Donnie Darko...a very strange movie

I just watched this movie yesterday. I'm not going to say it was good and I'm not going to say it was bad because, frankly, I'm still processing it. But it is very interesting to watch. I think it was one of those neat little movies that has almost too many ideas all competing for screen time. I guess it's flawed but at the same time you can't really blame a young director for diving in headfirst with all this stuff

I am very interested in seeing this film, but unfortunately it isn't playing anywhere around here. I went to IMDB to check out the release dates and although is says the 26th, LA was in parentheses next to the date. So I have no idea when or if this movie will ever get a wide release. It's a shame the film is getting no press since I think alot of people would be interested by the trailer alone.

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-Dwayne

I went to see it last night here in Dallas. Very interesting film - had very little info on it, just a couple of good reviews online & in the local newspaper. Very very good. I'll agree with the comments above, there are maybe too many ideas explored in the film, but it was definitely interesting to watch & I'm confident that the creative team behind it will go on to bigger & brighter things.

Well worth checking out. Funny, intelligent & thought provoking.

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Nothing In Particular

I am also patiently waiting for this film to open in my area. I have no idea if or when it will play here. I've been interested in Donnie Darko ever since I saw that killer trailer, and read up a bit about the premise. What really sold me was the clip of the first 8 minutes that I-Film.com had up. Just that whole sequence of Donnie riding his bike around a late 80's suburban neighborhood while Echo and the Bunnymen's " The Killing Moon" plays on the soundtrack seemed to set the tone for a creepy and cool movie.

Interesting sequences and performances, but the director hasn't learned how to construct a narrative that pulls an audience along and holds their attention (a number of people left the screening I attended). The film eventually comes around to making a kind of sense, but for long stretches you're sitting there wondering where the hell you're going. If you liked it enough to see it again, I suspect it will hold together much better the second time around.

David Lynch has explored some of the same territory (the creepy things that lie just below suburban "normalcy"), but Lynch has the gift of grabbing an audience's attention and holding it, even when they're not sure exactly what's holding them. Donnie Darko is an interesting effort in a similar vein, but it shows you just how difficult it really is to do what Lynch does.

M.

[Edited last by Michael Reuben on November 06, 2001 at 08:40 AM]

Saw it today and glad I did as I don't think it will be around next week in the LA area. I agree there are too many ideas floating around here, but I also believe that this is one of the best and most unsettling films I've seen all year. Really worth checking out.

Kind of a cool movie. This one got revived at our local art-house theater so I had a second chance to catch it.

I am really biased, however, because the music throughout the picture was some of my favorite. Joy Division, Echo, Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, etc... it all fits together well and sets a mood.

I absolutely agree with BrianB's statement about 'too many ideas competing for screen time.' As the mystery winds tighter and tighter, you expect some kind of revelational answer to the whole thing. But aside from a pretty nifty explanation of Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) the fascinating concepts are left hanging, unresolved as the credits roll.

I would describe the film, to those who haven't seen it, as Harvey meets David Lynch meets Heathers. Aside from the fact that Donnie Darko is kind of a messy and clunky film, it's got some real originality, subtlety, depth and beauty under its surface.

Patrick Swayze (sp?) is great as the cult leader/self-help guru... casting him was a stroke of pure brilliance.

"I think you're the antichrist."

Does anyone know who has the rights to this DVD? I would recommend a rental when it is released.

Joseph

There is a moderate-to-small amount of gore and some violence and cursing. Nothing over-the-top, but this is definitely a "dark" movie...

The film wreaks a kind of twisted, convoluted logic, much as 'Mulholland Drive' did, but that's a good thing. Then again, my cognative skills are sometimes equivalent to a 3 year old's (just ask my boss).

This is just a guess, but I don't forsee the DVD until at least March or April of next year unfortunately. If it's sooner, I'll be happy!

Cheers,

Joseph

this movie is weird but EXCELLENT. Rent this one at least, but I will be buying it.

