Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko is an American film produced in 2000 and released in 2001. It is a horror and science fiction film; Set in 1988, it tells the story of Donnie, a boy who has visions of a sinister giant rabbit named Frank who predicts the end of the world.

It had a budget of $3.8 million and was shot in twenty-eight days. It starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Seth Rogen, Noah Wyle, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Donnie Darko had a limited release, one month after the attack on the Twin Towers (September 11, 2001). After being brought to the home video market, it was released in theaters. It managed to reach the category of cult film. In May 2004, the director's cut was released: Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut.

Donnie Darko only managed to gross 7.3 million worldwide. In 2008 a sequel was released S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale directed not by Richard Kelly but by Chris Fisher, which did not achieve the same success and was heavily criticized.

Plot

On October 2, 1988, in Middlesex, Virginia, troubled young Donald "Donnie" Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) sleepwalks out of his house following a figure dressed in a monstrous rabbit costume. The figure is introduced as "Frank" (James Duval) and tells Donnie the precise moment the world is going to end: in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds (during the Halloween party). Donnie returns home to find that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom (no one in his family has been hurt). His sister Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) tells him that the investigators of the Armed Forces do not know the origin of the artifact.

Over the next few days, Donnie continues to have visions of Frank, and his parents Eddie (Holmes Osborne) and Rose (Mary McDonnell) refer him to psychotherapist Dr. Thurman (Katharine Ross), who believes Donnie is estranged from his family. reality, and that her visions of Frank are "daylight hallucinations," symptomatic of paranoid schizophrenia. When Frank tells Donnie about time travel, Donnie asks his science teacher, Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff (Noah Wyle) about it, and they have conversations in which, among other things, they mention that there being a endless possibilities for a specific event, when one occurs, the others are cancelled. Dr. Monnitoff hands Donnie The Philosophy of Time Travel, a book written by Roberta Sparrow (Patience Cleveland), a former science teacher at the school who is by then an apparently senile lady. who lives out of town. Donnie also begins dating Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone), who has recently moved into town with her mother under a new identity to escape her violent stepfather.

Frank begins influencing Donnie's actions through sleepwalking, including flooding his high school by breaking a water pipe. Gym teacher Kitty Farmer (Beth Grant) attributes the act of vandalism to the influence of Graham Greene's short story “The Destroyers”, assigned by a teacher named Karen Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore). At one point, Donnie's visions lead him to discover the place where his father hides a gun. Meanwhile, Mrs. Farmer begins giving attitude lessons borrowed from famous motivational speaker Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze), and arranges for him to give a lecture at school, at which Donnie insults him. Later, Donnie finds Cunningham's wallet and address, and Frank, who appears to him with a broken and bloody eye, suggests burning down his house. The firefighters, who come to the conclusion that the fire was not arson, put out the flames and discover a pile of child pornography there, and arrest Cunningham. Mrs. Farmer, who wishes to testify in her defense, asks Donnie's mother to accompany the dance troupe to which their daughters belong to Los Angeles.

With their parents and younger sister traveling, Donnie and Elizabeth throw a Halloween costume party at home to celebrate Elizabeth's acceptance into Harvard. At the party, Gretchen arrives distraught because her mother has disappeared. Donnie realizes that the time prophesied by Frank is only a few hours away. He takes Gretchen and two other friends to visit Sparrow. At the place, which is practically an abandoned house, they are attacked by two high school bullies, Seth and Ricky. Donnie, Seth, and Ricky argue in the middle of the road, just as Sparrow is walking home and stops to watch. A car accidentally runs over Gretchen, killing her. The driver turns out to be Frank, Elizabeth's boyfriend, dressed in the same rabbit costume from Donnie's visions. Frank gets out of the car, asking if she's dead. Donnie shoots him, hitting him in the right eye.

Then Donnie carries Gretchen home where he says goodbye to his sister, and gets in the car as he watches the wormhole forming on top of his house.

Donnie drives the car to the top of a hill where he sees the wormhole, into which the plane carrying his mother and little sister enters.

The plane is shaken by the wormhole, and the turbine that travels through the hole is detached from it, Donnie goes back to the car where Gretchen is dead and looks at her and smiles. Donnie goes back in time to the night the turbine falls, laughing as he realizes everything, he stays in bed, where this time the turbine kills him thus saving Gretchen, his mother, her sister and Frank. In the morning the firefighters are at the accident, where his whole family is distraught in the garden. Gretchen alive, not having met Donnie, she asks a person what she had passed, and he tells her that she has fallen a turbine and killed a boy. Gretchen sees Donnie's mother and they greet each other with the feeling of knowing each other.

