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DONNIE DARKO - OFFICIAL PRESS KIT
The Script
So then, who is Donnie Darko? That's a question to which even Donnie Darko himself is seeking an answer. For Richard Kelly,
the answer is "a kid from a village named Middlesex who has a lot of big problems and a lot of big ideas, and in 1988 he
embarks on a journey that lasts 28 days and causes quite a stir."
Says young Jake Gyllenhaal, who delved deep into the unsettling mind of Donnie Darko to take on the tour de force role:
"Donnie's a teenager like a lot of teenagers who starts out completely unsure of where he fits in the world, or if he
fits at all. But through an incredible experience he comes to truly understand who he really is and the effect he has
on other people, which takes him on a fantastic journey through dreams, sadness, comedy and madness."
Donnie Darko might be off-the-charts in intelligence but he also has some off-the-wall problems: he sleepwalks, he has
hallucinations and he's being followed around by Frank, an eerie, demonic presence. Yet these are the least of his troubles.
The real crux of his existence is the terrifying world around him - a 1980s reality besotted by pop culture, material excess,
fundamentalism, encroaching cynicism, prescription drugs and hypocrisy. Yet the amazing thing is that Donnie becomes an
entirely unexpected hero of these strange times.
Donnie Darko writer/director Richard Kelly was 13 in 1988 and grew up in the thick of the angst, loneliness and underlying
dreams of his generation; a generation that, unlike those of the 60s and 70s, has yet to really be explored in cinema.
Thus when Kelly emerged from USC ready to write his first screenplay, he decided to thrust his main character, Donnie
Darko, right into the heart of this world, with a twist. He gave Donnie a distinctive reason - a chaotic near-death
experience - to try to understand the secrets and lies surrounding him… and perhaps the power to alter them.
For executive producer Casey La Scala, this unique look back at the 1980s mindset, the period when hyper-individualism
came into fashion in America, was very revealing. "I think that sometime in the past 20 years, kids really started
having to be more adult," he says. "And this is a movie that reflects that world, a world in which as Richard says
you have to save yourself because your parents aren't going to. You have to figure out what you believe and how to
resist the pressures of society and how to follow your dreams on your own. This is the world of Donnie Darko and it's
unlike any of the teen films out there." La Scala continues: "The 80s were all about consumption but in terms of the
family unit, the question became what's more important: being able to communicate or getting a nice new Mercedes? I
think Donnie Darko brings out how the family dynamic was really hurt by the quest for material happiness."
Adds executive producer Hunt Lowry: "Richard Kelly really took a lot from his own experiences growing up in the 80s
and that added something very true to a script that is both a coming-of-age journey and a sci-fi fantasy about time
portals. He really captured the path people were heading down and the choices that face us even now."
From the beginning, Richard Kelly wanted Donnie Darko to break boundaries - in a very entertaining way. "People were always
telling me that there are no original ideas left, so I tried to challenge that," he says. "I tried to come up with a story
that twists and turns and brings different genre elements together in a way that can't be classified but is consistently
intriguing." Kelly knew he was going out onto the edge, but he also wanted to ground his story in recognisable characters
straight out of the poignancy and confusion of real life. "The characters in Donnie Darko are all based on archetypes of
real people, people that you know, people that you grew up with, and people that beat the shit out of you in high school,"
Kelly observes. "That's where the heart of the story lies."
Kelly believed so strongly in the blending of elements in his script that he refused to turn it into a more straight teen
romance or sci-fi thriller, despite immediate offers to buy his script if he would do so. Instead, he held out for the chance
to bring his full vision of Donnie Darko to the screen. The final script for Donnie Darko was a lot of things - a crackling
satire, a teen fantasy turned macabre nightmare, a head-spinning ride through the physics of time. But most of all it struck
close readers as an indelible portrait of post-Reagan America, a world in which innocence itself seemed lost in time.
Two people who were immediately struck by the power of Richard Kelly's vision were Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen of Flower
Films. "I was truly impressed by Donnie Darko because it was so smart," Juvonen says. "So many scripts are formulaic and
predictable, but this script took risk after risk after incredible risk and still kept you in suspense, constantly drawing
you in with more questions than answers. I thought it was a rare find." She continues: "To me, it was a really different
sort of coming-of-age story about a really smart kid who is coming to a place here he really believes that anything is
possible and that he can make a difference by making his own decisions and doing things the way he sees them. I think it's
inspiring because it asks you to question who you are and what you're doing here. It pushes your imagination to places
you might not otherwise go."
Barrymore says she too was bowled over. "Reading the script provoked not only a lot of questions but deep emotions," she
recalls. "The script really captured that burning desire to figure out life's mysteries and the idea that there's always
this underlying possibility for you to follow another path and make a change. It was a real hero's journey. But most of
all, it was clear right away that Richard had something extraordinary inside him and was going to make a wonderful,
original movie." Barrymore adored the depth of Donnie Darko but it was ultimately something else that sealed her profound
attraction to it. She explains: "Donnie Darko isn't just philosophical and poetic; it's also very real and very funny and
moves with the lightness and accessibility of a comedy. Even though he goes into alternate worlds and questions the rules
of the universe, Donnie Darko's experiences at school, with his girlfriend, with his family and in his dreams seem
incredibly true to life. And that's what makes you follow him."
Ultimately, it was Barrymore and Juvonen's excitement about the project that got it off the ground with Kelly's vision
intact. Says producer Sean McKittrick, who has collaborated with Richard Kelly since their college days: "Drew Barrymore
was our godsend. If it wasn't for her talent as an actress and producer this movie wouldn't have been made. I think
Flower Films really understood that this look at the 80s will be extremely interesting to both those of us who lived
through it as well as to kids coming of age right now in a world only slightly different."
Throughout the process of making Donnie Darko, everyone involved become more and more enveloped in the story's many
layers. Says Nancy Juvonen: "One thing we realized pretty quickly is that this is one of those rare movies that will keep
getting more and more interesting on repeated viewings. It's very precise and complicated and follows an intriguing logic.
In the end, everything hooks up to everything else."
Sums up Sean McKittrick: "Every moment in this story is there for a reason, every little character and every set piece
is there for a reason. There's not a shot in the film that doesn't mean something. You're sent on a 28 day journey where
you're basically torn in 100 different directions but it all winds up back in one spot - and you have to decide for
yourself what you've experienced."
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