Donnie Darko...a very strange movie - Page 3

Great insights, everyone!

I think the biggest clue that they drop us in the movie is the movie marquis that reads "Last Temptation of Christ".

Anyone who has seen that movie knows that Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) Donnie Darko is perhaps faced with a similar decision, and the bulk of the movie explores this alternate path. Donnie gets the opportunity to see how his decision to save himself plays out, and then he uses this information to make a more informed decsion at the end of the movie.

At least, that's my interpretation, and another layer of confusion to add on top of everything else!

The film is open ended enough to even analyze that, although my impression is, the film opens a day prior to the jet engine incident (October 1st I believe). Donnie is already in the habit of going out at night prior to the accident. His grin as he turns to face the camera in the first moments of the film is either establishing the character's irreverence, or could be seen as a prophetic acknowledgment of the events to transpire in the next 28 days.


Donnie is not dying alone and he knows this, and he is laughing because he has found proof and several lives have been saved in his sacrifice. I am the last person to actively seek quasi-Christian ethos running through the film, but it's made pretty clear through the various conversations with his therapist that Donnie has stopped debating the search for God for most of the film.

It bums me out, too. It's really hard for me to feel an uplifting message at the end of the film, especially after (Malone's character) Gretchen and Donnie find this connection. But the theme runs way deeper than the simple melodramatic trappings of a 'love gone awry' scenario. This film is about a boy's search for meaning and the rite of passage that leads him to it.

I have not listened to either commentary yet, and I'm sure the director has a much more literal deconstruction of the plot elements (significance of the spiral in the jet engine, the symbolism of the mailbox, et cetera). But this is my take on the film so far, albeit somewhat esoteric.

Cheers,

Joseph

Seems like a pretty accurate observation, Bob. This even fits in with the double feature of The Last Temptation of Christ and Evil Dead.

No kidding Todd. I quite literally related to this. I'm so glad you used the word "cult."

I agree. I think it sells the film short to get too wrapped up in the search of "what happened."


I also wonder if it shows that he thinks he tricked fate. That he somehow knows he was supposed to die, but avoided it. Through the course of the film, he starts seeing the predestination the film presents (the worms coming out of people's chests) and reads Roberta Sparrow's book. By the end, he has accepted the "need" for him to die. Could the bottom line here be the lesson that many things are not how we would like them to be? It is necessary for bad things to happen. The LOVE - FEAR polarization is just too simple. That real answers are difficult and painful to understand and accept.


**********SPOILER**********

After reading some of the text of the A Philosophy of Time Travel book, I have tended to find a not too symbolic answer for this. The book tells about basically what is happening in the film, which includes an individual who, essentially, is on a journey back to the correct time line. I think Roberta Sparrow somehow knows Donnie (or someone) will be writing to her about her book, which Donnie does at the end of the film, and she is impatiently waiting for the letter. She may be impatient because she knows she is supposed to be dead (Grandma Death) but will live until she has fulfilled her destiny of guiding Donnie back. This also might be why she is unconcerned with being run over, since she knows she can't die until she has guided Donnie back. There may also be some Biblical significance to this that I don't know about.

I had asked earlier about the scene with Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore, when she said "Donnie Darko" and they both kind of chuckled. The book told about a possibly fictional incidence of what was essentially happening in the film. Since Noah Wyle had read the book and I am assuming Drew Barrymore had also, they were marveling that it was Donnie Darko who was the person in the book.

No surprise then; I have also had very direct and personal experience with this subject. I am currently writing a book about the phenomenon of the modern-day 'cult.' But obviously, the religous and political implications of discussing this further would not be wise at the Forum.

To quote Noah Wyle's character...
"I am not going to be able to continue this conversation... I could lose my [HTF Privileges].."



Joseph

Joseph,

That is a topic of great interest to me.

good points. so, maybe it was more of "good thing"...at least for donnie.

it's pretty clear that he is aware of the whole time-travel thing...it also seemed hat he knew "something" was going to happen on the 31st and all his actions leading up to that point would somehow come "full circle" for him.

hmm...guess i'll have to watch it again. i'm sure i'm going to have more questions!

Good point. This is also where we start going around in circles if we try to make "conventional" sense of it. The only reason Frank (Dead Frank) exists at all is because Donnie met Gretchen, who was killed by Frank, who was then killed by Donnie. Donnie was also "directed" to the gun in the first place, and not by Frank.


BTW, discussion of religion actually is permitted here when in the context of a film, but I agree it is best to stay away from it since it will most likely get out of hand.

