Film Analysis 2 (Donnie Darko)

Donnie Darko is a psychological thriller film directed by Richard Kelly and released in 2001 by New Market films. The film closely follows a troubled teenager named Donnie Darko and follows him through the unexplainable event of being forcefully thrown into a tangent universe that is opened by the very same event that closes it. Throughout the film, we see subjects of time travel called the Manipulated Dead. These people travel back in time, and attempt to manipulate Donnie to follow the correct path needed to close the tangent universe before the world collapses upon itself 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds after the tangent is opened. The whole film is based around Donnies subliminally manipulated actions to prevent the end of the world such as falling in love with Gretchen Ross, Burning down Jim Cunninghams Mansion, killing Frank and closing the tangent universe. Characters: Jake Gylenhaal Donnie Darko Holmes Osbourne Eddy Darko Maggie Gylenhaal Elizabeth Darko James Duval Frank Patrick Swayze Jim Cunningham Film budget: $4.5 million Box office takings (first weekend of release): $4,116,307

Film Analysis
Camera angles: The film generally consists of many different camera angles but the main majority of them are motionless with a pan and usually medium shots. In my personal opinion, I feel as though the director has done this to capture a lot of the detail in the scenes, as many of the scenes contain hidden clues and meanings for example, at the end of the film where Donnie is wearing a skeleton jumpsuit, most of the scenes he is in are medium shots to pick up on the fact that he is wearing a skeleton costume. I feel that this signifies and pre warns Donnies death in the scene after.

Medium Shot

Music:

Almost every song included in Donnie Darko is from the 1980s era from when the film was set (1988). The church, R.E.M, Duran Duran, INXS and echo and the bunny men, all of whose songs are included in the film, are based around the 1980s and circulated within the mainstream electro-pop culture. The songs soundtrack also follows a general rule of a mystical and magical tone combined with an eerie feel. This suits the film perfectly due to the whole of the film containing very strange and eerie events. Many of the songs in the film are also highly relevant to the situation of the scene that song is placed over. Such as R.E.Ms Mad world that is at the end of the film where all the characters are shown to be in deep thought and generally anxious. The song matches the scene because the scene sums up the film and forces us to remember that everything that happened in the film was mad and shows us just how strange the world can be. Also, the song under the milky way written by The Church contains the lyrics Under the milky way tonight and plays over the scene of the Halloween party. The song coincides with the scene by using fantasy-like lyrics running parallel with a weird and wonderful scene where Donnie sticks his head into a Channel or destiny. The song also follows a very strange tone and mystical vibe which the party also has; it almost feels like a dream. Character Usage: Most of the actors used in Donnie Darko are small, unknown actors with the exception of Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze. (Jake Gylenhaal is a major Hollywood actor now but when the film was made, it was his second major film). This may be due to budget reasons as the director could not afford to use big Hollywood actors, or it may have simply been because he felt that the small

actors used were perfect for the roles they played in the film. Genre: Donnie Darko follows the conventions of psychological films very closely. The entire plot line of the film is designed to mess with the audiences heads and usually mess with or require the processes of the mind. Thrillers generally tend to focus and emphasize the plot line more than the characters in the film but psychological thrillers reverse this theory and focus on the characters just as much as the plot. Donnie Darko is a perfect example of this with its detailed and extremely complex plot line and in depth character study which is this film is Donnie Darko. Psychological Thrillers also usually contain two characters fighting for equilibrium in the depths of the mind and in this case, this can be perceived as Donnie and Frank. In my opinion, Donnie Darko is a psychological thriller/horror film as all of the common codes and conventions seen in other psychological thrillers are clearly visible within Donnie Darko. Key Themes: The key themes that Donnie Darko Revolves around are: Reality (Donnies inability to cope) Mind (Donnie is only able to see these apparitions and his mind is a key factor) Existence/Purpose (Donnie questions the point of existence regularly) Destiny (The whole film revolves around Donnie following his destiny)