by Mark Blackie
Just in case anyone should be so much as vaguely concerned, this
film seems to have had an extreme effect on me. Which is slightly
odd. I say this purely because it has set many different wheels
in motion inside this little mind of mine and not a great deal of
these little spinning ideas have a heck of a lot to do with the
movie itself. Rather it has engineered a thought process, which
I can conjure up at will when thinking about the movie.
Maybe this is just me, possibly I was caught at a particular time
and place and therefore would have been knocked slightly to one
side by whichever cinematic effort I found myself sat in front of.
Who knows?
Anyway, Donnie Darko is the tale of the movie’s
title character and the month leading up to the end of the world
as experienced through him. On many levels it is a teen movie and
is set in the eighties, which allows for a soundtrack reminisant
of this era to help create the mood. As a teen flick, it contains
the expected angst, fleeting romance, school bullies, right-wing
teachers, arguing siblings and so on. It also contains paranoid
schizophrenia, the philosophy of time travel and a great big demonic
bunny rabbit.
Bear with me here.
Donnie is a troubled teen, on medication due to violent tendencies,
in therapy and hearing voices in his head. Voices telling him to
do things... These voices are generally prescribed to Frank, the
great big demonic bunny rabbit I mentioned earlier. The things he
tells Darko to do on the surface seem destructive and generally
anti-social, yet bring about positive changes. One of the things
told, is that the world will end in twenty eight days - being specific
enough as to provide the exact moment in minutes and seconds.
As such, we are constantly given textual reminders of how much
time remains "until the end of the world", although it
is clear to the viewer that this particular end will be no mankind-destroying
apocalypse (the eighties setting and backdrop of the Bush Dukarkis
election letting us know specifically that the tale is set in the
past and that this end will not cause the cessation of humanity).
The Darko character is very much of an ideal representation of
how it would have been great to behave at school. With marks deemed
"intimidating" by his head, he takes a stand against hypocrisy
that given our time again a few of us might. As such he appeals
as the social outcast above his peers and tormented for being so.
This is not an uncommon theme in the more adventurous teen movies,
of which Heathers is perhaps the easiest comparison to draw.
Except the Darko figure is not a gun-ho rebel as the 'James Dean'
character portrayed by Christian Slater (via a healthy dose of Jack
Nicholson), but more of a doomed intellectual - who even gains the
respect and admiration of the more astute of the school’s
teachers (one of whom is played by Drew Barrymore, who also serves
as producer on the movie).
Another famous face comes from Patrick Swayze as
a self-help guru who enthralls the town and the school in particular
with his black and white textbook "Fear/Love" help videos.
He becomes a target for Darko’s ire and seems to characterise
a lot of the hypocrisy forced down the throats of those looking
for easy answers in a world full of sorrows and confusion.
The film presents many questions and is deeply tragic. I found
myself enjoying but not necessarily bowled over by the film until
the last few scenes, which manage to bring together various threads
running through the story and bring things to a conclusion in a
devastating climax which left me drained and as said before, set
my mind racing along various paths of thought which are with me
to this day.
It takes you to a place, tells its tale and then leaves you thinking.
Any movie that does this has to be admired and thought of as a complete
success. As such, I urge you to see Donnie Darko, a well
acted, superbly written and wonderfully scored piece of celluloid.
Oh, and I can’t end this review without mentioning the Michael
Andrew's version of Tears for Fears’ 'Mad World' which makes
up the last few moments of the film. I am a well-avowed hater of
eighties pop music, but stripped down to piano and vocal, the lyrical
impact of the piece, combined with the accompanying visuals is a
deeply moving spectacle.
MARC BLACKIE - 18 November 2002
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by Jeff Johnson
The Iron Maiden. Pressing. The Rack. Dripping Water. Thumbscrews.
The Wheel. Whipping. Solitary Confinement. Flames. Electrocution
and Donnie Darko.
Scribblings from inside the stuffy chamber:
Donnie Darko; a mixed up and troubled glimpse at a mixed up and
troubled teen glimpsing a troubling man/bunny that looks like a
mix between a Mardi Gras costume and The Tick.
- Why is the movie framed in the context of the year 1988? Other
than to have flat Michael Dukakis jokes and the 80’s cheese
music factor. I recognize the mock John Hughesian High School
and musical touch but 1988 ends up contributing nothing to the
story. Why contextualize it in a year at all?
- Patrick Swayze…I like it…he was funny and the idea
of having him in the film was funny. But with all of the other
characters we are given a Cliff’s Notes approach to who
they are.
- The muddy plot lacks the sophistication to thoroughly and clearly
pull off what it is attempting to put across by the end. Often
using its time attempting to communicate the haphazard plot rather
than creating fully realized characters.
- When introduced, I wasn’t sure if the evil bunny was supposed
to be comical or frightening. The music told me to be frightened.
- The performances were good- the words weren’t. The bunny,
however, was evil.
- A few minutes after the issue of time travel was introduced,
I found myself wishing that I could travel through time myself…to
the Roaring 20’s, the Old West or even an hour after that
particular moment…any other time would have been preferable.
- The actor that plays Donnie (sorry, I didn’t jot his name
down) does this sort of “Nicholson circa ‘The Shining’”
look throughout the film.
- In the Medieval times, heavy weights were applied to the chest
of a person being tortured. One by one they would be applied,
sometimes over days, so as to restrict breathing and create a
great feeling of discomfort. No one ever paid $8.50 for it though.
- I caught the references here and there to other films ( a notable
ET-esque bike scene) but found them neither funny nor clever.
- Did I miss something somewhere?
- Is the film missing something somewhere?
- “Uncle!”
My date loved the film and we spent an hour rehashing the particulars
in an atypical bull-headed session. I must give the film some credit
for inspiring such an impassioned debate.
In the end, you may agree with my date. That’s ok. We all
have different films that torture us, get up underneath our fingernails
and drive and drive and drive. After all one person’s torture
is another’s pleasure. But also beware, because there are
many tortures (some mentioned above) that generate nothing but pain
and suffering.
Risk Donnie Darko if you dare! Or if you don’t mind over-hyped,
underachieving films.
JEFF JOHNSON - 21 January 2003
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