For fans of Donnie Darko, meeting director and screenwriter Richard Kelly is a thrilling experience in itself. But encountering him first as a silhouette in a pitch-black movie theater feels like stepping into one of his films. Freed from the boundaries of space and physics, we begin to question our own perceptions of reality.
On a hot Friday in mid-August, I sat down with 51-year-old Kelly in Santa Monica. The Aero Theatre, a beloved repertory cinema, played an important role in celebrating Donnie Darko, Kelly’s remarkable feature-film debut. Released in October 2001, the movie received almost no marketing after the tragic events of 9/11, just weeks earlier. Because its story centered on a plane crash, the film struggled at the box office. In the months and years that followed, however, Donnie Darko found a passionate audience on home video and became a cult classic praised for its distinctive blend of science fiction, supernatural mystery, and psychological drama.
To mark its 25th anniversary, Donnie Darko will return to select theaters beginning October 2. That is the same date on which the troubled suburban teenager Donnie Darko, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, begins a surreal journey that may—or may not—lead to the end of the world. Kelly has just completed an introduction for a new 4K restoration. As we speak, silent clips from the restoration play across the theater’s enormous screen.
“My memories of this movie range from fear to love,” Kelly jokes, referencing the simplistic pop psychology promoted by the self-help guru played by Patrick Swayze in the film. Kelly says the anniversary event is ultimately about “love,” adding that he could not be more grateful to “all the people who continue to support” his work.
Those longtime fans will also be excited to learn that Kelly plans to publish his ambitious first novel on December 15. The Philosophy of Time Travel is available for pre-order now. The 800-page book picks up where the film left off and is also designed to lay the groundwork for its long-awaited sequel. “It was so exciting for me to stay focused on continuing the journey that started 25 years ago, entirely on my own creative terms,” Kelly says. “This film defined my entire career, but it also established the standard for the kind of movies I want to keep making.”
Here, Kelly revisits the unforgettable dreamscapes that established his career and considers the artistic possibilities that lie ahead.
When Richard Kelly realized Donnie Darko had become a cult classic:
I think it was March 2002, when I was in New York City, that a special moment happened. I was walking through the East Village and passed a pizza restaurant called Two Boots. In the window, I saw a poster for Donnie Darko featuring my name. I thought, “What is going on? This is strange. Why is there a movie poster in a pizza restaurant?” When I went inside and asked the manager, he told me, “There’s a small theater in the back called the Pioneer that screens your movie every Saturday night at midnight—and it sells out.”
The following Saturday, I arrived around 2 a.m., just as the film ended. I expected to find maybe 10 people, but the theater was completely sold out. Some audience members were holding video cameras, while others were shining lights in my face. The Village Voice was there. I was completely overwhelmed by the realization that people genuinely cared about this movie and were deeply invested in it. That was the moment I understood that Donnie Darko was not finished—that its story and audience were taking it in an entirely new direction.
Source: www.wired.com