Richard Kelly (director)
Encyclopedia
James Richard Kelly is an American
film
director
and writer
, best known for writing and directing the cult classic
Donnie Darko
in 2001.
, the son of Lane Kelly and Ennis Kelly. He grew up in Midlothian, Virginia
where he attended Midlothian High School and graduated in 1993. When he was a child, his father worked for NASA
on the Mars Viking Lander program. He won a scholarship to the University of Southern California to study at the USC School of Cinema-Television where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta
fraternity. He made two short films
at USC, The Goodbye Place and Visceral Matter, before graduating in 1997.
was given a budget of just $4.5 million. This was his first feature and was nominated for 21 small awards, winning 11 of them, including a nomination for a Saturn Award
. The film later ended up #2 on Empire magazine's
list of 50 greatest independent films of all time, behind Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs
.
He has written numerous scripts that have not been produced, most famous of which are the adaptations of Kurt Vonnegut's
Cat's Cradle
and Louis Sachar's
Holes. The latter screenplay is available as a PDF
on an unofficial Richard Kelly fansite, and Kelly hopes that he will one day secure the rights to the former script, so that fans may read that one as well.
His fourth film, and second feature, Southland Tales
, a rough cut of which screened in competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
, was released November 16, 2007 and stars Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar
, Seann William Scott
, Kevin Smith
and Miranda Richardson
.
In 2008, Kelly's production company Darko Entertainment announced that it was producing the adaptation of the bestselling book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
with director Bob Gosse
. The book's author Tucker Max
detailed Kelly's involvement in the process on his blog.
After the release of The Box, he said he was working on a thriller "set in Manhattan in the year 2014. We hope to shoot the movie in 3-D, and part of the movie would be filmed using full CGI motion capture." In 2011 he announced that he was writing and directing Corpus Christi, a Texas
-set film to be produced by Eli Roth
.
is about a suburban teenager, Southland Tales
is an L.A. epic, and The Box is about a married couple in Richmond, Virginia), they share similar themes of time travel
, existentialism
, and spirituality
.
Richard Kelly's style is composed of Steadicam
based tracking shots and camera movement in general, satirical elements (as seen sparsely in Donnie Darko and much more prominently in Southland Tales), comedy, drama, and enigmatic plots. Some have compared him with David Lynch
because of his foreboding, ominous style and puzzling narratives. Music also plays a large role in Richard Kelly's films and one of his most famous scenes is in a closing segment of Donnie Darko where we are shown a montage of several characters awakening from their lucid dreams to Gary Jules
's version of the Tears for Fears
song "Mad World".
Kelly's enthusiasm and direction can be traced back to his viewing of the film Brazil
, as told to author Robert K. Elder
in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, best known for writing and directing the cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell...
in 2001.
Early life
Kelly was born James Richard Kelly in Newport News, VirginiaNewport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, the son of Lane Kelly and Ennis Kelly. He grew up in Midlothian, Virginia
Midlothian, Virginia
Midlothian is an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Founded over 300 years ago as a coal mining village, it is now a suburban community located in the Southside of Richmond well beyond the city limits of Richmond in the Richmond–Petersburg region.It was named...
where he attended Midlothian High School and graduated in 1993. When he was a child, his father worked for NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
on the Mars Viking Lander program. He won a scholarship to the University of Southern California to study at the USC School of Cinema-Television where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta , also known as Phi Delt, is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 169 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S...
fraternity. He made two short films
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
at USC, The Goodbye Place and Visceral Matter, before graduating in 1997.
Film career
Donnie DarkoDonnie Darko
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell...
was given a budget of just $4.5 million. This was his first feature and was nominated for 21 small awards, winning 11 of them, including a nomination for a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
. The film later ended up #2 on Empire magazine's
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
list of 50 greatest independent films of all time, behind Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
.
He has written numerous scripts that have not been produced, most famous of which are the adaptations of Kurt Vonnegut's
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way...
and Louis Sachar's
Louis Sachar
Louis Sachar is an American author of children's books who is best known for the Sideways Stories From Wayside School book series and the 1998 novel Holes, for which Sachar won a National Book Award and the Newbery Medal...
