Donnie Darko

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(Kelly). This interpretation of the events of the film seem to lend themselves to what Joseph Campbell might call the threshold between the private dream and the mythic:

On some levels a private dream runs into truly mythic themes and can’t be interpreted except by an analogy with a myth. Jung speaks of two orders of dream, the personal dream and the archetypal dream, or the dream of the mythic dimension. You can interpret a personal dream by association, figuring out what it is talking about in your own life, or in relationship to your own personal problem. But every now and then a dream comes up that is pure myth, that carries a mythic theme, or that is said, for example, to come from the Christ within (Campbell and Moyers).

In this perspective, Donnie not only associates his dream with what is happening in his own life, but also—in the great tradition of the hero’s journey—transcends the personal dream to find the mythic dimension. It is not by accident that Donnie finally figures out that he must sacrifice himself (finding the Christ within) in order to prevent the “end of the world.” It is also no accident that, in order to prevent this end, Donnie must actually “end” his own world—letting the personal dream state fade away in order for the mythic dimension to find its way into the world at large. If we accept this theory, then we must also allow for the possibility that, at least in causality, the structure of the story is not literally nonlinear. Instead, one could argue that the whole of the story actually takes place—linearly—in the very last moments of Donnie’s life. Donnie goes to sleep, dreams, and then the dream ends—effectively killing Donnie, but saving the mythic world. For me, this linear, but still causally complex interpretation of the narrative is a much deeper and satisfying story in which, ironically, nothing actually happens.

In considering the nonlinear potential of Donnie Darko, one should also consider the possibility that the film is actually nothing more than a very long flashback. Could it be that Donnie Darko is one of a number of films that "open on a situation in the present and flashback to the story. Then, at the end, they return to the opening situation" (Cowgill 148)? There is no doubt that syuzhet of Donnie Darko inspires a sublime sense of confusion and doubt--we the audience experience the story with the same sense of coherence and certainty with which a paranoid schizophrenic, such as Donnie, might experience. However, the fabula manages to shine through with a fair amount of clarity (regardless of the genre interpretation, we understand the themes of fate, self-will, and conformity that Donnie explores).

Whether or not you buy into the validity of the nonlinear narrative structure, the fact that the concept is even up for debate greatly deepens the gravity of the story. As Linda Cowgill boldly states, “Great films fracture our expectations.” Because the structure of Donnie Darko is so difficult to pin down, the film demands multiple viewings and thoughtful debate. As a classic unified narrative, the film provides a “strong rising conflict” which “generates maximum suspense and helps keep the audience transfixed” on Donnie’s journey. But with the addition of a the potential nonlinear interpretation, the film can “deconstruct a complicated event, situation, character or a combination of these elements” (Cowgill 148). We gain a stronger understanding of the character of Donnie Darko by examining both what we does, as well as what he would do within a parallel narrative structure.

One of the most engaging aspects of Donnie Darko is the creation of a world that seems both relatable and yet excitingly bizarre and novel. It is this rich and engrossing setting that compels us to want to examine the story, even if the confusing plot pushes some of the audience away, making it a cult classic. In his “New Cult Canon” article, Scott Tobias examines the effect that this well-thought-out world building has on the timelessness of the film:

Donnie Darko accomplishes perhaps the one thing I value most in cinema: It creates a world to get lost in, so particular and full of life that other concerns (in this case, an overstuffed mind-bender of a plot that has never quite cohered for me) fall by the wayside. And though I’ll probably be defining cult movies a million different ways in this column, that’s likely the common denominator, because once you have the ins and outs of the story figured out, what’s the point of seeing a movie a second or third or hundredth time? The world of the film is paramount (Tobias).

Again, whether or not you can agree (or even figure out) the complicated time line of the plot, you can use setting to deepen your understanding and enjoyment of the story and it structure.

As set forth by Robert McKee, "A story’s setting is four-dimensional--Period, Duration, Location, and Level of Conflict" (68). Understanding the world of Donnie Darko is essential to understanding its story. Although made in 2001, Richard Kelly made a conscious decision to set his story in 1988. This decision seems to have less to do with any ironic (or otherwise) nostalgia of the late 1980s, but rather because Kelly himself was a teenager in 1988 and identifies with many of the cultural clues of the film. The "write what you know" rule follows Kelly into the place of the film in a similar manner (as he grew up in a similar Virginia suburban environment). Kelly’s relationship to these two dimensions of setting may be best summed up by his explanation of a particularly striking slow-motion scene that introduces us to Donnie’s high school experience:

I knew that we were going to choreograph it in a certain way. That was one of the songs that was actually written into the script: "Head over Heals" by Tears for Fears, its one of my favourite songs. I knew that it would suggest this feeling of high school, such an absurd and horrible world. The song had a romantic "lets get through this" quality to it and I knew that I wanted to introduce every character here. This sequence foreshadows the entire movie; showing the relationships between all the pivotal characters and how the mysteries of the plot are going to be solved (Huggins and Salter).

The relationship between setting and structure is further deepened by the importance that the story places on the world’s "rules." "Each fictional world creates a unique cosmology and makes its own "rules" for how and why things happen within it. No matter how realistic or bizarre the setting, once the causal principles are established, they cannot change" (McKee 70). This concept is essential to understanding the meaning of Donnie Darko. Whether or not you accept the fact