Jason,

I totally agree. Despite the flaws, Donnie Darko totally captivated me with its originality and overall mood/style. I was under the impression this had been released last week, but apparently 3/19 is the official release date.

Too bad the cover art is reprehensible.. (ie. "It will knock your socks off!") Don't let the cover fool you, this movie is not 'final destination' or 'scream' or 'i know what you did last summer.' It played at our local art house for a week and a half and got virtually no press.

Joseph

i agree the box looks crap. and what about the tagline?
"dark, darker, darko" isn't good at all, and "be afraid of the dark" is totally bad.

anyways, it's all a shame since the movie is very good. i only saw it once, and i'll have to see it a few more times til i "get" the point of the story (if there is one in the conventional sense).

I just saw this movie as well. I'm still trying to figure it out. I listened to the commentary by Kelly and Jake (I'm not going to bother to try to spell his last name) and while it showed a little more light, I still am a bit lost.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Can we make this thread spoiler free? I'd like to hear some more discussion without highlighting stuff. I'm too lazy.



If there already is a discussion thread for those that saw the film, please link it. I haven't seen one.

I found it to be a little disappointing,probally becuase Ive been looking foward to it so much.

But at least its creative.

BTW,The DVD transfer is just terribly bright. I had to turn my brightness WAY down.

Why did this movie take place in the 80's? As I mentioned in the DVD thread, the young director (26 I think he is) has no eye for the 80's at all and the lack of detail made it distracting for me. A friend of mine who saw it with me had no idea the movie took place in the 80's till near the end. He finally just wondered why all the 80's music was in it. He somehow missed the 1988 as part of the date and didn't take note of the old US election going on.

It should have been done in present day.



Jeff

this whole message is one big spoiler!
this whole message is one big spoiler!
this whole message is one big spoiler!


warning: explaining the movie to myself (if i'm right) hasn't made me appreciate it anymore - in a small way it's a disapointment to have everything written out, so read at your own risk...

i've watched the movie again on DVD and listened to the first commentary, and also looked at the supplemental book on the DVD. here's what i propose: the tangent universe is created as soon as the portal is opened (at midnight). Donnie is whisked to this universe by God (or a higher being, whataver). the movie is taking place in this tangential universe. as the director comments, Donnie has been placed in this universe to set things right, and all the people around him are there to guide him, either directly or indirectly, just as the book says. the jet engine as the Artifact, made of metal and travelling through the portal as the Noah Wyle character suggests. anyways, Darko is the Christ-like figure who's sent to this world to sacrifice his life to save the universe (this would also explain the use of "the Last Temptaion of Christ" in the movie theater). in the 28 days he's told the universe will end, he gradually learns his role and knows what he has to do to stop the end of the universe, as well as his suffering, which is why he is smiling at the end, in his bed just as the engine hits his bedroom the second time.

before hearing the commentary and reading the book, i thought the point of the story was that the portal had created a loop in time and it was up to Donnie to let himself get killed to end the loop, thus saving the universe. similar but different.

Frank: not 100% on what this guy is - the book says (as i recall from last night) anyone killed in the tangent universe has added powers. so Frank is killed in the end, inside the tangent universe and thus has the power to travel in time within that universe to help the 'visitor' Donnie (now Jena Malone also was killed in the universe, but she doesn't do any time travelling). the question is, is Frank just a puppet? perhaps he's an angel. he's killed, he's exposed to the higher powers/heavens/etc; he knows the rules.

questions:

-what happened to Donnie before he got whisked to the tangent universe? was it just a real-time branch off, or did similar events happen to him like in this movie (the portal opens up at October 30th in the Original Universe and Donnie is whisked to October 2nd of the Tangent Universe)? i suppose if there was a time jump it wouldn't be a true "tangent" universe...

-what was Grandma Death waiting for all these years? a sign of a portal opening?

-was it simply Donnie giving his life that would guide the Artifact back to it's right place? that's what i gather form the director's comments. that still doesn't make things "neat and tidy"... (wait i just realized i fell asleep last night and didn't hear the last 15 minutes of the 1st commentary, it was 3am 8) ANYWAYS, the universe we see at the end of the movie, is it Donnie's original universe or the tangent universe? either way, the jet engine crash heappened because of a ripple in time... Donnie may have guided it back to the right universe, but not the right time...

