Synopsis
infinitely fine and the whole point of this movie lies in refusing to draw any obvious ones. And I can tell you, it works astonishingly. In this daring, audacious little film, the incredibly talented newcomer at the film scene Richard Kelly introduces us to a whole new concept of a teenage movie, which single-handedly challenges the terrible, almost deathly banality of the modern American middle class psyche in the 80s at the peak of the Reaganism. Growing up in it is an unbearable crucible for a young imaginative boy aspiring to be a writer. So the titular protagonist is aptly described by the director/writer Kelly as Holden Caulfield resurrected by Philip K. Dick, which sums up about everything about this movie. Kelly is obviously an idiosyncratic member of the so-called MTV generation. Technically it's almost like pyrotechnics. Its visual is simply stunning. The lyrics of the background pop-songs - Tears for Fears, Duran Duran etc. - are treated like some greek chorus in classical tragedies. He wears SFX like his second skin. But Donnie Darko is anything but superficial. Kelly is a representative of the new generation that can actually think deeper thoughts visually and convey them through the visual media, which is a feat in itself. And kudos goes to the brave producers including Drew Barrimore, who also does a nice cameo role. The film unfolds slowly like a bad nightmare and then bursts into the tragic ending. The ending must be the most confusing since Memento, of which this film reminds us a lot, but it will be definitely worth pondering over and emotionally rewarding. As Donnie's girlfriend points out in the film, his name sounds like that of a superhero. And indeed, what makes you think he's not?(Kim Sun-hyung)