DARK. DARKER. DARKO.
I have had dreams where I’m chased by Nazis in a forest. I have dreamt that I was a cast member of Falcon Crest. I have had many weird dreams, but in none of them have there appeared a large, evil-looking bunny rabbit predicting that the world will come to an end within 28 days. But that is exactly what happens in Richard Kelly’s wildly inventive and strangely fascinating breakthrough piece. But is it a dream? Well, that’s one of many questions you will be asking yourself after watching this film that has been elevated to cultdom.
Always sleepwalking
It is October 1988, George H.W. Bush looks set to win the presidential election and Donald Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), a very troubled high school kid, is seeing a shrink. That strange rabbit (who goes by the name of Frank) keeps reappearing before him and Donnie is basically always sleepwalking, either literally or just looking like it. He is rebelling against his repressively conservative school, something which kind of runs in his genes because his sister and parents are open-minded liberals. Eventually he meets a girl, Gretchen (Jena Malone), who seems to connect with him.
As the date when everything will end moves closer, Donnie’s interest in theories of time travel increases. Is it possible to change a whole chain of events? Perhaps prevent a disaster from ever happening?
Adding a lot of spice
Part of this film is science fiction and that part is undeniably confusing. The ending feels too much like a bunch of sequences piled on top of one another, making no sense at all. It is nevertheless true that the director has managed to create something that can be widely discussed and interpreted in many ways. I found one of the theories about what’s going on in the movie quite good, and I’m sure Kelly appreciates fans trying to figure out what’s going on in his mind. There is so much in this film for them to view as the cornerstone of their very own theory.
Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an excellent performance, his world-weary, almost malignant appearance hard to forget.
Part of the film is also high school drama and comparisons have been made with John Hughes’s work. There are moments when the humorous portrait of alienated teens may remind you of that filmmaker, but Kelly also added a lot of spice to this fable. And that goes for the cinematography as well; the film’s dark mood makes viewers feel like they’re drawn into a very separate universe, the world as seen through the eyes of Donnie Darko. Gyllenhaal delivers an excellent performance, his world-weary, almost malignant appearance hard to forget; should Frank the rabbit be a figment of his imagination it would come as no surprise. Holmes Osborne and Mary McDonnell are well chosen as the parents.
Drew Barrymore executive-produced this enterprise and her name helped sell it, also playing a teacher who refuses to accept the debilitating atmosphere on campus. Patrick Swayze rounds out the ensemble as a self-help guru; the lack of honesty in this community is rampant and Swayze’s character becomes the very symbol of it. But is it all a dream? Ultimately, the answer may not matter at all.
Donnie Darko 2001-U.S. 113 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Richard Kelly. Cinematography: Steven Poster. Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), Jena Malone (Gretchen Ross), Drew Barrymore (Karen Pomeroy), James Duval, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daveigh Chase, Mary McDonnell, Katharine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Seth Rogen, Noah Wyle.
Trivia: Rogen’s film debut. In 2004, a twenty-minute longer director’s cut was released in theaters. Mark Wahlberg, Vince Vaughn and Jason Schwartzman were offered the part of Donnie. Followed by a direct-to-DVD sequel, S. Darko (2009).
Last word: “I had an idea about a jet engine falling on this house. I remembered an urban legend about a piece of ice that falls from a plane and kills people. Wasn’t there an episode of Six Feet Under where something like that kills? Frozen urine or something? It became a jet engine and it became this mystery of they can’t find the plane, and how do I solve the mystery, and it has something to do with time travel. And this coming of age story and do it about the 80s and make the jet engine become like a symbol, like the death knell of the 80s. It’s all coming to an end. I spewed out this story – and here we are.” (Kelly, About.com)