A jet engine crashes into a suburban house and sets in motion a chain of events that might lead to the end of the world. Oh and there's also a giant freaky looking bunny too.
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Though we've been cinematically raised to see the term "director's cut" as synonymous with "better cut", this is not always the case. Sometimes a director can be oblivious as to why their film was beloved in the first place.
Case In Point: The Director's Cut of Donnie Darko
The great thing about the theatrical release of Donnie Darko is that it gives the impression of a huge, intricately thought-out universe. The failure of the director's cut is that it tries to explain everything in that huge, intricately thought-out universe. This is absolutely unnecessary. So what if some viewers don't "get" or "pick up on" every little nuance that you put in there? Let the audience bring something to the film. Allow them to have their own interpretations of things. There's a reason Quentin Tarantino has always refused to answered the question of, "What's in the briefcase?" in Pulp Fiction. It's because when you allow the audience to come to their own conclusions about things, the film becomes theirs. Why would you want to take that away from them?
In Conclusion: PLEASE ONLY WATCH THE THEATRICAL CUT OF DONNIE DARKO!
I remember driving way out into south Orange County to catch the Director's Cut in its theatrical run. Donnie Darko was my absolute favorite movie at the time, and I sat down in eager anticipation, expecting to be blown away a second time.
ReplyDeleteThe first twinge of doubt hit me the first time they did a close up of the "Philosophy of Time Travel" book. Or maybe it was when they swapped out the Killing Moon for an INXS song (nothing against INXS here, but I cannot imagine a song more perfect than the Killing Moon for Donnie Darko's opening sequence).
I walked out feeling pretty disappointed, and for the same reasons you explicated. Donnie Darko is one of those films best served by ambiguity. It also makes me suspect that Richard Kelly is one of those directors who's best served by working under limitations.