Product Description

This comprehensive illustrated book on the cult phenomenon brings its readers further into the dark and mysterious world of Donnie and his creator Richard Kelly.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99469 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From the Back Cover
The critical and audience response made Donnie Darko the cult film of the year - one whose dark ambiguities caused audiences to go back to the film again and again trying to fathom its mysteries.

This book brings its readers further into the world of Donnie Darko and its creator Richard Kelly. Contained within these pages are an in-depth interview with Richard Kelly who recounts the gestation of the film; the screenplay; photos and drawings from the film and artwork inspired by it. Donnie Darko will never surrender up all its mysteries, but this book will be an indispensable guide into its intriguing world.

Excerpted from Film: a Donnie Darko Book by R. Kelly. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s foreword to Donnie Darko:
What is Donnie Darko about? I have no idea, at least not a conscious one. But somehow I’ve always understood it. The most amazing thing about making this movie, for me, was the fact that no one – including the man from whose mind it emerged – ever had a simple answer to this question. And that, ironically, is the very thing the film is actually about. There is no single answer to any question. Every person’s explanation differs according to how they were brought up, where they were brought up, who brought them up. This seems like a very simple answer to a perplexingly complex movie, but when you think about it, it gets to the very crux of what we all seem to take for granted: our own minds, how they differ, and that we are all entitled to our own interpretation.

The struggle begins when, at a certain age, a kid starts to experience the effects of his childhood and the possibility that his upbringing was flawed. It’s hard to accept the idea that there is no ideal. Nothing is perfect. The hardest part, though, is when he or she begins the search for his or her own idea of what is right. It’s scary to search. You never know what resistance you might meet.

America is a culture that prides itself on supporting this kind of inquiry but, in fact, it often inhibits self-expression. Too often we are encouraged to be passive, not to challenge our leadership, not to inquire too far. And popular culture often reflects this passive relationship. Kids know when it’s Britney Spears’s birthday but they probably couldn’t tell you the name of America’s Vice-President. Not to diss Britney Spears: I think she’s hot. I bought her last record. And not to diss Dick Cheney either: he’s provided a lot more drama than some of our leading screenwriters. But who’s to blame?

None of this is our fault. We are a product of our culture. But we can’t be afraid to speak our minds.

And it is this that makes Donnie Darko so cool. Richard Kelly used the backdrop of the 80s, a mainstream style of film-making (his hero is Spielberg – who rocks, by the way) against itself, to be subversive. To give us something different from what we’re used to. In the words of Donnie himself, ‘to change things’.

Call it cult. Call it genius. Call it what you will, but the fact that Richard has chosen not to spoon-feed his audience a simple conclusion to the film requires his audience to participate in the process of figuring it out with him.

There aren’t a whole lot of people doing this.

When we were working, I would beg and plead with Richard to find one through-line and an understandable conclusion. He never would. Some could argue this was detrimental to the film. And it might be to any other film. And there are those who would say that it was to this one. But I wish those people could spend a day with me sometime. So they could sit at a meal, or walk down the street when a total stranger walks up and starts a philosophical discussion about what exactly Donnie Darko is about. It makes my day every time. Because every time, I answer, ‘I have no idea, what does it mean to you?’

(New York City, 4 May 2003)

Customer Reviews

A Journey Into A Film-maker's Mind...
In as far as breaks go, a film like Donnie Darko would certainly be classed as wish fulfilment for any film-maker. A top notch cast, a compelling story... How did writer/director Richard Kelly do it?

The Donnie Darko Book goes some way to offering further insight into how this modern cult classic came about. More accessible than the typical 'Making Of...' volume that often accompanies a film's release, this is a book that's suitable for both those who want to discover more about the film and those who want to know more about the journey of film-making.

Accompanied by the original shooting script and lavish artwork from the film, it is the first part of the book which unravels Kelly's journey from inspired creative to first acclaim at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, as conveyed in the form of an interview conducted by Kevin Conroy Scott. As you read on, you can't help but get the feeling that Kelly's experiences in life have been leading up to this point. Maybe it's the influence of the film, or is it true that life mirrors art?
"In eighth grade I was asked to do a book report in science class and I picked A Brief History Of Time [by Stephen Hawkins] because I thought it had a cool title," says Kelly. "Even though I could not comprehend it, it inspired me to try... and, as a result, that book has been at the back of my mind ever since."

For fans of the film, that's one of the first series of revelations that Kelly offers into the genesis of Donnie's world, whether he directly acknowledges them as contributory or not. For those keen on the subject of story creation and film-making, there are plenty more. Kelly's influences in these areas are more down to Earth than the gurus that film enthusiasts would normally expect to turn to or study. He cites his high school English classes and author Stephen King as being the means through which he learned how to craft a story. David Fincher's music video for the Aerosmith hit Janie's Got A Gun inspired him in terms of film-making ("I had never seen a video that told a story. It was better crafted than most movies I had seen and I was taken aback by it").