I saw the trailer for this on a screener for Sexy Beast and while watching SB, it seemed that the psycho bunny had escaped from the trailer and into the feature! Weird coincindence.

I just watched it and I am absolutely stunned. I couldn't care less that the '80s setting is faulty. I also couldn't care less about the other shortcomings people have mentioned. If you try to make too much sense of this film, you are missing the point and will just ruin it. Let yourself go a little.

I'm going to watch it again tomorrow before it has to go back. Honestly, I think I might be buying this one. I haven't been floored this much by a new film since Magnolia. It isn't surprising some folks can't stand that one either.

The main actor was amazing.

This was the most riveting and captivating movie that made no dang sense at all. I replayed some of the movie with the commentary, and the director was explaining things to my response, "how they hell was I supposed to get that?"

Great direction, as far as drawing you in and increasing desire to know what's going on... but absolute rubbish story telling.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

This film simply rocks.

Richard Kelly is a force to be watched. I eagerly await his next project. It's still tragic that this film did not get enough press during it's release.

As far as explaining the story, I just don't know yet. I watched the film twice today, both times without any commentary. For me, part of the enjoyment of watching a film like this is coming up with your own rational for what happened on screen. My girlfriend, on the other hand, likes film plots to be wrapped up and fully comprehensible. Case in point, she hated Muholland Drive. Although, I think I'm ready to hear Kelly's commentary.

The songs in the film are great, but the score by Michael Andrews complements the film so well. And just the sheer intensity and power of the image of "Frank". It's just an incredible visual. And there are alot of scenes that are just brutally honest, as with the girl who gets tormented on a daily basis. Also, the portrayal of the Darkos gives a vivid and very believable portrait of an upper-middle class family that has it's own internal problems yet despite all that, you still sense the caring they have for one another. What truly wonderful performances. The whole f***ing cast did exceptionally well. What a hauntingly beautiful film.

I have no doubt that this film will develop a cult following amongst film lovers all over.

I do have a question about the soundtrack:

What song is playing while Donnie and Frank are speaking in the movie theater? It sounds like it's part of an opera. Is it a different version of Ave Maria? It also plays during the first half of the end credits. Whatever it is, it appeals to me very much.

I made a post in the HTF software forum but I guess it didn't go over too well considering there is already a discussion on Donnie Darko going here.

Well here is my thoughts on the film (Mucho spoilers of course)...

Ok so I sat and watched Donnie Darko on DVD then I sat and watched it again with the Directors commentary and then I sat and watch all the supplemental material with an especial interest in the deleted scenes.

Then I spent the remainder of the day sorting out my thoughts on this movie to figure out what I had just seen. So here goes...


Observation #1
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Ok when Donnie and the Science teacher are discussing time travel Donnie tries to explain to the teacher that if we travelled into the future we would see that we all follow a set time line because we have these beings (Those Abyss like creatures flowing from their chests) unknown to us manipulating our actions to follow this set time line.

The teacher explains to Donnie that he is contradicting himself because if we could travel forward in time and see our future laid out before us we could then travel back and purposely not follow what we had seen. That is create our own path. Freewill.

Donnie then tries to explain that it would not matter because these beings would still manipulate us to eventually get us back on track. That there is a higher being/entity that would not allow it no matter what.

The Science Teacher then ends the conversation from fear that he is crossing into dangerous ground (ie; Religion) and would lose his job.


Observation #2
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When Donnie sleepwalks out of his bedroom prior to the Jet Engine crashing into his room an alternate path/reality is created that was not meant to be. That is Donnie was supposed to have died but he didn't. (Maybe his guide fell asleep on the job? Or as the saying goes "Shit Happens?)

Dead Frank then shows up to set things back on track. (Here I am guessing Dead Frank is one of the higher being's right hand men in making sure that this kind of thing is fixed).

