Donnie Darko - Warning: SPOILERS

[Crystal]

Just watched this. Liked the final part, the music (or you call that soundtrack?)---The Mad World,and people that were involved waked up in scary almost simultaneously.

*The director did a great job in controlling the pace/tempo of the moive. Sometimes, the pictures went fast, sometimes, they went slower, or extremely slow. Most pictures were neat, and clean.

*Seemed to me that Donnie Darko had a bit similarity with another moive, Final Destiny--was this the right name? also, a bit like that Run Lora Run.

* Did he die from being fear of being alone??


The Mad World by Gary Jules: (last part)

no one knew me
no one new me
hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
look right through me
look right through me
and i find i kind of funny
i find it kind of sad
the dreams in which i'm dying are the best i've ever had
i find it hard to tell you
i find it hard to take
when people run in circles its a very very
mad world
mad world
enlarging your world
mad world

 

[Crystal]

I'll need to watch it again as it can be interpreted on many different levels.
ell

hi, Ell, what was that "on many different levels" supposed to mean? Curious about what you would say about Donnie Darko. (If you like to share, I mean )

 

[Martin]

Searched to find this old thread again - had to find out who recommended Donnie Darko.

A very big thank-you, Martin!

Anytime - glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers

 

[Ell]

hi, Ell, what was that "on many different levels" supposed to mean? Curious about what you would say about Donnie Darko. (If you like to share, I mean )

What I mean is that it's not a straightforward movie with a clear, straightline plot. It can be taken in different ways by different people. After two viewings, I feel there's still more to it.

I think at its simplest: It's a movie about a troubled teen who gets visited from someone in the future (Frank), discovers time travel and decides to fix things by traveling back in time to make a better future. I read an article where it was described as 'Catcher in the Rye' meets Phillip K Dyck.

OR

Spoiler

at the split second of his death (when the jet engine falls on him) his life flashes before him, he sees what could have happened had he survived, and decides it's okay to die.

OR Maybe he really was delusional and psychotic and

Spoiler

all these bad things really did happen to him. He drives his car off the cliff because he believes he can change the past - but in reality, he's just committed suicide.

But, it's also about the alienation of youth, the phoniness of quick fix gurus (Cunningham), the misery that can be highschool life (Serita), religion, conservatism, death and salvation, and so on.

The symbolism and subtext throughout is also fascinating: The allusion to his name sounding like a superhero - then Donnie going out to right the wrongs of his world;

Spoiler

his almost Christ-like sacrifice in the end to save the lives of others

; the constant theme of dark and light (his name, good & evil, life & death); down to the cellar (bad), up to the light (salvation) . . .

I don't for a moment think I've got it totally figured out. But it's good to chew on.

Sorry for the ugly spoilers, but want people who haven't seen it to draw their own conclusions.

 

[hay82]

Spoiler

at the split second of his death (when the jet engine falls on him) his life flashes before him, he sees what could have happened had he survived, and decides it's okay to die.

Thats how I saw it or very close at least. But I was wondering

Spoiler

does it mean anything that his mother and sister are on the plane whose engine hits him? It would fit with the going back in time to rescue Gretchen and by that paying with his life and his mother and sister, sort of saying every action has a consequence..

Does that make sence?

 

[Ell]

Thats how I saw it or very close at least. But I was wondering

Spoiler

does it mean anything that his mother and sister are on the plane whose engine hits him? It would fit with the going back in time to rescue Gretchen and by that paying with his life and his mother and sister, sort of saying every action has a consequence..

Does that make sence?

Except all three of them are alive outside the house at the end. So I think that

Spoiler

it means his mother and sister could have died if he doesn't sacrifice himself. They wouldn't be on the plane at all if Donnie hadn't set fire to Cunningham's house resulting in Kitty Farmer staying behind 'to support' him and neccesitating that his mother go in her place. Although his sister might still have gone.

Messes with my mind the more I think about it. But in a good way.

 

[hay82]

Spoiler

it means his mother and sister could have died if he doesn't sacrifice himself. They wouldn't be on the plane at all if Donnie hadn't set fire to Cunningham's house resulting in Kitty Farmer staying behind 'to support' him and neccesitating that his mother go in her place. Although his sister might still have gone.

Had thought of that but that makes sense

Spoiler

although he can't avoid his sister going there can he and the engine travels back in time probably because of what he does..

... Think I'll have to see it again as see if I can make it all fit.

 

[Crystal]

Hold on, hold on. Let me try to figure this out: IMO, Donnie in reality committed suicide because of being alone or feeling lonely. (Proofs: *He had problem with his mother. ** He had thought he could have a girl friend. *** He was counselled by a psychologist. **** He was rebellious or challenging a hypocrite--the man who had a video programm on Fear and Love...)

His death definitely had some influence on those who were related to him. (Teachers, psychologist, his family, his neighbour, even the girl who did not know about him, whom he wanted to make friend with....)

That was the reality part, I thought. So, there was another thread in the moive that was about his coming back to change his life.

oh, Ell, I honestly did not think Frank was his future part of his dark part. wait, wait. I thought I too need to watch it again.

Goodday.


Edited: Plus, the song in the ending part, which sang "no one knew me,.... I find I kindof funny, I found it kind of sad". Wasn't it sort of ironic or sarcastic?!

