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During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house one night and sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world will end in 28 days. When Donnie returns home, he finds that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. Is Donnie living in a parallel universe, is he suffering from mental illness - or will the world really end?

the film was released to the public in 2001 at the Sundance festival. 

it was directed by Richard Kelly 

The cast:

Jake Gyllenhaal as Donald "Donnie" Darko

Jena Malone as Gretchen Ross

Mary McDonnell as Rose Darko

Holmes Osborne as Eddie Darko

Katharine Ross as Dr. Lilian Thurman

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Elizabeth Darko

Daveigh Chase as Samantha Darko

James Duval as Frank Anderson

Drew Barrymore as Karen Pomeroy

Patrick Swayze as Jim Cunningham

Noah Wyle as Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff

Beth Grant as Kitty Farmer

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Steven Spielberg:

In his 2001 film “Donnie Darko”, Richard Kelly has said to have a multitude of influence of the work of the legendary Steven Spielberg. Camera techniques, angles and lens flares are eminent in Spielberg’s work; Richard Kelly’s work on Donnie Darko has taken inspiration of these concepts and techniques in his work on the film. An example of this in the scenes where Donnie is looking in the mirror, Spielberg is known for his complicated angles looking through mirrors and windows, this in which we see throughout Kelly’s film. This angle allows the audience to see the background or surroundings without losing connection to the character in the room. Another similarity is the film covers. For example, many of Spielberg’s films have ominous glowing letters and the characters in focus; this is a direct comparison to the cover of Donnie Darko. Steven Spielberg has many trademarks and a certain style that has continued in all of his films. His style and trademarks have influenced many films including Donnie Darko, the main example of this is the corresponding bike riding scenes that appear in both Donnie Darko and Spielberg’s “E.T.”, wherein the audience sees panning shots of the characters riding bikes to avoid trouble and uphold suspense. Much like Donnie Darko, Spielberg’s work was some of the first of its kind in the way that it has interconnecting themes and genres present throughout the film, Richard Kelly himself has even quoted that he has been inspired by the work of Spielberg in which is evident through his role on Donnie Darko.

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Analyse how at least 2 directors influenced Richard Kelly’s unique style in Donnie Darko.

The work of Peter Weir and Steven Spielberg has evidently had an influence of genre, style and camera angles in the work of Richard Kelly’s 2001 film “Donnie Darko”. Peter Weir (photographed above) is an Australian born director who is notable for his work on The Dead Poets Society and Picnic at Hanging Rock. His ideas, fluency and concepts of genre hybrid has had an evident impact on the work of Richard Kelly’s on Donnie Darko. For example, Donnie Darko explores many different genres such as thriller, horror and sci-fi. Much like Donnie Darko, Peter Weir's films cannot be classified into just one category. Weir’s films repeatedly offer intimations of alternative realities. Evident in Donnie Darko is one of the narrative interpretations that Donnie is saving an alternate reality from complete obliteration. One could add that Weir’s films are invariably concerned with the struggle for authenticity and that his most memorable characters (often confronted with danger, uncertainty, or betrayal) become uneasy with the world, as they have found it. Weather these styles were intended or not, Richard Kelly has been quoted to have had a direct influence of the work of Peter Weir.    

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 Describe how Donnie Darko uses conventions of two genres:

As stated previously, Donnie Darko is a film that has intricately combined different conventions together that all create different genre definitions for the film. For example, the film is said to be a 1980’s coming of age or teen film. One of the production elements that exemplifies this genre is the time period it is set in, this is showed through the setting. The key locations of the film consists of suburban high school and white suburbia. The Darko’s are a white, affluent middle-class family who live in a large house with stereotypical roles. The use of Non-Diegetic sound through the soundtrack furthermore adds to 80’s vibe that plays throughout the film, for example some of the songs that are used are 80’s classics from Echo & The Bunnymen, Tears for Fears, The Church, Duran Duran. Although Donnie Darko explores many themes, it is impossible to disguise some of the typical teen movie characteristics. Donnie Darko explores things such as teenage angst, Conflict with family, authority figures or teachers, first love, goofy friends, bullies and finally a classic party scene.  

Donnie Darko also uses the conventions of a thriller or horror film. Frank appears as a masked horror movie villain, symbolising the unknown, danger and the tangent universe. Whenever Frank appears the audience instantly connects him with these emotions of fear. The movie itself is set in October in the lead up to Halloween, which is also affiliated with nightmares, death and scariness. The audience hears sounds of thunder and lighting, which foreshadows the storm that is approaching and adds suspense. We also have the pending creepiness from grandma death whose influence, although small, adds to a list of things that have tragic effects to the end of the film. The use of low key lighting is commonly used to add drama, focus and suspense in horror films, This is a common production element in Donnie Darko furthermore showing the genre of horror and thriller.

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Analyse how a story convention and a technical or symbolic code work together to help construct the narrative and communicate ideas in Donnie Darko.

