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Donnie Darko

by Alper Caglar

Donnie Darko was a visual film with an immensely complicated and intellectually challenging plot. It had meaning as well as skill in conveying the fantastic elements of the film. Even now, after watching it three times, I do not believe that even now after quite a bit of viewing I have completely understood many of the hidden meanings and the symbolisms.

The images created by the film are subtle and yet sublime. The sudden increase and decrease of the frame rate throughout the movie was created a sort of cinematic symphony as the eerie music complemented it. In the scene where the camera floated around in the school building beginning with the young sister Darko dancing with her friends, I was impressed by the clever use of the frame rate. Instead of a zoom, or tracking the director slowed the motion of the film and created a sense of focus that was far more powerful than either of the other techniques.

Though the film had the undertones of a horror film, I was never scared or shook out of my seat. The director instead managed to disturb me without any sudden visual surprises, and scare me with the content. Donnie Darko's messianic quest covered all of the subplots which all combined to create a brooding feeling that crept over me. Although at the beginning I could not easily make the connection between some of the characters, yet this did not detract from my understanding or enjoyment of the film. Donni Darko is a film which fed on certain mystic and mysterious elements, and certain intentional elements that confused me is what glued me to my screen. Displacement of the story is a major issue in Donnie Darko. Underneath the skin of the movie, which is ridden with science-fiction, fantasy and suspense, there lies the real muscle; a psychological movie which tests the audience's intellectuality.

Symbolism plays a major role in the images and the tale. From my personal understanding, some prominent symbols include Donnie as the loneliness in all of us, the one man that will get no glory, or future, but will have to sacrifice himself for the others. Frank could be the harbinger of doom and the boatman Charon at the river of Styx at the same time, or the Chinese immigrant is naiveté and innocence that is unaware of the struggles of the others.

I do not believe Donnie Darko fits the classification of a Neo-Realist film. Unlike neo-realist films, Donnie Darko is not a slice of life. In fact I would doubt if one could ever find such a lively yet gloomy slice of life. The actors are quite professional, and environments are being used for the acting, and not vice versa. I must say that Donni Darko deserves its own genre, if there is not one already.

All these is not to say that I have no criticism about the movie. First of all I believe the film fails resolving all of the confusion at the end. I would watch a film many times if it meant enjoying the images and the plot further, yet in Donnie Darko I would probably have to watch it to understand certain aspects better. Another minor irritation I had was how hollow the movie left me after the ending. I had expected an ending of hope rather than of sadness. Though it might have been considered appeasing the audience, I really did feel sad about Donnie in the end. I would have preferred he was able to save himself after all the pain he went through.

Overall, Donnie Darko, aside from the fact that it was not marketed and distributed successfully, is an ambitious and influential film which will hopefully be able to inspire young directors in the near future. It would be a waste if this film got lost in the annals of moviemaking, for I have rarely seen such a complicated film.