Quartz caught up with Kelly to delve into why he believes Donnie Darko has such an enduring appeal, and why now was the right time to revisit the film, one that the 42 year old Kelly was just 26 when it was released.
Probably the most amazing thing to me about Donnie Darko is how it continues to find new life with successive generations and how it continues to resonate with people.
What do you think it is about it that is the basis for its cross generational appeal? Well, when we made the film in the year we were deliberately making a film set in I was very adamant that it was set in this very particular place and time. All the movies that I make will always be set in a very specific timeline, with a date stamp and a time stamp, because I need that specificity of a world where the characters exist.
So, if anything, the fact that the film continues to resonate with contemporary teenagers, to me, is a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The specificity of the timeline is certainly a key feature of the film. In other words, the film is so indelibly that time and place that it allows people an entry place that it might not if it was more ambiguous.
Is that part of the storytelling device? But why then for Donnie Darko? Also, I remember it resonating with me when Patrick Swayze comes in as the self-help guru, and Donnie became the difficult kid asking the difficult questions. That really was Reagan America to me. It certainly was seen as non-conformist to fly so much in the face of authority and even ask a question, let alone a difficult question, of these people in perceived authority. Well, it places Donnie as a bit older than I was in , but it was a world that I remembered.
I intended it to be at a time of transition, setting it on the eve of an election where Ronald Reagan was leaving office, and you had all these teenagers who were rejecting the war on drugs and seeing censorship and The Last Temptation of Christ being banned from theaters. You know, stuff like that, and the self-help movement and motivational speakers showing up in schools, gave kids something to fight against. And, of course, a new sort of liberalism emerged in those teenagers, who obviously went on to help elect Bill Clinton four years later.
I wanted to capture that time and it became an essential part of the fabric of the movie, really. Where did Donnie Darko come from? Tell me where the story and where the character and the art come for you as a storyteller in your 23 years that lead up to it? I think it was very much an expression of my internal anxieties as an adolescent, first and foremost.
That was the plot seed. I was never a big fan of Echo and the Bunnymen, and yet when I heard the song used in the film, it took me back to the time and place, but it also created an intense emotional connection to the film and the scene. How important is getting the right song for the right scene, and do you write with a particular song in your head—do you have a soundtrack as you go along, a playlist—and how do you come to those choices?
Well, an overwhelming yes to everything you just said. Music is everything to me in the filmmaking process. I design and select many songs very, very early in the screenwriting process. I even choreograph scenes to specific songs. Fans of The Girl Next Door may also recognize this house as the party house from the film. Holiday Inn - E. Angeleno Ave. Burbank, Ca. The hotel opened in and was refurbished in It's the largest Holiday Inn on the west coast.
Bus stop - Country Club Dr. San Antonio Dr. This intersection can also be seen near the beginning of the film as Donnie rides his bike through it on his way home, after waking up on the ridge. Middlesex High School - Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca. Loyola High School. The school first opened in and is the oldest continuing educational institution in the region.
It's been at it's current location since Jim Cunningham's house - Country Club Dr. The 4, square foot house was built in The Darko house is located close by, just across the street and five houses down to the left. Aero Theatre - Montana Ave. Santa Monica, Ca. The single screen movie theater was designed by architect P. Woolpert and opened in It was built by Donald W. By the end of the 90's the theater had fallen on hard times and eventually closed down.
In , it was re-opened after renovations were made by the non-profit organization American Cinematheque, which also hosts screenings at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. I knew it would never see the light of day, or be drastically rewritten. Having Drew also helped us get other actors who might have been reluctant to work with a first-time director.
We originally had Jason Schwartzman as Donnie, but he had other commitments. Jake Gyllenhaal had just starred in October Sky and carried the whole movie. Though not a household name, he clearly had talent. Because so many of the cast and crew were young, there was a real energy on the set, but I was stressed out. Being 25, I had to justify myself a lot, prove I had the skill.
I lost 20lbs on the shoot. It was a lengthy scene that followed characters down corridors to the sound of Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears. The production manager and line manager were furious. Every major distributor passed on it at Sundance in January It was viewed as a problem film that no one knew how to market.
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