Donnie Darko (Vanilla Version) (DVD)

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Donnie Darko is a paranoid schizophrenic, or so he is labelled due to his troubled state of mind - however he is also a high academic achiever at a local private school despite his troubles. The film begins with Donnie being led out of the house by the manifestation of a six foot rabbit called 'Frank'. Although 'Frank' takes the appearance of a rabbit, his metallic face and the haunting tone of his voice make him stand out as a force ...
...minutes and 12 seconds, with Donnie having this written on his arm in marker pen when he awakes on a golf course the following morning. Upon arriving home Donnie will find out that an aeroplane jet has fallen from the sky onto his bedroom and had he not have been sleep walking on this particular night then he would almost certainly have been killed by the impact. It is this event which is a trigger point for the rest of the film as we count down ... more

Having heard good things about this film, when I spotted it in HMV for just £2.99 some time ago, I just had to pick this one up and check it out for myself. When I bought it I did wonder just why the film was so cheap, however once getting it home and putting it in the player it soon dawned on me that there are no extras whatsoever with this edition unless you include 'Scene Selection'. I had never come across this in a DVD before so was quite shocked to find this, however at the same time it did explain why it had such a low original mark up at just £5.99 and it didn't really bother me at all as a lot of the time the extras that DVDs have to offer just don't seem to interest me. With a comment from Empire magazine on the back stating that this was "A wonderful beautifully twisted masterpiece" giving the film 5 stars out of 5, and from what I had heard others say about the film, I knew that this was going to be nothing like I had ever seen before, so was really looking forward to getting watching this one and finding out what all the fuss was about.

- The Plot -

Donnie Darko is a paranoid schizophrenic, or so he is labelled due to his troubled state of mind - however he is also a high academic achiever at a local private school despite his troubles. The film begins with Donnie being led out of the house by the manifestation of a six foot rabbit called 'Frank'. Although 'Frank' takes the appearance of a rabbit, his metallic face and the haunting tone of his voice make him stand out as a force of great evil. 'Frank' informs Donnie that the world is going to end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, with Donnie having this written on his arm in marker pen when he awakes on a golf course the following morning. Upon arriving home Donnie will find out that an aeroplane jet has fallen from the sky onto his bedroom and had he not have been sleep walking on this particular night then he would almost certainly have been killed by the impact. It is this event which is a trigger point for the rest of the film as we count down to 'the end of the world', being shown on screen how long we have to go as the film progresses.

- My Opinion -

'Donnie Darko' in some respects can be seen to stick to genre conventions in that in the film we have somewhat of a love story which develops between 'Donnie' (Jake Gyllenhaal) and 'Gretchen' (Jena Malone), the Darko family are at the forefront of the film, and we also have the everyday school life which Donnie must face. Although it has all the makings of being a standard 'teen movie', 'Donnie Darko' is by no means this, far from it in fact as conventions are subverted and what we actually get here is a film which deals with the concept of time travel, gives us insight into the strange life of a paranoid schizophrenic, and presents the interesting and ever true idea that 'We all die alone'. In order to get across the time travel element of the film, Richard Kelly manipulates time perfectly through the processes of both fast and slow motion. This has been done incredibly well I feel as through the manipulation of time it is made extremely clear what is happening. The film stretches far deeper than you expect it to and it is this which makes the film so unexpected and in such, a great breath of fresh air.

Jake Gyllenhaal puts in a great performance as 'Donnie', and is extremely believable in his role as the troubled teenager. I'm not quite sure what he was trying to do with his facial expression at times however as when he is trying to show that he is being controlled by the evil force of 'Frank', he puts on a grin which I would assume was meant to be a disturbing one, however its hard to look at this face without laughing out loud as he looks plain ridiculous. Jake Gyllenhaal has been cast in a number of high profile roles since, most notably as gay cowboy 'Jack Twist' in the award winning 'Brokeback Mountain' so it is clear that I am not the only person to have been impressed by his ability as an actor. Other leads that are worth mentioning in this film are Jena Malone whom I feel puts in a stunning performance as love interest 'Gretchen', Patrick Swayze who plays his smarmy self help guru Jim Cunningham to perfection, and James Duval whose chilling voice goes down a treat in the role of 'Frank'. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Donnie's sister 'Elizabeth' works well in the film also as although her part in the film is small, the fact that she and Jake genuinely are siblings gives them chemistry which is difficult to recreate.