Holes. The latter screenplay is available as a PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
on an unofficial Richard Kelly fansite, and Kelly hopes that he will one day secure the rights to the former script, so that fans may read that one as well.
His fourth film, and second feature, Southland Tales
Southland Tales
Southland Tales is a 2006 American-Franco-German science fiction dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Kelly. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles...
, a rough cut of which screened in competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
, was released November 16, 2007 and stars Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
, Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott
Seann William Scott is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Steve Stifler in the American Pie film series...
, Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
and Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
.
In 2008, Kelly's production company Darko Entertainment announced that it was producing the adaptation of the bestselling book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is a New York Times #1 bestseller and has made the Best Seller List each year from 2006 to 2011. It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone...
with director Bob Gosse
Bob Gosse
Bob Gosse is an American film producer and director. He has also acted in several movies.-Background:Gosse was born on Long Island, New York. After graduating with a BFA degree from the film program at SUNY Purchase in 1986, Gosse joined the independent film scene in New York City, creating...
. The book's author Tucker Max
Tucker Max
Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drunken and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it for a bet in 2002, making him an Internet celebrity.Max's book I Hope They...
detailed Kelly's involvement in the process on his blog.
After the release of The Box, he said he was working on a thriller "set in Manhattan in the year 2014. We hope to shoot the movie in 3-D, and part of the movie would be filmed using full CGI motion capture." In 2011 he announced that he was writing and directing Corpus Christi, a Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
-set film to be produced by Eli Roth
Eli Roth
Eli Raphael Roth is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is known for his role as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds for which he won both a SAG Award and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award...
.
Themes and style
Although Richard Kelly's films differ considerably in setting and characters (Donnie DarkoDonnie Darko
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell...
is about a suburban teenager, Southland Tales
Southland Tales
Southland Tales is a 2006 American-Franco-German science fiction dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Kelly. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles...
is an L.A. epic, and The Box is about a married couple in Richmond, Virginia), they share similar themes of time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
, and spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
.
Richard Kelly's style is composed of Steadicam
Steadicam
A Steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a motion picture camera that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement, allowing a smooth shot even when moving quickly over an uneven surface...
based tracking shots and camera movement in general, satirical elements (as seen sparsely in Donnie Darko and much more prominently in Southland Tales), comedy, drama, and enigmatic plots. Some have compared him with David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
because of his foreboding, ominous style and puzzling narratives. Music also plays a large role in Richard Kelly's films and one of his most famous scenes is in a closing segment of Donnie Darko where we are shown a montage of several characters awakening from their lucid dreams to Gary Jules
Gary Jules
Gary Jules is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his cover of Tears for Fears' third single "Mad World", which he recorded together with friend Michael Andrews for the film Donnie Darko. It became the UK Christmas Number One single of 2003...
's version of the Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears are an English new wave band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesiser bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
song "Mad World".
Kelly's enthusiasm and direction can be traced back to his viewing of the film Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
, as told to author Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder
Robert K. Elder is an American journalist, author and film columnist.- Early life and education :A Montana native, Elder interviewed Ken Kesey for his high school newspaper. The author encouraged Elder to attend his alma mater, the University of Oregon, which Elder did two years later...
in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life
The Film That Changed My Life
The Film That Changed My Life is a non-fiction collection of interviews compiled by American journalist, author and film columnist Robert K. Elder...
.
I think the greatest thing I learned from Terry is that every frame is worthy of attention to detail. Every frame is worthy of being frozen in time and then thrown on a wall like an oil painting, and if you work hard on every frame, the meaning of your film becomes deeper, more enhanced.