Film school beckoned, where Kelly cut his teeth on student projects. These films gave an early indication of the direction Kelly was heading for - a demonstration of audacity and ambition, handled by a bit of an outsider. Nowhere is this made more clear than with The Vomiteer, a self-explanatory piece that was one of Kelly's first efforts. He refers to it as a 'reaction to the pretension' he experienced through his peers, who seemed focused on solving the world's problems or making people weep through their work. As Kelly notes, sadness is very much self-absorbing, whereas laughter is something to be shared with others. "Comedy is so undervalued and looked down upon, but it is so needed... the hardest thing to do is get a good laugh out of someone."

As you'd expect, The Donnie Darko Book is not a technical guide to film-making, but regardless, there are many gems of advice that Kelly imparts, especially for the writer. Surprisingly (or not as you get to find out more about him), Kelly is not a big fan of screenwriting rules. "I wouldn't have even bothered writing Donnie Darko if I'd had a bunch of screenwriting rhetoric pushed on me," Kelly says, "because I would have thought, 'I'm not allowed to do this, I'm not allowed to do that.'" If he has anything good to say on the rules of writing observed by the masters, it's reserved for Joseph Campbell and his exploration of mythology and story archetypes. "It should be embraced in the sense that you learn the formula," he states, "then you learn how to corrupt that formula."

This book comes in particularly valuable with Kelly's experiences in touting the Darko script and eventually, the completed film. In short, it's a nightmarish scenario to rival the image of Frank, Donnie's otherworldly guide. Despite signing to major talent agency CAA on the strength of the script, Kelly found himself taking one step forward and two steps back with development executives. No doubt due to his insistence that he, appearing a first-time film-maker, should be the one to direct it. The hell of pitching is well documented here, but even down the line with the first public showing at Sundance, Kelly's troubles are nowhere near over. He recounts a sneaky ploy used by distributors that certainly comes as a nasty surprise. Festival film-makers, be warned.

There is much to be learned from this book, for even though it has an original and compelling script, Donnie Darko was almost a film that never was. Kelly is honest and frank in his appraisal of his journey to date, which certainly makes the book an educational experience as opposed to a promotional tie-in. The book is worth the cover price for the interview with Kelly alone, although screenwriters will no doubt take great enthusiasm in seeing how he brought his vision from thought to page with the accompanying screenplay.

Was expecting a bit more,...
I knew that when I got this book, that I wasn't going to get a solution, or a completion of the film. I am a big fan of the film, and I felt that despite it's open-endedness, that it was well deserving of its critical acclaim. Besides, I enjoyed putting my own theories to it and may have been disappointed if the film was spoon-fed to me.

The book is certainly a must for any fan, but not necessarily for everyone. The interview with Scriptwriter/Director Richard Kelly is certainly enjoyable and a good read, but I somehow got the feeling that it may have been lifted from a magazine article.

The bulk of the book is the original unedited script that was written for Donnie Darko. While this will be a delight to many, and while I can undeniably see the relevance of having it included here, it ultimately comes off as a major piece of filler to the book.

Of most interest was the mock-up of Roberta Sparrow's Time Travel book. This is the book's strongest selling point, and the material in it will make you want to see the film again with this new info in mind. However, the pages are scans, and fill 2/3rds of the actual page. This makes for some slightly awkward reading, and it would have been nicer to see them larger and more clearly.

Finally, the book bows out with some images and photos, a few which appeared in "Donnie Darko" and a few more which formed the advertising campaign around London, involving grafitti art.

I was hoping for something more in-depth to the film than this. While the extras are appreciated, I would have loved to see what each actor/actress made of their own characters and their own interpretation of the film, any amusing anecdotes or theories about some of the more philosophical ideas, maybe even a few more enigmatic curveballs thrown in to add some depth to the film - not necessarily an answer for the whole film itsef, but a few more interesting questions.

One for the die-hard fans only, I'm afraid!

Essential companion to an extraordinary film.
The Donnie Darko book contains an introduction by Jake Gyllenhaal, an interview with director Richard Kelly and the script itself. Also, there are photos and artwork.
The interview is particularly interesting, revealing some of the origins of the script and the struggle to get it into production. These facts are not on the DVD but still provide excellent material. The script is fantastic and can be read by itself, although accompanies the film very well.
This book is a must for all fans of the film, and contains very interesting material, but I can't help feeling that more could fit into such a book.
Very good, nevertheless.