Cult fave 'Donnie Darko' returns to big screen in double-bill 4k restorations
Cult pic 'Donnie Darko' lights big screen again
Explaining the plot of Richard Kelly's mind-bending, time-shifting, coming-of-rage teen tale "Donnie Darko" would be like John Cleese explaining how many dimensions exist in the universe according to superstring theory.
The 113-minute movie, a David Lynchian experience impervious to logical dissection, opens with Donnie Darko (a young and prophetically excellent Jake Gyllenhaal) asleep in the middle of a highway. Good thing he didn't go home, because a huge jet engine crashed into his bedroom. Strangely, no plane reported losing a jet engine.
A 6-foot rabbit named Frank (think of him as Harvey's weird uncle with an insect's face) tells Donnie the world will end in 28 days, six hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, which adds up to 88, the speed at which the DeLorean in "Back to the Future" achieves time travel.
This movie loves numbers more than Peter Greenaway films do, as long as they're always eight. The story is set in 1988 when George Bush wins the presidency on Nov. 8.
This strange and provocative film died a quick commercial death on its 2001 release. Then it popped up on the midnight circuit and DVDs, earning a cult following. Newmarket Films asked Kelly to restore his original 133-minute version, the first time a director's cut had been commissioned for a financial flop.
Where the loopy and mystifying original "Donnie Darko" explained nothing, allowing viewers to plug in their own meanings to the surrealistic, politically loaded events on the screen, the Director's Cut expands the story with details that fill in the gaps without diluting the film's edgy tone or inexplicable purpose.
Starting Friday, April 21, Chicago's Music Box Theatre presents 4K restorations of both "Darko" movies, co-starring Jena Malone as the new girl at school, Drew Barrymore as an English teacher fired for assigning subversive books, Mary McDonnell as kindly Mrs. Darko and Patrick Swayze as a seemingly wholesome self-help guru.
I advise everyone to experience the original 2001 version first, then the director's cut. That way, instead of being distracted by what's been left out, you'll be impressed by how everything fits frighteningly together like a cinematic jigsaw puzzle.
Tears For Fears and Duran Duran head the list of musicians contributing to the soundtrack, but Gary Jules' haunting "Mad World" is the song you'll never hear again without your brain projecting scenes from "Donnie Darko" on the screen in your head.
Go to musicboxtheatre.com.
Cat-egorically cute
The After Hours Film Society presents Ceyda Torun's "Kedi" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 24, at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove.
Hundreds of thousands of cats live in the Turkish city of Istanbul, and most belong to no one. They roam the streets as a perpetual, unofficial welfare underclass dependent upon the kindness and food scraps of strangers.
Torun selected seven cats with highly different personalities as her stars. She and editor Mo Stoebe then constructed fluidly connected sequences, as if Torun had storyboarded the action, then directed the feline stars how to exit and enter each shot so the segment would cut together like a Hollywood movie. Go to afterhoursfilmsociety.com.
Kids command Screen Test Student Fest Jr.
The 11th annual Screen Test Student Fest Jr., featuring film shorts created by elementary school students, begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 22, at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court, Schaumburg.
An International Matinée presents a family-friendly collection of shorts from around the world at 2 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., cash prizes will be announced for winners at the Screen Test's fest competition. Tickets are $5 to $15. Go to villageofschaumburg.com/depts/cultural/pca/about/event_calendar.htm.
Women's shorts supply Arcada's Lunafest
Lunafest - an annual collection of film shorts by, for and about women - will be presented by the Zonta Club of St. Charles-Geneva-Batavia starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at the Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles. The fest is a fundraiser promoting awareness about women's issues. Go to Lunafest.org.
Elgin Latino Film Fest No. 5 has weekend run
Films from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico highlight the fifth annual Latino Film Festival Elgin, running Friday, April 21, through Sunday, April 23, at the Elgin Community College's Spartan Auditorium, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, plus at Marcus Theaters, 111 S. Randall Road, Elgin. All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. Go to latinofilmfestivalelgin.com.
• Dann Gire's column runs Friday in Time out!