So Dead Frank then sets out on manipulating Donnie into setting up the chain of events that lead to the Jet Engine crashing into his bedroom and at the same time showing Donnie the terrible events that will take place if he does not die. Namely Gretchen getting run over which leads Donnie to shooting Frank in the eye.

So when Donnie is laying in his bed the second time and awakens from the his dream/alternate reality he just lays in bed smiling because he is content in knowing that his death is required to set things right. Which explains why Dead Frank tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 or so days. That is the world that Donnie created when he slept walked out of his room and didn't die. That alternate world/reality that was not meant to be will cease to exist with his death.

I attempted to sort this part out by thinking of a scenario similiar to this idea presented in Donnie Darko. Let us say that someone was given a time machine to travel back in time. Now let's say that this person chose to use this time machine to go back in time and assassinate Adolf Hitler as a youth. Now if the Time Traveler suceeds then our world would cease to exist. That is if Adolf Hitler was killed and had not been able to do his thing then an entirely new timeline would begin at that moment due to his death.


Observation #3
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As far as the rest of the cast of characters in the story they seem to just be pawns that are manipulated by Donnie into setting off the chain of events for the Jet Engine crash.

Yet they are all affected by Donnies death at the end. They all awaken from the reality that has been destroyed by Donnies death as if it were some really bad dream. Perhaps it all seemed so real to them because the moment they all awakened, that was the intersecting point where they were veered back onto their destined path.

Such as Patrick Swayzes character crying because from his perspective all he saw was that in his nightmare/alternate reality his house burned down and he was found to be involved in child pornography. Or Donnies therapist waking up from her nightmare highly disturbed that she would have such a horrible and highly detailed dream about one of her patients.

The DVD futher explores this point when in one of the deleted scenes Donnie and Gretchen are in an Arcade playing video games and Donnie explains to her that his dreams are like having an extremely vivid dream, then waking up and remembering everything about that dream but the moment after awakening the dream immediately begins to fade so that the next day or even moments later you may remember bits and pieces of the dream but about what you are never quite sure.

That is why the next day when Gretchen rides by the Darko house and sees the accident she somehow feels something when she akwardly waves to Donnies mother. Something was there but it's all begun to fade away like a dream.


Last few Observations
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When Donnie sleepwalks out of his bedroom and does not die is it not because Dead Frank was calling him? I've read opinions that if Dead Frank would not have called him the Jet Engine would have killed him.

But it was because Dead Frank called him and then manipulated him that Donnie set all the events off so that the Jet Engine crashed into his bedroom.

Perhaps Donnie was supposed to die another way in his sleep but didn't so one of the higher beings right hand men had to go back in time and setup up this whole Dead Frank/Jet Engine scenario to set things back on course.

It all seems quite Rube Goldberg-ian for sure. I am still not quite sure how to figure this one out for myself. It certainly is confusing when dealing with stories on time travel.

One deleted sequence I wish they would have left into the film was the watership down scene. It certainly sheds a bit of light on the whole Dues Ex Machina idea and in another deleted sequence at the end there is a small clip where Donnie walks into his kitchen and and sees how happy his family is when he is not around.

I hear alot of people complaining about the cover art for the DVD and I agree it sucks. But the insert provided is the original poster art and slides nicely into the front of the DVD making for a very nice front cover.

Well these are my thoughts on the film. Maybe I am way off and someone can help fill in the blanks. Donnie Darko though is a great film and it's pretty rare when a film possesses me so.

Raul,

That pretty much sums up where my thought processes were heading with this film. Like you, I'm stuck on why dead Frank would call Donnie out of his sleep to begin with. Another small observation is that how often does Donnie sleep in his bed, if he does so at all? What I mean is that would Donnie have gotten out of bed without dead Frank calling him? It seems that his sleep walking has been a problem for quite some time. Another thing I noticed is that dead Frank seems to apologize to Donnie for a brief second when they are in the movie theater (He whispers, "I'm sorry."). I guess for accidentally running over Gretchen?