Filmography
| Director | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Other notes |
| 1996 | "The Goodbye Place" | Short film |
| 1997 | "Visceral Matter" | Short film |
| 2001 | Donnie Darko Donnie Darko Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell... |
|
| 2007 | Southland Tales Southland Tales Southland Tales is a 2006 American-Franco-German science fiction dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Kelly. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles... |
|
| 2009 | The Box | Based on the short story by Richard Matheson Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been... |
| 2012 | Corpus Christi | |
| Writer | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Other notes |
| 1996 | "The Goodbye Place" | Short film |
| 1997 | "Visceral Matter" | Short film |
| 2001 | Donnie Darko Donnie Darko Donnie Darko is a 2001 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, and Mary McDonnell... |
|
| 2005 | Domino Domino (film) Domino is a 2005 American action film directed by Tony Scott and written by Richard Kelly. It is inspired by the story of Domino Harvey, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey, who became a bounty hunter working in Los Angeles. The film stars Keira Knightley as Domino and... |
|
| 2007 | Southland Tales Southland Tales Southland Tales is a 2006 American-Franco-German science fiction dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Kelly. The title refers to the Southland, a name used by locals to refer to Southern California and Greater Los Angeles... |
|
| 2009 | The Box | Based on the short story by Richard Matheson Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been... |
| 2012 | Corpus Christi | |
| Producer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Other notes | |
| 2009 | Dirty Girl | ||
| I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (film) I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is a 2009 American comedy film loosely based on the work and persona of writer Tucker Max, who co-wrote the screenplay. In an interview with Shave Magazine Max explained that the film is not "a direct recount or retelling. It says it is based on true events because it... |
Based on the Tucker Max Tucker Max Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drunken and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it for a bet in 2002, making him an Internet celebrity.Max's book I Hope They... short story "The Austin Road Trip Story I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is a New York Times #1 bestseller and has made the Best Seller List each year from 2006 to 2011. It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone... " in his book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell is a New York Times #1 bestseller and has made the Best Seller List each year from 2006 to 2011. It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone... |
||
| Rogue's Gallery Rogue's Gallery (film) Operation: Endgame is a 2010 action-comedy film directed by Fouad Mikati featuring an ensemble cast. It premiered on November 5, 2009 at the American Film Market and had a limited release in the US on July 16, 2010 It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 27, 2010.-Plot:It's inauguration day for... |
|||
| The Box | |||
| World's Greatest Dad World's Greatest Dad World's Greatest Dad is a 2009 American black comedy film written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It stars Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, and Alexie Gilmore. The film was released on July 24 on video on demand providers before its limited theatrical release on August 24, 2009... |
|||
| 2010 | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith Seth Grahame-Smith Seth Grahame-Smith is an American best-selling author, screenwriter, and producer of film and television. He is best known as the author of The New York Times best-selling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, both of which are being adapted as feature films... |
|
| Fade | Based on the novel by Robert Cormier Robert Cormier Robert Edmund Cormier was an American author, columnist and reporter, known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular works include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War, all of which have won awards. The Chocolate War was challenged... |
||
Won
- 2001 - Sweden Fantastic Film Festival, Best Feature (Donnie Darko)
- 2001 - Catalonian International Film Festival, Best Screenplay (Donnie Darko)
- 2001 - San Diego Film Critics Society Award, Best Screenplay (Donnie Darko)
- 2002 - Gérardmer Film Festival, Premiere Award (Donnie Darko)
- 2002 - Cinénygma Film Festival, Audience Award (Donnie Darko)
- 2002 - Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, Silver Scream Award (Donnie Darko)
- 2002 - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, Special Award (Donnie Darko)
- 2003 - Chlotrudis Awards, Best Screenplay (Donnie Darko)
Nominated
- 2001 - Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, Grand Jury Prize (Donnie Darko) - 2001 - Catalonian International Film Festival, Best Film (Donnie Darko)
- 2002 - Online Film Critics Society Awards, OFCS Award (Donnie Darko)
- 2002 - Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit AwardsThe Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
, Best First Feature (Donnie Darko) - 2002 - Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit AwardsThe Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
, Best First Screenplay (Donnie Darko) - 2002 - Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Most Promising Director
- 2003 - Chlotrudis Awards, Best Director (Donnie Darko)
- 2006 - Cannes Film Festival2006 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
, Golden Palm (Southland Tales)