Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhal) with his disturbing fantasy friend in a rabbit costume.
Foto: Ascot Elite Home Entertainment. All rights reserved.
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“Donnie Darko” was the feature film debut of the then 23-year-old newcomer Richard Kelly. From today’s point of view, a much praised and almost ritually revered classic, the original release story had a rather tragic note. Already the world premiere on the „Sundance Film Festival“ on January 19, 2001 caused mixed feelings and rather mediocre reviews. Richard Kelly later said in a documentary about “Donnie Darko”: “My film didn’t go down well at all. To be honest, it was a catastrophe for me. ”Reviews with headings like this were also of little help „Story of teen trouble has scary Columbine resonance.“ The Columbine High School rampage two years earlier still preoccupied the people of America – and many felt reminded of the gruesome TV images by Donnie’s shot at the end of the film.
With a little help from director friend Christopher Nolan, Kelly and his team finally found a distributor who brought “Donnie Darko” to a few cinemas in the fall. Here, too, the timing was unfavorable: It was the months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 when not so many people wanted to see a film with an airplane engine crashing into a residential building in the trailer.
But then “Donnie Darko” slowly picked up speed with its fascinating mystery and its perfectly filmed 80s nostalgia (which would blossom again years later on “Stranger Things”). In England, the film first became an insider tip and then a box-office hit – which led to the title song “Mad World” even being number 1 on the single charts on Christmas weekend.
In Germany, however, you could never see “Donnie Darko” in the cinema. You could find it in the well-informed film nerd forums as a tip or in the video stores under “Employee recommendations”.
That is finally changing – at least for a day. Richard Kelly’s cult film will have its official cinema premiere in Germany on September 21st. For the first time, the original theatrical version of the film will be shown exclusively on the big screen in Germany, in a version that has been extensively restored in 4K. So get into your rabbit costume!
