Ok, just saw ‘Donnie Darko’ and whoa…I still dont know whether it was outragesouly brilliant or utter shit. I usually pride myself on getting twisted movies, but this time i just didnt get the movie. Can someone break it down for me?
A few observations though.
The song at the end ‘Mad world’ is one of the mos tbeautiful songs ive ever heard in my life and it fit that scene so perfectly it was amazing.
Jake Gylenhaal (sp?) was beyond amazing. Should have got an Oscar nomination
Richard Kelly had some truly gorgeous shots and sequences in there. Im going to keep an eye on this guy.
Otherwise can someone explin the movie? First of all, how did he manage to go back in time at the end? Who was Frank and what did he want? Why did he have him commit all those acts of violence?Where did the engine come from?What was the ‘end of the world’ the rabbit was predicting?What was the significance of Patrick Swayze’s character?
In general, break the whole thing down for me although those are the main things bugging me.
So many typos ( hangs head in shame)
Watch it again, especially the ending, and listen to the commentary with the director and lead actor. All (well, most) will be revealed.
I thought it was a great movie, BTW.
Barry
Number Six gave a fabulous explanation in this thread. IMO, Number Six’s explanation makes more sense than the director’s.
Having said that, let me just say this….
There are, as far as I’m concerned, two different interpretations of this movie. The first is what I thought upon watching it for the first time, and the second is what I thought after listening to the aforementioned commentary. Personally, I think either interpretation is equally valid.
First interpretation:
The whole movie is a dream that Donnie has in the moments before dying, a la films such as Jacob’s Ladder. He wakes up laughing because he realizes it is all a dream, and then the airplane engine lands on top of him in an ironic twist ending.
Second interpretation:
Time travel is possible, according to the principles laid out in the film. You need a wormhole of some sort (the tornado), a metal vessel (the airplane), and mental effort. The airplane engine traveled back in time and created a paradox by killing Donnie Darko (since, presumably, the events that led to the plane being in the right place and the right time wouldn’t have occurred if Donnie had died). Therefore, a “parallel universe” had to be created wherein Donnie didn’t die, and this universe contains the events depicted in the film. This parallel universe is unstable, however, and eventually unravels. All that is left of the parallel universe are the memories that the affected people (i.e., those whose lives were different in the parallel universe) retain at the end of the film.
“Frank” was basically a projection of Donnie’s subconscious and was used as a messenger to the Donnie in the parallel universe. The purpose of this messenger was to cause certain events to happen in such a way as to close the loop of the parallel universe. The flooded school basement and the burning of the pervert’s house led Donnie’s mother and sister to go to L.A. for the talent competition, thereby causing the airplane to be at the right time and place.
The “end of the world” literally referred to the end of the parallel universe.
Under this interpretation, Donnie wakes up laughing because he realizes that he has successfully closed the loop and caused the parallel universe to cease to exist – meaning that his girlfriend won’t have been killed after all.
No, this doesn’t really tie up all the loose ends, and I’m not sure even the director knew what was “really” going on, but it was a heck of a movie anyway.
Barry
My exact reaction after seeing the film for the first time (and then the second, about an hour later). It’s so interesting and sad and beautiful, especially the closing song, that I desperately wanted it to mean something. In the end, I realized that I didn’t really know or care about most of the characters. As for depth, I really recommend the other Donnie Darko threads, though I may not fully agree with the most popular theories, or even the writer/director’s own explanation. I can appreciate some good Christ imagery as much as the next non-theist film buff, but come on. Also, check out the DVD, which contains a number of deleted scenes (and explanations) that flesh the film out a little more.
Still, the fact that I (and you) spent so long thinking the movie over is more than I can say for most. I doubt I could recall the plots or character names from the last dozen-or-so movies I’ve seen.