Cast

• Jake Gyllenhaal as Donald "Donnie" Darko.
• Jena Malone like Gretchen Ross.
• Mary McDonnell as Rose Darko.
• Holmes Osborne as Eddie Darko (father of Donnie).
• Maggie Gyllenhaal as Elizabeth Darko.
• Daveigh Chase as Samantha Darko (Donnie's younger sister, protagonist of the sequel to this film).
• Katharine Ross as Dr. Lilian Thurman.
• James Duval like Frank (Rabbit; friend of Elizabeth Darko).
• Drew Barrymore like Karen Pomeroy.
• Noah Wyle as Professor Kenneth Monnitoff (Professor of Science and Apparently Couple of Karen Pomeroy).
• Patrick Swayze like Jim Cunningham.
• Beth Grant as Kitty Farmer (the gym teacher and mother of a student).
• Tiler Peck like Beth Farmer.
• Mark Hoffman as a police officer.
• David St. James like Bob Garland.
• Jolene Purdy like Cherita Chen (Chinese company at Donnie school, in love with him).
• Stuart Stone as Ronald Fisher (one of Donnie's two aggressive companions).
• Seth Rogen like Ricky Danforth.
• Patience Cleveland as Grandma Death (writer Roberta Sparrow).
• David Moreland as Mr. Cole (director of Donnie School).
• Jack Salvatore Jr. like Larry Riesman, Donnie's partner at school.
• Tom Tangen as the fat one dressed in red sportswear.
• Ashley Tisdale like Kim, Dorky Girl.
• Jerry Trainor like Lanky Kid.
• Gary Lundy like Sean Smith.
• Alex Greenwald as Seth Devlin.
• Arthur Taxier like Dr. Fisher
• Kristina Malota like Susie Bates.
• Marina Malota like Emily Bates.
• Carly Naples as Suzy Bailey.
• Jazzie Mahannah like Joanie James.
• Lisa K. Wyatt as Linda Connie.
• Rachel Winfree like Shanda Riesman.
• Lee Weaver as Leroy.
• Phyllis Lyons as Anne Fisher.
• Alison Jones like Dorky Half-Sister.
• Joan Blair as a mystery woman.
• Sarah Hudson as a friend.
• Fran Kranz as a passenger.
• Scotty Leavenworth like David, the neighbor in front of Donnie, who regrets his death.
• Conrad Angel Corral as vice director (without accreditation).
• Phil Hawn as a teacher (not accredited).
• Nancy Juvonen as a hostess (without crediting).
• Margaret Kontra Palmer as a concerned mother (without accreditation).
• Dee Austin Robertson as a ticket salesman in the cinema (without credit).
• Jack Truman as a teacher (without accreditation).

Chain of events

• Frank takes Donnie out of his room and later from his home, starting a predestination paradox. Frank says the tangential universe will collapse in just over twenty-eight days.
• The next day, Donnie goes to school. Her Literature teacher (Drew Barrymore), strangely, tells the new girl, Gretchen that she sits next to the boy who looks more handsome, and when she looks curiously at Donnie, she sits next to her. That night, Frank shows up and tells Donnie to join the school.
• As a result, Donnie escorts Gretchen to his house and asks if he wants to date him.
• In one of his exits, in the cinema, Frank appears and orders Donnie to fire Jim Cunningham's house, a Middlesex celebrity that gives self-help courses. When the firefighters investigate the fire, they discover a secret room full of pedophile material.
• As a result, Professor of Physical Education at Donnie thinks there's a conspiracy around Cunningham, and that's why she decides to help him.
• Therefore, Donnie's mother should replace the teacher of physical education as responsible for the dance group of her daughter and friends (Sparkle Motion), which was selected to compete in the 1988 Star Search contest (Star Search ’88). After competing, the group travels back home on the plane whose engine becomes the "artfact" of the tangential universe.
• Donnie's older sister, Elizabeth, is accepted at Harvard. Because of this, Donnie and she can have a party at home, as their parents are outside the village. At that party, there is a romantic interlude between Donnie and Gretchen. Frank, Elizabeth's boyfriend comes out of the party with a friend to buy more beer.

