Mad World

One of the best moments in Donnie Darko takes place towards the movie’s end, with the camera panning across the faces of the movie’s characters as they lay in bed and come to terms with Donnie’s life and the changes it’s wrought in theirs. At least, that’s my interpretation (and I’m sticking with it). One of the reasons the scene works so well is because of the background music, a haunting rendition of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World” sung by Gary Jules.

The Donnie Darko DVD contained a music video of sorts for the song. However, Michel Gondry recently directed a new (and much more intriguing) video for the song (which you can watch at Jules’ website, or by clicking here). As with all of Gondry’s stuff, it’s incredibly simply and flies in the face of the glitz, glam, and CGI that dominates music videos today.

The New York Times recently posted an excellent article on the video, which might shed some new light on it in case you found it boring or in need of a P. Diddy or J. Lo cameo.