shows him a wormhole portal in the cinema screen, where Frank reveals himself as a teenager of the same age as Donnie, with a wound in his right eye. Frank incites Donnie to burn down the house of a motivational speaker he ridiculed at a school function, thereby exposing a secret "kiddie porn dungeon". The motivational speaker's arrest begins a chain of events that results in Donnie's mother chaperoning his younger sister and her dance group on a flight to the talent hunt program Star Search in Los Angeles, as the coach is a passionate supporter of Cunningham and wants to defend him in court. This gets Donnie's mother out of the house so Donnie and his sister, Elizabeth can do what they want. On the night of October 29th, with Donnie's parents out of town, Donnie and Elizabeth have a party to celebrate her being accepted to Harvard. Gretchen turns up scared, because her mother has disappeared and she is worried her stepfather, who had stabbed her mother a few years back, has come back to finish the job. Donnie and Gretchen go up to his mother's room to have sex. While Donnie and Gretchen are having sex, Elizabeth's boyfriend, Frank disappears. Donnie and Gretchen and two other friends go for advice from Roberta Sparrow when they are ambushed by two school bullies, who happen to be robbing the house that night. In the struggle, Donnie is held down with a knife to his neck by one of the bullies. The bully then says: "Why the fuck are you here?". Donnie then proclaims "Deus ex Machina" (literally "god out of a machine"). The bully is confused, and says: "What the fuck did you just say?". Donnie then simply says: "Our Saviour". Gretchen; having been pushed to the ground by a burglar, is run over and killed by a car swerving to miss "Grandma Death", who is (as usual) checking the mailbox. The bullies flee; (it then is past midnight, so it is October 30th). The car that killed Gretchen stops, and Donnie sees the driver. After seeing that the driver is Elizabeth's boyfriend Frank in a Halloween rabbit costume, Donnie shoots him in the eye, killing him; (earlier foreshadowed when Donnie talked to Frank in his bathroom and he raised a knife, making stabbing motions to the right eye of Frank's visage as well as during the scene in the movie theater when Frank removes his mask to reveal a gaping wound in his right eye). Donnie carries Gretchen's body home where he places it in a car. He spots a wormhole portal opening directly over his home and he drives to a hillside overlooking Middlesex, while police vehicles come screeching to a halt in front of his home. From the hilltop he can see in the distance the portal in the shape of a tornado with an airplane flying directly over it. Donnie's mother and sister experience turbulence on their return flight home; one of the airplane's jet engines detaches and falls. The engine travels through the time portal to 28 days earlier, crashes into Donnie's bedroom, causing a time travel predestination paradox; on that occasion, Donnie chooses to stay in bed (arguably to save the girlfriend he will never meet, along with his mother and sister who would've died due to the missing engine on their plane). The story ends on the morning after the original jet engine accident. Donnie is dead and his body is removed from the house as his family mourns. As all the people upon whom Donnie's actions had an impact (or rather, would have had an impact upon) sit stunned, Frank, with a prototype bunny Halloween mask, subconsciously touches his right eye. Gretchen is alive and rides by on her bicycle. Never having met Donnie, she talks with a neighborhood child about the sad accident. She waves to Donnie's mother; there is a sense of recognition between them. Cast
ProductionDonnie Darko was filmed in 28 days on a budget of US$4.5 million.[1] It almost went straight to home video release, but was publicly released by the production company Flower Films.[2] The film was shot in California. Donnie's high school was portrayed by Loyola High School, a prominent Catholic school in Los Angeles, California. Donnie awakens in a golf course in Burbank, California; the hotel where his family lodges is the Burbank, California, Holiday Inn; the Aero theater where Donnie and Gretchen watch the double feature is a cinema in Santa Monica, California. One of the biggest reasons it did badly at the box office was due to the September 11 Terrorist attacks.[citation needed] The limited release of this film happened only a week before the attack itself. 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. ScoreIn 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, at the top of the UK music charts.[3] A slightly remixed part of the song was used in the David Fincher directed TV commercial for the 2006 Xbox 360 game Gears of War. The advertisement brought the song an increased level of popularity, propelling it to number one in downloads at the iTunes music store in late 2006. This song has also had a strong presence in Internet culture, as it has been used countless times for fan videos and trailers. The song was also used at the end of an episode of CSI, at the end of an episode of Jericho, and in Smallville. Other mainstream songs appear in the film, all of which are featured on the first CD of the British edition of the soundtrack. 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 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. Release and marketing
ReceptionDonnie Darko had its first screening at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19th 2001. Critic Andy Bailey billed Donnie Darko as a "Sundance surprise" that "isn't spoiled by the Hollywood forces that helped birth it."[4] Although critically acclaimed, the film debuted in U.S. theaters in October, 2001 to a tepid response. Shown on only 58 screens nationwide, the film grossed $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.[5][6] Despite the poor showing at the box office, the film had attracted a devoted fan base. Donnie Darko was originally released on DVD and VHS in March of 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.[7] Strong DVD sales led Newmarket Films to release a "Directors Cut" on DVD in 2005. Bob Berney, President of Newmarket Films, described the film as "a runaway hit on DVD," citing US sales of more than $10 million. Awards and nominations2001 — 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 "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.[8] 2006 — Donnie Darko ranks ninth in FilmFour's 50 Films to See Before You Die.[9] 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. Director's interpretationWriter/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 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 have died/will die within the Tangent Universe (and would not have died otherwise) are the Manipulated Dead (Frank and Gretchen Ross). Manipulated Dead 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. There are two "Franks" in the story: the living boyfriend of Donnie's sister Elizabeth, and the Manipulated Dead Frank who appears to Donnie as a premonition from the future in the disturbing rabbit suit (the second Frank is dead, or undead; at the end of the film he is killed by Donnie). Dead Frank is aware of Donnie's fate and destiny. Director's cut
 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. DifferencesIn the director's cut:
Stage productionMarcus Stern, Associate Director of the American Repertory Theatre, 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."[10] More details and commentary about the production can be found on the A.R.T.'s official website and the A.R.T.'s official blog. 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.). Notes
References
External linksWikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
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