 

[hay82]

Gretchen voiceover before Donnie goes back in time "And what if you could go back in time and take all those hours of pain and darkness, and replace them with something better"

 

[Ell]

Hold on, hold on. Let me try to figure this out: IMO, Donnie in reality committed suicide because of being alone or feeling lonely.

But that's the problem. He is afraid of being alone - he cries to his therapist, "I don't want to be alone!" - and he equates being alone with death because of what Roberta Sparrow told him. Therefore, he wouldn't commit suicide because he was lonely; but because he realizes that, either (a) he won't be alone in death, or (b) because he accepts that it's okay to be alone. OR for a totally different reason that transcends his fear of loneliness.

(Proofs: *He had problem with his mother. ** He had thought he could have a girl friend. *** He was counselled by a psychologist. **** He was rebellious or challenging a hypocrite--the man who had a video programm on Fear and Love...)

See, I don't think he had unusual problems for his age and intelligence. All things considered, he came from a pretty normal, reasonably-adjusted family. Yes, he called his mother a bitch, but his immediate reaction was of sadness. How many times has any of us said something hurtful to someone we love and wished we could take it back? He was rebellious and challenged hypocrisy and apathy - not bad things, in my book. He got into trouble because of the extremes he took to get his point across - Was it really Frank telling him to do these things or his subconscious?

His death definitely had some influence on those who were related to him. (Teachers, psychologist, his family, his neighbour, even the girl who did not know about him, whom he wanted to make friend with....)

By this, are you talking about the ending? I loved that part - where it shows each of them suddenly waking up when the jet engine hits.

Plus, the song in the ending part, which sang "no one knew me,.... I find I kindof funny, I found it kind of sad". Wasn't it sort of ironic or sarcastic?!

I'd say ironic.

 

[Love4OneAnother]

Has anyone tried donnydarko.com? The site took me a while to figure out, but worth it in terms of what it cleared up.

 

[beer good]

S. Darko

Screw it. Let's just do it in list form.

10 things to keep in mind when making a sequel
​

1. Don't start it off with a Star Wars-style rolling scroll saying the previous movie – y'know, the one we liked - was "just the beginning." And don't use the cheapest font you can find, either.

2. Don't substitute smart dialogue for stilted and Deeply Symbolic And Thematic Clues. And don't leave your sense of humour at home either. I laughed exactly once in this: when one of the supposedly major "plot" advancements got brushed under the carpet, never to be seen again.

3. Try to figure out what kind of movie you're making. You want to make a psychological drama about Donnie's little sister dealing with his death (a decade later, so she can be hot and in her underwear in every scene)? Great! You want to make a supernatural philosophical thriller about the choices we make? Great! You want to deconstruct the road movie? Great! You want to make a horror movie about two hot girls in a weird redneck town? Great! It's all been done before, but great! Now, make up your mind. Mixing different styles is fine. Shifting from one to another every 20 minutes with no pay-off is... well...

4. Remember how scary the little kid in Ju-On was when he just popped up for a second here or there? Remember how not scary he was when he was practically the main character in Ju-On 2? Yeah. The point is, if you have a great plot device that doesn't necessarily make sense when you think about it, don't overuse it.

5. And connected to that, you're making a sequel to Donnie Darko. Not Groundhog Day. What did that poor rewind button ever do to you?

6. If you're going to claim that the previous movie was "just the beginning", then continue the story. Do a new movie based on the previous one, but do your own movie. Don't just repeat the same basic storyline over again, throwing in a reference to the original every time the audience gets bored, using different characters who are all time travelers. Or something. Donnie was nuts, what's your excuse?

7. You're following up a movie famed for its soundtrack. Great. And you deserve points for including Beth Orton, I guess (and I'll never be able to not love Whale's "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe", as awful as it is). But you really don't need to use them in exactly the same way as the original. That sad piano ballad over a rewind montage worked once, and trust me, you really don't want to invite the audience to too many comparisons; you'll lose out every time.

8. Cast actual actors. Direct them. Point out to them that not everything they say is the most ominous, portentous, crucial line of dialogue of all time. We'll hate their pretentious asses, we won't think of them as anything but automatons who deliver clues, and we won't care what happens to them and what choices they make.

9. Have... y'know, a protagonist. Have what the characters do matter. Have their interactions mean something. Resolve your plot lines. Jesus fucking Christ, this isn't quantum physics. Movies are more than just nice visuals and a decent soundtrack. Donnie Darko may have been messy, but at least it had a narrative, a denoument, catharsis, all that. A lot of stuff happens in S. Darko, but in the end, the director is so in love with the pay-off scene in the original and uses it so many times that the movie essentially ends up not having happened at all. Rarely has the phrase "can I have the last two hours back, please?" sounded so fitting.

10. Try to get this fundamental concept: people didn't like Donnie Darko because it had weird sci-fi trappings and clues that may have required two viewings to get. People wanted to view it twice and figure out the clues because they liked it. Maybe it made sense and maybe it didn't, but it had characters we cared about and emotional logic that made us want to believe in it. Ultimately, Donnie Darko wasn't about time travel and talking rabbits, it was about this kid named Donnie Darko. I don't know what the hell S. Darko is about, and I don't care. I'm pretty sure I know what the S stands for, though. As in "complete and utter."

 

[Fantasy Guy]

that movie messed me up. I spent like 2 hours on the internet after watching it to try to figure out what happened. Basically I believe he died as a sacrifice