Donnie Darko-help me understand

Anyone here want to talk about the movie "Waking Life" while we are at it? PLEASE?

What I thought was really deep from Donnie Darko was the ending. Donnie and the girl (Jena?) are like soul mates; they are meant to be. Then she dies. Donnie loved her so much that he changes the past so he dies and she lives, but the price is that she will never know him. When you think about that one, it is pretty haunting and sad.

I do have some questions about the universe stuff. How does he "close off" the alternate universe? It all looked like tornados and black holes, but what was his role in the closing process? Having two universes gives the impression that they are both running side by side in time, but he goes back in time to fix everything. How is that explained?

i dont think even the director figured all that out. not the pt of the movie

Well for all of you who didnt really like it, but like such deep movies, what movies would you suggest?

Well even though i liked it, i thought it could've been better if it were titled "ferris bueller kicks some alternate universe's ass!" Staring matthew broderick ...and perhaps sean connery could've snuck his way into this as well. Imagine connery being donnie's dad: "Donnie you mussscht sssctop all this nonssscense!"

Inorder to like this movie you need to have past experiences that make you relate and understand the mindset of Donnie. I'm not saying you have to be psychotic, but you to be able to understand and relate to him. If you have never had the experiences or feelings that Donnie has then there is no way you'd like the movie and it would be impossible to explain it to you.

It's like the movie - Elephant. If you were never the lost kid who was picked on or ignored and you never dreamed about having a different life or getting revenege there is no way you would understand the movie.

I enjoyed both movies and consider both to be among my all-time favorites. Call me Emo if you want, but not everyone went through school being jock-rock, driving a mustang, and banging hot chicks. Not everyone grows up with a silver spoons and better flies. Both movies give a glimps into the confused mind of what it is like not being in the 'in' crowd. If you've never experienced these things you would not understand what Donnie Darko, Elephant, or any movie on this level is about and it is a waste of everyone's time to try to explain it.

reasons why this film is good

beautifly shot

its a period piece set in the early 90's

skillfully acted

defies explanation

everyone who sees it thinks about it afterwards

it polarizes auidences

it deals with important themes such as :

being an individual

suburban hypocrisy

mental health

the struggles of adolescence

Just because a film is not immediately accessible (i.e. you don't get it) does not mean it sux, in fact it makes it more valuable as a cinematic experience by encouraging discussion.

If you look at the special features on the dvd, you can read the book by Grandma Death. It's hard to read, but it explains the movies take on quantum physics.

set in 1988

I think everyone can admit that the songs in the movie were perfect given the situations they were used. Excellent job with the musical background.

Jack Frost wrote:

Call me Emo if you want...

'

Absolutely amazing. I haven't this hard in awhile.

Insert 'laughed' into the above sentence. Thank you.

saw donnie for the first time last night. Mostly because i read this thread. and no i don't do everything that letsrun posters tell me to do.

After reading the salon article i have my own interpretation. The explanation of the living reciever sounds like the definition of a protagonist. the rest of the characters are "the manipulated." In the salon article the author asks "manipulated by who?" He says the director states that it is god. But the manipulated sound like the definition of minor characters in any movie. They are there to direct the action of the protagonist towards a certain outcome in a way that the outcome is unavoidable.

The point is that in the end Donnie doesn't really have a choice. He has to break off this universe because who would want to live in a world where your girlfriend is dead, you've killed your sister's boyfriend (the guy in the bunny suit - remember the "frank went to go get beer" message on the fridge - Frank is his sister's boyfriend), and your mother and sister are about to die in a plane crash? He can see the inside the plane because his "living reciever" status has given him special powers - so he closes off the universe by breaking off the engine (his powers include telekenesis) and dropping it on his room.

So - my interpretation is that the tangent universe symbolizes all movies in general. In a way movies are like parrallel universes. These universes can last any amount of time, but 3-4 weeks (in the "philosophy of time travel" this is how long tangent universes are supposed to last) is probably about average - enough time for a character to develop and yet keep continuity. In movies the writer/director is god because he/she decides how the plot is going to play out. Movies are like time traveling because the amount of time in the movie (in this case 28 days) happens over a period of only 2 hours for us. And like the tangent universe a movie must end. Again the main reason that i think this is the description of "living recievers" and "the manipulated" are too similar to text book definitions of protagonists and supporting characters. Since he was just out of film school - and probably thought of himself as god it probably isn't too far off.

So, overall i thought it was good. i like the fact that you could have really any interpretation and the movie still works. You could just see the movie as being about a kid who has paranoid schizophrenia with severe hallucinations/delusions and it would be just as enjoyable of a film. It also uses multimedia in a new way. The director used the internet to give people more background - that way he didn't have to interrupt the story to give a bunch of background on tangent universes and such. Ok - i'll stop now.

one question i have is did frank the rabbit summon donnie outisde the first night when the plane part hit his room? because if he did, why did he? the thing i dont understand is none of this would have happened if donnie had simply not gone outside his room that night, he would have died and no tangent universe would have been created. so why did the bunny summon him that night? the bunny would not have been dead if donnie hadn't gone outside his room that night, and he wasnt going to, so why did it?

unless he was going to sleepwalk anyway, but the bunny told him to follow him, so i thoguht it was his plan. time travel is so confusing. as was what i just wrote

i like Jake in October Sky.

Donnie was like Jesus.

You guys should search google for explanations, cuz everybody is kinda off. I could explain it to you, but right now I gotta do shit... and for all of you who are intrigued and havent seen it yet...DO NOT...I repeat DO NOT SEE THE DIRECTORS CUT FIRST BEFORE THE ORIGINAL. And if you havent seen it yet, but read all these posts, you wont think as highly of it becuz everything has been given away.

Why aren't we discussing a REAL movie, like Army of Darkness?

becuz you can start another thread.

Elephant was a good movie...except for that one gay shower scene. It was kind of scary how emotionless the killers were.

Jack Frost wrote:[/b

Call me Emo if you want, but not everyone went through school being jock-rock, driving a mustang, and banging hot chicks.

Dude,

You are pretty Emo.

There is a reason these movies are made; fantasy never happens in the real world.

The dork never wins. Sorry, your ship will not come. Life is not fair. The wheel of sweet Fortuna will not give you your due.

Dorks are dorks for a reason, they are losers at life. I am sorry, it is the way things are.

I am a quarterback, prom king, Homecoming-Queen dating guy who won the best-looking superlative my senior year. I am awesome. I was mean to all the dorks and really showed them who was boss. Hahaha, poor scumbags.

Hey, er, by the way... Does anyone have a basement I can rent? I can't seem to keep a job. It seems like dorks are running all of the companys around this town. What the hell is wrong with this place? Who gave them the good jobs. Who knows, but I am not going to work for any dorks. I am working at the carwash with my buddy The Rick. He was on homecoming court too. We can still chug a beer in less than 5 seconds, we rock.

So, about the basement, anyone?????