Donnie Darko (2001)
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Katherine Ross, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone
Director: Richard Kelly
Synopsis: Deeply moving - one of the finest American films of recent years
Reviewed by: Zeeshan Mahmud

 

Another first-time director delivers a film burdened with an appalling title, yet one that will almost certainly be remembered as a cult classic for years to come. This low-budget independent production received a post-9/11 Halloween release and managed to gross barely 10% of its five-million-dollar budget during its initial theatrical run. However, word of mouth gathered momentum following its DVD release and the film has steadily built both an audience and a formidable reputation ever since.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Donnie Darko, a high-school student diagnosed with schizophrenia. Intelligent, deeply troubled and confused by questions of God, destiny and the meaning of life, Donnie struggles to make sense of the disturbing messages delivered to him through hallucinations by a sinister six-foot-tall rabbit named Frank. Fascinated by the concept of time travel, he continually quizzes one of his science teachers about its theoretical possibility. And before I forget—his imaginary companion also informs him that the world will end in twenty-eight days.

Richard Kelly infuses the film with a nostalgia that anyone who was intellectually curious at school—regardless of their exam results—will instantly recognise. There is an unmistakable air of innocence running through the picture that science-fiction fans, in particular, will identify with.

Kelly also writes himself into something of a trap. By constructing a story whose mysteries are deliberately subtle and deceptively simple on the surface, he inevitably creates enormous expectations for the conclusion. A film this carefully assembled demands a satisfying payoff because the audience naturally expects its many promises to be fulfilled.

Does Kelly deliver?

Yes... but not everyone will agree.

The ending is deliberately murky, and its full ramifications are unlikely to become apparent the moment the credits roll. Some of the questions raised—and occasionally abandoned—are never fully answered unless one listens to the DVD commentary, where Kelly elaborates on his intentions. Like Rushmore, Donnie Darko is uncompromising and unwavering in its artistic vision.

The film is a bleak, unsettling elegy to youth, blending science fiction, fantasy, black comedy and coming-of-age psychological drama into something wholly distinctive. Kelly knowingly fills the film with familiar high-school movie clichés, only to subvert them at every opportunity, creating a work of astonishing originality and surprising emotional depth.

Kelly has reportedly described Donnie Darko as Holden Caulfield viewed through the imagination of science-fiction visionary Philip K. Dick. If anything, however, that description undersells his achievement.

Those influences undoubtedly helped shape Donnie Darko, but Kelly accomplishes what every aspiring filmmaker hopes to achieve. Rather than producing a pale imitation of his inspirations, he pays tribute to them while creating something unmistakably his own.

This is a debut worthy of Darren Aronofsky's Pi, which in turn was worthy of David Lynch's Eraserhead. At the time of writing, Kelly had yet to announce his second feature, but one could only wait with genuine anticipation to see what this gifted young filmmaker would do next.

Is there hope for the future?

Watch the film and find out.