“Donnie Darko,” is the first film of writer/director Richard Kelly, starring Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze came out on October 26, 2001. However, three years later, “Donnie Darko” was re-released in a director’s cut version, with remastered sound, picture, 20 minutes of new footage and new visual effects. This marked the film’s impressive success on DVD sales – taking in more than $10 million to date in the U.S. sales alone. When I first saw this film, I couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of the whole story, but now seeing it for a whopping 7 times I can now call it one of my all-time favorite movies to watch.
The opening scene in the movie is where the audience first meets Donnie Darko (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), at sunrise. There is nondiegetic sound, which is peculiar, delicate and strange. The delicate music augments the early morning feel, as do the slow movements of the camera and the duration of the shot. The whole shot made me feel like I was waking up in Donnie’s world. The general mood of the movie is introduced by the mysteriousness of the music with similar pieces of music – on piano with feedback/synthesizer sounds and an open harmonic sound – are played at intervals throughout the film, and by the broad and haunting landscape which suggests a wide scope - that the movie is philosophical and looks at life from a extensive thematic standpoint.
The camera then begins to pan left capturing the scenery around Donnie, as you see, is asleep in the middle of what seems to be a dirt-mountain road in an extreme long shot. As he begins to wake up the camera begins to perform a dolly shot which goes around Donnie’s body to face him head on in a close-up shot. Donnie looks ...
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...vision and music. Therefore the movie begins on a simple level. The viewer is introduced to many of the central elements of the film in a purely visual way – Donnie, his family, and the American suburbs. The music makes this an isolated and surreal presentation; the viewer sees the family from the outside before seeing them from the inside. The song also has a feeling of apprehension and of magnitude which makes what is seen seem more significant and mysterious.
Works Cited
Donnie Darko (Director’s Cut). Dir. Richard Kelly; Perfs. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, and Maggie Gyllenhaal; DVD; Prod. Flower Films; Dist. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2005.
Donnie Darko. Dir. Richard Kelly; Perfs. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore and Maggie Gyllenhaal; DVD; Prod. Flower Films; Dist. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2001.
The film starts off showing the only sincere moments that viewers will watch with cuts to beautiful fields and artistic shots of headlights coming down a road. Director Jack Riccobono is quick to come away from these scenes as he delves straight into the bitter world Rob and Kevin are divulged in. Their story is told through first person accounts of the films Rob and Kevin, showing viewers their life stories through their own words and actions. The director uses techniques commonly found in documentaries, such as having titles and narration, to fully engage viewers into the lives of the subjects.
American Psycho. Dir. Mary Harron. Perf. Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, and Josh Lucas. Lions Gate Films, 2000. Film.
The film Donnie Darko focuses on promoting hard thinking. The main character, Donnie Darko, is a teenage boy who suffers from delusions and sleepwalking. He avoids his own death by help from a man in a bunny suit. Who also informs Donnie that the world will end. Fear and loneliness is shown throughout the movie and is embodied as being controlled by fear, preying on the fear of others, and fear of tragedy .
Burton, Tim, dir. Big Fish. Writ. Daniel Wallace and John August. 2004. Sony Pictures, 2005. DVD-ROM.
At the start of the film, Marker put in this familiar noises of the planes to tell us that it was situated at the airport. Without the use of the sound in this particular scene, it would be just a photo montage whereby the viewers wouldn't probably feel the present of planes. Music helps to establish a sense of the pace at each of the accompanying scene and sometimes overlap voice-over musical score. At the beginning of the film, the images of the war torn Paris was accompanied by some sort of choir music that sounded very depressing and melancholic which then adds to the atmosphere. With the film starting off with this eerie atmosphere could also foreshadow a depressing storyline later on, that the protagonist meets his own death. Furthermore with the deliberate use of music in various part of the film, it kind of foreshadow the tragic ending whereby the fixated image of him as a child watching someone die at the
Reichardt, Kelly (Director), Raymond, John and Reichardt, Kelly (Writers), Williams, Michelle and Robinson, John (Performances). 2008. Oscilloscope Pictures, 2009. DVD
“The wolf of wall street.” Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie. Paramount , 2013.Film.
LA Confidential. Dir. Curtis Hanson. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Russel Crowe, Guy Pierce, Kim Bassinger, Danny DeVito. Regency, 1997.
Into the Wild. Dir. Sean Penn. Perf. Emile Hirsch and Vince Vaughn. IMDb. 15 Nov. 2013. 18 Nov. 2013
House of Cards. Dir. James Foley, Carl Frankloin, John D. Coles, Allen Coulter, David Fincher, Charles McDougal, Joel Schumaker, Robin Wright, and Jodie Foster. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Michael Gill, Robin Wright. Media Rights Capitol, 2013-. IMDB. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2014. .
Stand By Me. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell. DVD. Columbia Pictures, 1986.
The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. A&M Films Channel Production, 1985. Perf. Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Esteves. Film.
American History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Avery Brooks, and Beverly D’angelo. 1998. DVD. New Line Home Entertainment, 2004.
The music suited the movie very nicely. By the type of music playing, you could determine what sort of scene was coming up, either fast and light...
The importance of music in movies is highly regarded for manipulating the viewer’s emotions and helping them immerse into the story. Music is one of the prime elements in cinema. Without it a movie would feel dull and unexciting. There are three elements in a movie: one is acting, the second is picture, and the third one is music. It is a holy trinity; if incomplete, there would be a lack of sensation and excitement. Both acting and picture can stand independently from one another, but music is the one that makes the movie memorable.