Donnie Darko: Director’s Cut

Review by: Daniela Chunga
Dani@TheCinemaSource.com

Still have no clue who Donnie Darko is? What about the Tangent Universe or alternate realties? Have you ever seen a 6 foot bunny named Frank in your bathroom mirror? Did he tell you that the world will end in precisely 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds? No? Well, Donnie has and contrary to what you might believe he wasn’t drunk or on ecstasy. Donnie is just a typical teenager dealing with life in his own way.

Donnie isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions. He is simply dealing with problems that we all remember facing when we were his age. I, myself, remember asking “Am I lonely? Will I ever be loved? Will I die alone?” And while we all felt that we were alone at one point or another that no one really understood what we were going through; Donnie, like us at one point, is simply seeking answers to these questions and Frank is simply providing him with a means necessary to seek the answers he wants. And with the world ending in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds, the sooner he finds those answers, the better.

However, its message was some how unclear upon its US release. When Donnie Darko hit Sundance, it was a huge hit but something seemed to happen upon its theatrical release. The movie didn’t appear to make much sense and was merely pawned off as being another teenage flick. The movie that was released had to be shortened to 2 hours, which was the standard length at the time, and had some other scenes cut because some were frightened. It did really poorly in the theaters and was eventually released on DVD. And it’s only after its DVD release that it really gained momentum in the US.

Word of mouth is a very potent thing. It’s how some bands, actors and (in this case) movies get discovered and even rediscovered. Donnie Darko was moving off the shelves and was rapidly developing an underground cult-like fan base. The movie was still gaining momentum even though the storyline was a little hard to follow. True fans made sure that Donnie Darko wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Featured on the DVD is a portion devoted to the fans and the extreme lengths that they went through to promote the film. One of the most imaginative being the formation of “They made me do it.” It’s a collaboration of different artists who were impressed by Donnie’s brazen tactics and amazing spray painting ability. With one phrase, Donnie was able to sum up the reason for his rebellion and was single handedly able to place the blame for his problems onto someone else. The artisans of “They made me do it” created pieces based on the film. One artist took it straight to the streets and filled the sidewalks, walls and lamp posts with hand drawn watercolor stickers of our favorite demonic bunny, ...