The Director's Cut

Richard Kelly has provided his own thoughts on the film in the Director's Cut edition of the DVD. This edition includes the fictional book The Philosophy of Time Travel, as well as several interviews. His opinion about the film is as follows:

At midnight, the tangential universe is separated from the primary universe, thanks to the appearance of an artifact, represented by an airplane engine. The tangential universes are unstable and generally collapse in less than a month, taking the primary universe with it, if not closed previously. Close the tangential universe is a duty of the living receiver (Donnie), which gives him superpowers to accomplish his task. Those who have died within the tangential universe are transformed into manipulated dead (Frank and - according to the last sheet of the book The philosophy of the journey in timeGretchen, who also receive certain powers, and understand what happens, and the ability to contact the live receiver through the fourth dimensional construction (water). All those around the living receiver are the living manipulated who (unconsciously) are pushed to take the living receiver to fulfill their destiny, close the tangential universe and, apparently, die for the artifact.

Richard Kelly, screenwriter and director of Donnie Darko

Although the last twenty-eight days never really happened, some of the manipulated will be haunted in their dreams by their experiences within the tangential universe.

There are pieces of evidence that prove this. Frank touching his eye in the director's cut and Gretchen waving at Donnie's mom prove that some of the characters have some knowledge of what happened in the lost world. We can see Jim Cunningham crying at the end when he wakes up disgusted with himself. Ten days later he cleans his hole of child pornography and shoots himself on the 14th hole of the golf course, his secret is never revealed.

Premiere

Because the film touches on the subject of plane crashes, the film was given a limited release (it was released on October 26, one month after the September 11 attacks). It was subsequently withheld for nearly a year for international publication. Kelly said that it took her almost six months to sell the film. We had to beg to put it in theaters. Filmmaker Christopher Nolan stepped in and convinced Newmarket to put it in theatres.

Critical reaction

The film received critical acclaim, with praise for the acting, atmosphere, and unconventional writing. Rotten Tomatoes scored it 86% out of 100, with an average of 7.6/10 based on 115 reviews. The first feature from Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko is a bold and original vision, packed with jarring ideas and intelligence and featuring a remarkable performance from Jake Gyllenhaal as the troubled title character.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was created by Michael Andrews and was released in 2002. It consists of 16 instrumental tracks and two covers of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World".

Song List

1. "Carpathian Ridge" - 1:35
2. "The Tangent Universe" - 1:50
3. "The Artifact and Living" – 2:30
4. "Middlesex Times" - 1:41
5. "Manipulated Living" - 2:08
6. "Philosophy of Time Travel" – 2:02
7. "Liquid Spear Waltz" – 1:32
8. "Gretchen Ross" – 0:51
9. "Burn It to the Ground" – 1:58
10. "Slipping Away" – 1:17
11. "Rosie Darko" - 1:25
12. "Cellar Door" - 1:03
13. "Ensurance Trap" – 3:11
14. "Waltz in the 4th Dimension" - 2:46
15. "Time Travel" – 3:01
16. "Did You Know Him?" 1:46
17. "Mad World" - 3:08
18. "Mad World (Alternate Mix)" - 3:37

2004 British revival

To coincide with the release of the director's cut, an expanded two-disc version was released in the UK in 2004. This version includes pop and alternative songs from 1980s music.

1. "Never Tear Us Apart" by Inxs – 3:05
2. "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears – 4:16
3. "Under the Milky Way" by The Church – 4:58
4. "Lucid Memory" by Sam Bauer and Gerard Bauer – 0:46
5. "Lucid Assembly" by Gerard Bauer and Mike Bauer – 0:52
6. "Ave Maria" by Vladimir Vavilov and Paul Pritchard – 2:57
7. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Steve Baker and Carmen Daye – 3:12
8. "Show Me (Part 1) by Quito Colayco and Tony Hertz – 2:05
9. "Notorious" by Duran Duran – 4:00
10. "Stay" by Oingo Boingo – 3:38
11. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division – 3:23
12. "The Killing Moon" by Echo " the Bunnymen - 5:55

Sequel

In 2008 S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale sequel that takes place 8 years after the events of the first film and focuses on Donnie's younger sister, Samantha Darko (Daveigh Chase) who once again resumed her character.

The film was directed by Chris Fisher and the story chronicled the adventures and misadventures of Samantha on her journey to Los Angeles. The girl begins to experience visions and hallucinations, just like her brother had, that alert her to a possible destruction of the universe.