Here's another line that took on additional meaning upon a second viewing (forgive me if I paraphrase or otherwise botch the script):

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

This was a big hint of things to come, wouldn't you agree?

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

This movie just has so much going on in it, so many layers, no wonder it's so misunderstood.

that's another good point bob.

so, Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

(edited to remove specific spoilers)

Great, great observation. I didn't even realize the significance of that comment.

The use of "Last Temptation of Christ" on the marquee was most definitely deliberate and speaks volumes about Donnie's experiences through a kind of Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) . It becomes clear, however, especially during the foreboding and jarring events during the party, that things are not as they should be. Time is out of whack. Donnie ultimately understands this.

So is Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) I realize this is stretching it very, very thin. I am fascinated with Frank's dilemma and with the forces that compel him to instruct Donnie. And his girlfriend 'mystery woman' is totally stunning; I wanted to see more of her.

The montage near the end showing the collective disturbance of the Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) is so necessary. It gives Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

All of these observations are kind of mutually exclusive, and some perhaps outright false. But it's all food for thought.

Joseph

Good points from all. As far as Jim Cunningham,

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)



Joseph,
I'm very interested in hearing about your book. I may even have something to contribute.

I kind of just tossed that out, didn't I Todd.

I admit, this is where working out some of the intricacies in the story gets a little absurd. I got it from the web site, as well as this,

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Dwayne,

I am taking a short break from watching this film and just thought I'd give a little info on your music question. I haven't gotten to the theater scene yet, but I do know that Ave Maria was actually playing, not surprisingly, during the scene where Donnie first sees the "destiny worms." I doubt it is also playing during the theater scene. Even though I was born in the '60s, I'm not too up on the popular music of the '80s in this film, so I can't assure you I will know the song you are looking for.

Dwayne,
I just got to the scene you were asking about. I'm pretty sure that music was something written specifically for the film. That is some haunting stuff. Notice that it is actually a dark variation of the music that Cherita (the chubby Asian girl) is dancing to in her angel costume later in the same scene. This brings up something. Cherita hasn't been mentioned yet, but I'm sure she has great significance.

I'd also like to mention something I keep forgetting. In this same scene in the theater there are a couple exchanges I have always found very interesting in the conversation between Donnie and Frank. "Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit." "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" and "Why are you called Frank?" "It was the name of my father, and his father before me."

Hey guys,

I'm just being lazy here, but does anyone have the passwords for the donniedarko.com website? It asks for clues from the movie and such, and I'm just too lazy to look them up at this point!

Thanks!

In fact, the chapter on the DVD where Gretchen is killed is called "Ensurance Trap."

Rather than trying to wade through the web site, you can also go through the web site section of the DVD.


Something occurred to me, which was confirmed by one of the deleted scenes. Donnie's sister is dating Frank.

[font=]I think its odd that Donnie Darko and Happy Accidents, which both have to do with time travel, had a hard time generating business.

Both these movies should have done better at the box office.
They were better than half the movies that came out about the same time last year.[/font]

I guess the Temporal Police are watching.


As far as how poorly this film did at the box office, it really isn't a surprise to me, particularly considering how it has been marketed. This is the type of film that downright irritates a lot of poeple. Look at the comment early in this thread about how people at an early screening were walking out in the middle of it. Look at how Fox is promoting it. "Dark, Darkest, Darko." what the hell is that? The back of the DVD case says, "In the tradition of STIR OF ECHOES and FINAL DESTINATION..." They obviously don't know what to do with it and seem to be trying to fit it into some "marketing" niche.

It all comes down to the distributor basically. Neither film had a lot of muscle behind them (Newmarket for Donnie Darko and IFC Films for Happy Accidents). IFC releases tend to dribble out across the country at a very slow pace. Newmarket had been formed to release Memento but didn't have much early success with Donnie Darko, which is the kiss of death for small releases.

From what I've read, the reason Donnie Darko had trouble is because it was viewed as being too weird for mainstream theaters and too commercial for arthouse theaters.

I still haven't heard the commentaries or perused the web site.

It sounds like R.Kelly has the whole mythology mapped out. If Donnie's sister is dating Frank, then who is the 'mystery woman?' Frank's sister? Seems to me like the two-eyed Frank was not in any position to manipulate the timeline, and it's actually the one-eyed Frank who has effectively orchestrated the whole scenario. Two-eyed Frank did not appear to have any foreknowledge of events, as demonstrated by his reaction to Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Maybe I'm wrong. It just strikes me as a more captivating story if Frank was once just a 'normal guy.' If he's always been some omnipotent God figure pulling marionette strings and his Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) , I don't know, it just seems contrived to me.

Joseph