Donnie Darko
<div class="IPBDescription">*drool* *SPOILERS*</div> Wow. I just saw Donnie Darko for the first time and hooollyyy hell! What a great movie, I can totally see why this is such a "cult classic". Although it was very entertaining, I'm still kind of confused.
This is how I perceived the movie...(in the shortest way to put it)
<span style='color:red'>----------SPOILERS-----------------</span>
Basically Donnie should have died when the jet engine fell into his room. But he didn't. Because of this, his life and many others life's start to change. He then starts taking orders from Frank the bunny. Is Frank the Bunny some sort of messenger from god or something? I know he is Donnie's sisters boyfriend, but I don't really get the point of him other than he orders Donnie around.
If it wasn't for Frank telling Donnie to flood the school, then he wouldn't have met Gretchen. If he hadn't burned Patrick Swayzes house down, then his child pornography ring would never have been found.
Also, did anyone else notice Frank honking the horn as Donnie's sister closes the door? It was like 6-7 honks....is that him saying a friendly goodbye to the sister, or is he trying to warn Donnie? Another thing, what was the significance of the Chinese girl (i forget her name). Did anything have to do with her ear muffs?
What does Grandma death mean when she says every living thing dies alone? Is she saying that believing god is pointless if your going to die alone? I think when Donnie sends her his letter, she opens up the portal for him. He goes into the portal back through time because he knew that if he sacrificed himself, everyones life would be better (his sister getting into Harvard, Frank not being shot, Gretchen not being ran over by Frank.)
Okay thats all....I know it's a lot to read, but this movie confused me a lot and I have TONS of questions. thanks <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
This is how I perceived the movie...(in the shortest way to put it)
<span style='color:red'>----------SPOILERS-----------------</span>
Basically Donnie should have died when the jet engine fell into his room. But he didn't. Because of this, his life and many others life's start to change. He then starts taking orders from Frank the bunny. Is Frank the Bunny some sort of messenger from god or something? I know he is Donnie's sisters boyfriend, but I don't really get the point of him other than he orders Donnie around.
If it wasn't for Frank telling Donnie to flood the school, then he wouldn't have met Gretchen. If he hadn't burned Patrick Swayzes house down, then his child pornography ring would never have been found.
Also, did anyone else notice Frank honking the horn as Donnie's sister closes the door? It was like 6-7 honks....is that him saying a friendly goodbye to the sister, or is he trying to warn Donnie? Another thing, what was the significance of the Chinese girl (i forget her name). Did anything have to do with her ear muffs?
What does Grandma death mean when she says every living thing dies alone? Is she saying that believing god is pointless if your going to die alone? I think when Donnie sends her his letter, she opens up the portal for him. He goes into the portal back through time because he knew that if he sacrificed himself, everyones life would be better (his sister getting into Harvard, Frank not being shot, Gretchen not being ran over by Frank.)
Okay thats all....I know it's a lot to read, but this movie confused me a lot and I have TONS of questions. thanks <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Comments
Basically Donnie should have died when the jet engine fell into his room. But he didn't.
>> He was out at the time, something pulled him out of bed and he wasnt at the house when the jet [which he transported back in time, to finally kill himself like he should have been].
Because of this, his life and many others life's start to change. He then starts taking orders from Frank the bunny. Is Frank the Bunny some sort of messenger from god or something? I know he is Donnie's sisters boyfriend, but I don't really get the point of him other than he orders Donnie around.
>> Yes, his and many other people's lives start to change.. change in ways that wouldnt have happened if the jet had just killed him. Who's to say its better, worse, or more real? just that its different.
>> And i dont know anything about Frank <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> i assume he saw the costume and his mind generated it..?
If it wasn't for Frank telling Donnie to flood the school, then he wouldn't have met Gretchen. If he hadn't burned Patrick Swayzes house down, then his child pornography ring would never have been found.
>> Yes. Frank is teaching Donnie about many things, and shows him how to eventually come to accept his death... ? It's also a lesson to the audience.
Also, did anyone else notice Frank honking the horn as Donnie's sister closes the door? It was like 6-7 honks....is that him saying a friendly goodbye to the sister, or is he trying to warn Donnie? Another thing, what was the significance of the Chinese girl (i forget her name). Did anything have to do with her ear muffs?
>> As far as im aware, no these arent significant things, from a philosophical/etc point of view. Its sort of like Boogie Nights... some things happen, that have significance to a certain extent, but its not like they tie in with the major themes.
What does Grandma death mean when she says every living thing dies alone? Is she saying that believing god is pointless if your going to die alone?
>> When you die.. you die alone. Have you ever seen war movies? Specifically, Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers.. war movies portray it better and more often.. a major theme is death [duh] and you have to understand it by yourself.. when you die, all that matters is that you are dying. all that you have done in your life.. is essentially null and void, due to your death. I especially appreciate the "The world is going to end in 28 days".. because as soon as i saw that, without seeing the movie, i thought to myself "if i was making this.. i would have the end of the world be the person's death.. because that is what it would mean" etc.. well you know.
I think when Donnie sends her his letter, she opens up the portal for him. He goes into the portal back through time because he knew that if he sacrificed himself, everyones life would be better (his sister getting into Harvard, Frank not being shot, Gretchen not being ran over by Frank.)
>> I dont know about Grandma Death controlling everything for him, but yes, he understands that if he dies, it will be better for everyone else.. the experiences he has had, have taught him about death, life, etc.. it is not a sacrifice as such for him.. he is almost entirely selfless.
>> I really really loved this movie. It was amazing. I am going to buy the DVD soon..
Yes, they originally beat you over the head with it (watch the deleted scenes) but later changed their mind.
Unfortunately, I don't have the actual DVD ....
I think this was one of the <i>deepest</i> movies I've ever seen...it really confused me, although I think I get the basic picture of it.
When Gretchen is waving to the mother at the end, does that have anything to do with the whole pre-life coincidence philosophy? Like as if they knew each other from another life?
(btw: i have to mention that the music in this movie was perfect.)