Richard Kelly on Donnie Darko at 25: ‘It’s a Miracle That Any Movie Gets Made’

理查德·凯利谈《死亡幻觉》25周年：“任何电影能拍出来都是奇迹”

For a diehard fan of Donnie Darko, meeting director and screenwriter Richard Kelly is a thrill in itself. But to first encounter him as a silhouette in a darkened movie theater is to feel almost like a character in one of his films—unmoored by indefinite space and physics, questioning your altered perception. 对于《死亡幻觉》（Donnie Darko）的死忠粉来说，见到导演兼编剧理查德·凯利（Richard Kelly）本身就是一件令人激动的事。但如果是在昏暗的电影院里，先看到他如剪影般的轮廓，你会感觉自己仿佛成了他电影中的角色——仿佛脱离了空间与物理的束缚，开始质疑自己被改变的感知。

It’s a hot Friday in mid-August when I sit down with Kelly, 51, at Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre, a beloved repertory venue that makes a key appearance in Donnie Darko, his remarkable debut feature. Released in October 2001 with virtually no marketing due to the tragic events of 9/11 weeks prior (the plot hinges on a plane accident), it couldn’t get a toehold at the box office. But in the months and years that followed, the film became a hit on the home video market and gained a fervent cult fandom thanks to its unique supernatural mystery. 八月中旬的一个炎热周五，我与51岁的凯利坐在圣莫尼卡的Aero剧院。这家备受喜爱的经典影院在凯利的处女作《死亡幻觉》中有着关键出镜。该片于2001年10月上映，由于几周前发生的“9·11”悲剧（剧情涉及飞机事故），电影几乎没有任何营销，在票房上惨遭滑铁卢。但在随后的岁月里，凭借其独特的超自然悬疑色彩，该片在家庭录像市场大获成功，并积累了一批狂热的邪典影迷。

To mark its 25th anniversary, Fathom Entertainment will mount a limited theatrical rerelease of the film in a new 4K presentation, complete with a special introduction by Kelly—he’s just wrapped recording when I walk into the Aero. Screenings begin on October 2, the date that launches mentally disturbed suburban teenager Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) on a surreal journey that may or may not lead to the end of the world. Snippets of the movie play without sound as Kelly and I settle into a back row to talk. 为纪念上映25周年，Fathom Entertainment将以全新的4K版本进行有限的院线重映，并附带凯利的特别介绍——我走进Aero剧院时，他刚刚录制完毕。放映将于10月2日开始，这一天正是患有精神障碍的郊区少年唐尼·达科（杰克·吉伦哈尔饰）开启超现实旅程的日子，而这段旅程是否会导致世界末日，尚不可知。当凯利和我坐在后排交谈时，电影片段在银幕上无声地播放着。

“My memories of this film run the entire spectrum from fear to love,” Kelly jokes, alluding to the corny pop psychology peddled by Patrick Swayze’s self-help guru in the film. This occasion, Kelly says, is all about the “love,” as he couldn’t be more grateful to “all the people who have continued to support” his work. “我对这部电影的记忆涵盖了从恐惧到爱的整个光谱，”凯利开玩笑说，暗指片中帕特里克·斯威兹（Patrick Swayze）饰演的自助大师所兜售的陈腐流行心理学。凯利表示，这次纪念活动的主题就是“爱”，他非常感激“所有一直支持”他作品的人。

That camp should be pleased to hear that on December 15, Kelly will publish his mammoth first novel, The Philosophy of Time Travel, available for preorder now. The 800-page volume picks up right where the movie left off and is intended to set the stage for a film sequel as well. “It’s been very inspiring for me to remain focused on continuing the journey that began 25 years ago, on my own creative terms,” Kelly says. “This film has defined my entire career, but at the same time, it’s set a benchmark in the sense of the movies that I want to continue to make.” 粉丝们应该会很高兴听到，凯利将于12月15日出版他那部宏大的处女作小说《时间旅行哲学》（The Philosophy of Time Travel），目前已开启预购。这本800页的巨著紧接电影结尾，旨在为电影续集铺路。“能够按照我自己的创作意图，专注于延续25年前开始的旅程，这对我来说非常鼓舞人心，”凯利说，“这部电影定义了我的整个职业生涯，同时也为我未来想拍的电影设定了一个标杆。”

Here, the auteur revisits the unforgettable dreamscape that put him on the map, and considers the artistic possibilities still ahead. 在这里，这位导演重温了让他声名鹊起的难忘梦境，并思考了未来的艺术可能性。

On when he realized Donnie Darko was becoming a cult hit: 关于何时意识到《死亡幻觉》成为邪典经典：

There was one specific moment, I think in March of 2002, when I was in New York City. I was walking through the East Village, and I walked past a pizza restaurant called Two Boots, and my poster for Donnie Darko was hanging in their window. I saw the poster and I was like, “What’s going on? This is bizarre. Why does a pizza restaurant have a movie poster?” I went inside and I asked the manager, and he said, “Well, we have a little theater in the back, the Pioneer, and we’re playing your movie every Saturday night at midnight—and it’s selling out.” 有一个具体的时刻，我想是在2002年3月，当时我在纽约市。我走在东村，经过一家叫“Two Boots”的披萨店，看到我的《死亡幻觉》海报挂在他们的窗户上。我看到海报时心想：“怎么回事？这太离奇了。为什么一家披萨店会有电影海报？”我进去问经理，他说：“哦，我们在后面有个小剧院叫Pioneer，我们每周六午夜都在放映你的电影——而且场场爆满。”

