It’s been twenty years since Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko, the favoured movie of moody teenage boys everywhere. Which makes it a good time to learn a bit new about it.
For the Ringer, Kelly participated in a big oral history on the film, with a lot of interesting information about how it came together. Here’s one of the most fun bits, as pointed out by IndieWire: the film’s notoriously confused timeline was clarified with help from fan of notoriously confused timelines, director Christopher Nolan. Kelly screened the film for Nolan during production, and he played a major role in getting the film distributed. His idea was simple: put some more time in the time movie.
“Chris and his wife, it was their idea to put the parenthetical beneath the title cards,” Kelly said. The parantheticals being the notes keeping track of how many days remain until the disaster, placed under the dates. It’s a neat, simple trick, a way to build dread while also keeping the film comprehensible as it goes all in on timeline shenanigans later on.
[referenced id=”958959″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2016/04/either-donnie-darko-hasnt-aged-well-or-the-directors-cut-isnt-as-good/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/29/slmqmrcgbncpd6hn4jhb-300×150.jpg” title=”Either Donnie Darko Hasn’t Aged Well Or The Director’s Cut Isn’t As Good” excerpt=”Donnie Darko is one of those movies I watched and rewatched endlessly during university. The small, but bold, tale of a troubled young man saving his family and friends spoke to me in ways I don’t quite recall 15 years later. I just know I loved it. However, rewatching the…”]
I haven’t seen the movie in years, but I remember finding it largely followable, and the timeline clarity is a part of why. So, good job, Christopher Nolan. You do know some things about, like, directing movies or whatever. I guess.