The acting of the cast in Donnie Darko works intricately in the establishing of the characters in the movie. The audience is able to relate to the characters, which helps us to become emotionally invested in the narrative of this film. This is due to the complex and diverse acting skills of Jake Gyllenhaal, James Duval, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze and Drew Barrymore. For example, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the title character, emotionally invested himself in portraying a mentally ill character who becomes the protagonist and hero of the film. In addition, we can easily see that Donnie goes on a journey throughout the film that is accompanied by the acting of Gyllenhaal. His expressions, movements, gestures and voice changes with the different moods of the scenes which overall adds to whatever genre is being portrayed. We can see him looking possessed when Frank is present and furthermore a loveable teen movie character in scenes with Gretchen. Donnie is the most complex character in the film and would have been incredibly difficult to pull apart all the layers of his emotions; however, Jake Gyllenhaal executed his role in an award-winning manor.

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Analyse how two codes work together in a scene in Donnie Darko to engage the audience.

The symbolic codes of acting and mise en scene, positively work together throughout the film to create an overall engaging narrative in the film Donnie Darko. One excellent example of this during the scene in which Frank comes to visit Donnie in his bathroom. In this scene, the use of low-key lighting and centre framing creates unease and mystery. The camera flicks to Donnie who is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. In this scene, the acting work of Gyllenhaal gives the audience the sense that something isn’t right, Donnie looks possessed by Frank who then manipulates Donnie. Although the mis en scene of this part of the film is simple, the facial expressions of Donnie are put in focus in the frame as it is a medium close up shot, furthermore, the acting of Jake Gyllenhaal is captivating in suggesting not only the horror of this scene, but the impending darkness of franks influence on Donnie. In this scene, Donnie is tense and seemingly frightened of Frank. He is intrigued to understand to understand why Frank is targeting him and uses a gentle voice to ask Frank these pending questions. We then assume that Donnie is possessed by the thought of killing frank as he slowly stabs the liquid wall separating the two. This is one of the many brilliantly crafted scenes where acting a mis en scene collaboratively work together in the engaging of the audience and constructive of narrative, in this, we are able to pay close attention to the unease that Donnie is feeling and get to understand more about his situation through the acting of Jake Gyllenhaal.

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Social factors:

Donnie Darko is a film that is a movie that is nostalgic of the 80’s, however it was crafted in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and it reflects many of the values of the society in that time. The social context in which the film was created and released led to some of the challenges the movie had in becoming successful. The plot itself begins to climax with the falling of a jet engine into the Darko household, with this, the film was realised just months after the September 11 attacks on the world trade centre, this meaning that audiences were particularly drawn to a film with this kind of narrative considering the horrors that the united states had faced. As stated prior, the film cannot be categorised into just one genre, not only this but the storyline, characters and themes are all very lucid and did not appeal to viewers. In addition, America was moving into a new era with the election of George Bush who is said to be “the godfather of conservatism”. As this movie was targeted to a young audience and it consists of a confusing plot line, it became disengaging for audiences. Finally, Donnie Darko was released just after the Columbine massacre, which saw a student shooting fellow peers, this furthermore affected the success of the movie as people did not want to support the movie that ended in a violent shooting.

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Economic factors that influenced Donnie Darko:

Donnie Darko is a film that did not have major box office when first released, this is said to have been due to many economic factors revolving around the film. For the time that it was released, Donnie Darko was a very confusing plot line for audiences and was referred to as a “box office flop” for a long time until it became successful internationally and on DVD. The movie itself was created on a low budget, with a young director in Richard Kelly and an unknown main character in Jake Gyllenhaal. Cast member Drew Barrymore’s Film Company funded the film for just $4.5 million. As stated above, the film was not well received for an abundance of reasons, because of this, it struggled to make the box office. When it finally hit cinemas, Donnie Darko only made around $500,000 in ticket sales, which did not come close to making up the $4.5 million in funding the film. The social factors of the time intertwine greatly with the economic state of the film as people simply didn’t engage with the film which furthermore made it unsuccessful.

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6- 

Before viewing the film, I had personally never heard of Donnie Darko before. Upon finishing the film I was left with an abundance of questions unanswered. The film evidently can be interpreted in many ways such as a basic teen movie, a loose indie cult film, a mental illness or sci-fi thriller. However the main interest of this film for me was the concept of time travel, the manipulated dead and living and also parallel universes. The film physically takes you in a circle which isn’t a very common occurrence in movies which makes it more engaging for audiences of all ages as everyone interprets the narrative differently. This film resonates with me as the concepts of parallel universes and manipulated people are a fascinating concept to me. This film has mashed an interesting storyline with sci-fi elements and intertwined it with relatable teen characters. Donnie and Gretchen are two loveable characters who the audience sides with and loves to love, making their deaths upsetting to watch yet beautiful to see how the film ends.