Genre-Splicing, and Ambiguity Makes for A Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2006)

"Donnie Darko" defies genre classification. At once it could be subsumed under the categories of Sci-Fi, Horror, Coming of Age, or even Tragi-Comedy.
Donnie Darko is a complex character, transcending the clichéd "trouble teen" syndrome that has littered the movie landscape for so long. Is he a person with a mental disorder? Is he a genius? Madly creative? Or is young Darko some sort of Superhero? (I have my own view on which it is, but that would necessitate spoilers which I'm loathe to do here).
Darko initially avoids catastrophe (an airline turbo-jet crashing down on his room) by being directed by a man in a rabbit costume (we're not talking Velveteen rabbit here - the costume is quite sinister looking). The man in the rabbit costume, Fred, is an enigma. Throughout the movie the audience must decide if he is a figment of Darko's imagination, or if his existence is "real" in the film's universe.
Is Fred evil? He speaks that way, and compels Donnie to do some prima facie evil things. But are these "evil" deeds necessary to effect some greater (that is, morally "good") end? Like Darko himself, Fred's character is complex, and not fully resolved by the films' end. Is he a "saviour" executing God's will (yes, this film touches on the role of God in our lives on several occasions) or is he bent on destroying a vulnerable Schizophrenic (Darko)? For the questions I've heretofore raised it becomes apparent that one must watch this film to truly appreciate their significance. The film is so ambiguous that one must make his or her own mind up as to the film's proper interpretation. The plot leads down so many paths, that a concrete interpretation becomes a mugs game. But that is to the films credit, rather than to its detriment.
That this film was shot with a budget of under 2 million dollars is miraculous. The soundtrack, and political/social references, are very evocative of its time and place - suburbia in the 1980s.
Perhaps "Donnie Darko's" greatest contribution to cinema, is that it stands for the proposition that ambiguity in interpretation and genre splicing (to coin a phrase) are possible in American cinema.
A great film. 9/10.
Note: even on multiple viewings things do not become any less strange, or susceptible of less interpretations. To paraphrase literary critic Harold Bloom, a masterpiece of literature is to be recognized by its strangeness. If that is so, then Donnie Darko is a masterpiece of cinema.