I showed up the next Saturday night at about two in the morning, when the movie was finishing. I expected there’d be maybe 10 people there, and he wasn’t joking, it was sold out, and there were people with camcorders and lights in my face, and Michael Musto from the Village Voice was there. I was just completely bowled over by the fact that there were people who cared, who were really, really connecting with the movie. That was the moment I knew that it wasn’t over, that the movie was going to have a second wind. 接下来的周六凌晨两点左右，电影快结束时我去了现场。我以为顶多会有10个人，但他没开玩笑，确实座无虚席。有人拿着摄像机和灯光对着我拍，来自《乡村之声》的迈克尔·穆斯托（Michael Musto）也在场。我完全被震撼了，因为有这么多人关心这部电影，并与它产生了深刻的共鸣。那一刻我知道，一切还没结束，这部电影将迎来“第二春”。

On how Drew Barrymore and Jason Schwartzman saved the screenplay from Hollywood purgatory: 关于德鲁·巴里摩尔和杰森·舒瓦兹曼如何将剧本从好莱坞的“炼狱”中拯救出来：

It all started with Jason Schwartzman. He attached to play Donnie, and by virtue of his attachment, the script got sent around to a whole new round of people. It had been circulating for about a year, and the story was, “Oh, the writer won’t sell it. He wants to direct. It’s his first movie, it’s too ambitious. It’s just a writing sample, he’s never gonna get that movie made. He won’t let anyone else take it away from him.” 这一切始于杰森·舒瓦兹曼（Jason Schwartzman）。他确定出演唐尼，凭借他的加入，剧本被送到了新一轮的人手中。在此之前，剧本已经流转了一年，当时的说法是：“哦，编剧不肯卖。他想自己导演。这是他的第一部电影，野心太大了。这只是个写作样本，他永远拍不成这部电影。他不会让别人把它拿走。”

Then the script got sent to Nancy Juvonen, who’s partners with Drew Barrymore [at Flower Films]. She read it and flipped out and wanted to meet me, so we went down to the set of Charlie’s Angels. We went into Drew Barrymore’s trailer, and she was finishing the script, and we just immediately hit it off. I’m like, “Drew, would you like to play the English teacher, Mrs. Pomeroy?” And she’s like, “Will you let my company, Flower Films, produce the movie with you? And I’m like, “Of course.” She had a one week window in August of 2000 before she was going to do a Penny Marshall film called Riding in Cars with Boys. We had to meet that deadline and get Drew to shoot her out in one week. 后来剧本被送到了德鲁·巴里摩尔（Flower Films公司）的合伙人南希·朱沃南（Nancy Juvonen）手中。她读完后非常兴奋，想见我，于是我们去了《霹雳娇娃》的片场。我们走进德鲁·巴里摩尔的拖车，她当时正在读剧本，我们一见如故。我说：“德鲁，你想演英语老师波默罗伊夫人吗？”她说：“你愿意让我公司Flower Films和你一起制作这部电影吗？”我说：“当然。”她在2000年8月有一周的空档期，之后她要去拍潘妮·马歇尔的电影《与男孩同车》。我们必须赶上那个截止日期，让德鲁在一周内拍完她的戏份。

Jason Schwartzman had a scheduling conflict, and then in walks Jake Gyllenhaal. So it all happened really quickly. Nancy and Drew really deserve an enormous share of the credit in getting this whole thing off the ground—and Jason Schwartzman, too. Had he not attached, I would not have a career. 杰森·舒瓦兹曼后来因为档期冲突退出了，接着杰克·吉伦哈尔就出现了。所以一切发生得非常快。南希和德鲁在让这部电影启动的过程中功不可没——杰森·舒瓦兹曼也是。如果不是他当初加入，我就不会有今天的职业生涯。

On having real-life siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal anchor a fictional on-screen family: 关于让现实中的兄妹杰克和玛吉·吉伦哈尔饰演银幕家庭：

I heard from Joseph Middleton and Michelle Morris Gertz, our wonderful casting directors—they told me that Jake has an older sister, her name is Maggie Gyllenhaal, and she’s a brilliant actress. She had only appeared in one movie thus far, Cecil B. Demented, a John Waters film. I think she had a tiny cameo, but she had done a lot of theater and was obviously an enormous talent, like her brother, and once I realized there was a possibility of getting her, I was just like, “We have to get Maggie. It will anchor the family with real siblings, and Maggie will be this great foundation for Jake, and for the whole cast, and she was just so essential.” Sometimes the cards are dealt in your favor in terms of who’s available, who is interested, and so much of filmmaking is just the timing. It’s a miracle that any movie gets made. 我从我们出色的选角导演约瑟夫·米德尔顿和米歇尔·莫里斯·格茨那里听说，杰克有个姐姐叫玛吉·吉伦哈尔，她是一位才华横溢的演员。当时她只演过一部电影，即约翰·沃特斯执导的《疯狂杀手俏妈咪》。我想她当时只是个小客串，但她演过很多戏剧，显然和她弟弟一样天赋异禀。一旦我意识到有机会请到她，我就想：“我们必须请到玛吉。让现实中的兄妹来演，能稳住这个家庭戏份，玛吉会成为杰克乃至整个剧组的坚实基础，她太重要了。”有时候，谁有档期、谁感兴趣，这些牌局会向你倾斜，电影制作很大程度上就是时机问题。任何电影能拍出来都是奇迹。