After viewing the deleted scenes, I appreciate how Kelly decided not to beat the audience over the head with the plot's religious implications, although they are of significant importantance to the overall plot.

I won't add anything to the plot discussion, as I think it's been covered quite well already, but I just wanted to say that I thought this was one of the better films from last year. It's a shame more people didn't get to see it when it was in theaters.

I look forward to more from Richard Kelly.

And who knew that Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze could be good in understated roles?

Also, anyone know why the IFC Anatomy of a Scene special isn't on the DVD? I thought it was supposed to be.

i think the commentaries state that Frank did not lure Donnie out of bed to create the tangent universe; the universe was created at the stroke of midnight (when the portal first opens). The engine is destined to land in the tangent universe. Donnie is 'chosen' and sent by God (or a higher power) to bring the artifact (jet engine) back to the right universe. Frank was only there to help. perhaps if he had not 'lured' Donnie out of bed, Donnie might have been killed and the universe would have ended in 28 days for sure. everybody else in that new tangent universe is also being guided to help Donnie complete his task. also, i'm not even sure Donnie had to die atr the end... i mean by the rules. didn't the director say that at the end of the movie, Donnie had done his job by creating the portal and redirecting the artifact? at that point, his job was done... i think him lying in bed, waiting for the engine to hit him, was his choice.

I thought I was the only one who did that

I watched this film three times in just over 24 hours. I was floored. I haven't listened to the commentary, so if anything I say is contradicted there, please let me know.

Raul,
your analysis sounds perfectly valid. I just have a couple things to add. Do we actually know that Frank lured Donnie out of his bad at the beginning of the film? I tend to think we are misled to assume he did, but there is actually nothing to support that. A nice trick to mislead the audience. It also makes sense that Frank would "materialize" to lead Donnie back to the correct time line. He died in the alternate one. It seems to me either he or Gretchen would be one to lead him back, and Gratchen wouldn't have been as good a choice, story wise.

I enjoyed the reactions of the characters at the moment of Donnie's death. I had the exact same impression. There was still a shadow of a memory of the anternate time line.

Has anyone gotten any insight into the short shot of Drew Barrymore and Noah Wyle sitting in the teacher's lounge. Drew says "Donnie Darko?" and they both kind of laugh and shake their heads. Maybe he had just told her about the time travel conversation and they were chuckling about it.

I'm still a little unclear about the jet engine. It sure seems it came off the jet Donnie's mother was on 28 days in the future. So do you think that engine will still fall off at that time, or since that time line has been destroyed, that now the engine just materialized in order to correct some previous time line error, like has already been mentioned?

How does everyone feel the LOVE---FEAR theme fits in? I have thought about the whole aspect of "things aren't that simple" like Donnie says. I have to admit, I am a bit blinded by this the whole idea because I have gone through some very painful experiences recently regarding how this very concept can be incredibly destructive if taken out of proportion. I was floored when I saw this topic being approached. The scene with Kitty and Donnie's mom after the meeting with the Principal both made me laugh and gave me chills. I'm just interested in how others interpret this theme.

Finally, I think getting too wrapped up in the logistics of the film with all the time line stuff tends to miss the core point. Deciding what that means to each of us is the difficult part.

Some very interesting comments, John.


Well Donnie believes that Frank lured him out of bed since he gives credit to Frank for saving his life and feels that he must obey him in return.


Not sure what they are reading, possibly the list of suspects for the flooding? When they see Donnie listed, I think their laughing was just an acknowledgement to one another that Donnie is rather quirky and they can't believe that he is a suspect.


Not sure. I think the plane in the other world caused the portal to appear. If that's the case, then the timeline may have been destroyed in the other world thus preventing the plane from causing the portal to begin with. The portal not only bridges two times, but two worlds at different times. OK, I'm now convinced that I smoke crack.

Nobody has brought up the similarities between the story, The Destructors, and some of the things Donnie does. Though, actually, that could fit into the observation that the other characters are just pawns to get the time line back.

I need to see if I have that story somewhere.