It is hard to put a genre on the film as it is one of those that films that seems to cross the paths of various genres without ever really conforming to one and one alone, however at a push I would suggest that it is perhaps more a Psychological Thriller than anything else. The undefinable nature of the films genre is quite an important factor I feel as when the film was released, the marketing for the film was poor and so the film faired quite badly at the Box Office. Although not a complete theatrical flop, 'Donnie Darko' is often viewed as a cult film in that it was when the film came to DVD in 2002 that it enjoyed its greatest success, gaining fans from all around the world.

Despite the fact that in terms of promotion, the fact that 'Donnie Darko' is such a culmination of different genres was a bad thing in that it was hard to market the film - viewing wise, it makes it all the more interesting. It is unusual to find a film in this day and age that sticks profoundly to one genre and one genre alone, however for the most part a lot of films can be easily pigeon-holed as they seem to mimic pre-existing films and conventions to a large extent, giving the viewer that strange feeling of deja vu. 'Donnie Darko' is not like this at all and is very much it's own thing, meaning that it is far more interesting to watch than the vast array of copycat films that are out there. Unlike a lot of films, when 'Donnie Darko' begins I guarantee that you will not be able to gage the direction in which this film is moving and when the ending arrives, it will come as a surprise to you as it is very much unexpected.

Although released in 2001, the film is actually set in 1988 and as such we are treated to a great 80s soundtrack including such classics as Echo & The Bunnymen's 'The Killing Moon', Tears For Fears 'Head Over Heels', and the timeless classic 'Mad World' which was of course a Christmas number 1 for Gary Jules in 2003 - a year after the release of this DVD. If you're into your 80s music then the soundtrack can only be seen as a bonus, and as I am most definitely a fan I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack to this film. If however you're not then I wouldn't worry too much - the soundtrack is unlikely to spoil the film for you, in fact you will find that the tracks that have been used here are carefully placed and tie in perfectly with the events taking place.

After watching the film through for a first time you'll find yourself wanting to watch the film again almost straight away due to the complex and perplexing nature of the film. The first time I watched this film I came away from it wondering what on earth I had just been a witness to as although I thought that the film was a masterpiece due to its brilliant use of cinematography, engaging plot line, and highly impressive performances - I just didn't know quite what to make of the film. I felt that I should admire it as an exceptionally well put together feature length, but at the same time I wasn't entirely sure just what it is was about the film that persuaded me to this way of thinking, so it took me a good few sittings before I could fully appreciate 'Donnie Darko' as the great feature length that it is. This is most certainly one of my favourite films and as far as I'm concerned you just can't fault Richard Kelly on the cult success that is 'Donnie Darko'.

- Final Thoughts -

'Donnie Darko' is a satirical dark comedy which pokes fun at the world in which we live in, where the younger generation are often shown to have more common sense than the adults, and a school book is campaigned against for being too raunchy whilst at the same time a sexually provocative dance is taught to young girls by the same person. This is not your standard sort of film and although for every film that tries to be different and succeeds, there will be countless others that fail - 'Donnie Darko' really is a great film which I feel would be a welcome addition to anyone's DVD collection. If you're not one to bother with extras then your best bet may be to pick up this edition of the film as it tends to be cheaper than others that are available. Having said this, if you find the films to be similarly priced then it's probably worth splashing out a bit extra and getting a version with extras. The 2 Disc 'Directors Cut' edition of the film can currently be found in HMV for £6.99, so although this is £4 more expensive than this version then you may feel that the extra cost would be worthwhile in the long run. This really is a fantastic film and at just £2.99 at present, it would be a shame to pass up such an opportunity to add this one to your collection. 

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