Donnie Darko
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Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ... 28 In a interview with Richard Kelly, he said that if you watch closely you could find the answer to tha date whan the world is going to end.... My friends brother said that he almost found the date, his answer was 2064 or 2067....... thats pretty scary
>>By Sparrow (Saturday, 4 Jan 2003 00:11)
i have a question about franks eye. at first i thought it was bloody because donny stabbed the forcefield ting in the bathroom and his eye lit up. frank was obvioslly in pain because of this. then we see that dnnie shoots him in the eye... so whatsgoing on there, is itthe stabbing that made frank (the mutilated dead) bloddy. or the shooting that made frank (the mutilated living) bloody and the two happen coincidently.... please help im so confused
>>By Liam Higgins (Monday, 6 Jan 2003 04:28)
This is one of the most excelent films I have seen in a LONG time!!!! brilliant!
>>By Frank (Friday, 10 Jan 2003 11:55)
Daniel Francis Fost, donnie whispers "Deus Ex Machina" at the end, right when the car arrives....(find out what "deus ex machine" means and it'll all make sense)
>>By nick (Sunday, 12 Jan 2003 04:07)
I dont understand why was there a glitch in the universe in the first place?
>>By sentinal (Monday, 13 Jan 2003 03:47)
In the movie, Donnie Darko is preceived "insane", but he is the the only one in the movie that preceives things as they truely are. This movie is confusing to most people because, most people are limited by there acceptance of what could happen or should happen and how the universe is perceived through there eyes. The movie makes a clear point about destiny. Donnie was destined to die on Oct. 2. 1988, and at the begining of the movie when he broke his destiny by leaving the house that night caused a horrible chain of events. Everything in life happens for a reason. The complexity of what sould or could happen at any given time is determined by desinty and indiviaul choices that effect the events of our lives.Donnie makes the choice to stay in bed at the end of the movie and willingly recieves his "destiny". (Try to focus on my ideas not my grammer!)
Just open the cellar door and find the truth. lol
>>By John (Friday, 17 Jan 2003 23:36)
Donnie Darko is a postmodern take on the science fiction genre, effectively exploring scientific plausibility and fictional myths. Written and directed by Richard Kelly (A USC GRAD!), at its heart is the story of an adolescent teenager’s struggle within middle class suburbia. At the same time, Donnie Darko, played by newcomer Jake Gyllenhaal, is forced to cope with disturbing visions of a large rabbit, who menacingly depicts the end of the world. A manifestation of teen angst, the scenario is presented as the result of a lapse in time, the creation of a proverbial worm hole in suburban America.
“28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds. That is when the world will end.” At that apocalyptic premonition, the time clock of humanity begins. Based on the principles of the fictional Robert Sparrow, which vaguely follow Einstein’s fourth dimension theory, Kelly creates a blinding portrayal of the collapse of time at the hand of a time itself. Supposing that wormholes posses the ability to appear anywhere and anytime, Donnie Darko rests on valid scientific theories of time travel. Primarily based on the idea of a fourth dimension, the film centers on the central character’s role within the breach of the parallel universe, which if left unaltered will bring an end to the primary universe. The film rests on the established idea of a primary universe and a fourth dimension. The movie presents the primary universe as fragile and fraught with danger. The fourth dimension, however, is quite stable, yet hard to penetrate. Occasionally, as is the case with Donnie, the fabric of the fourth dimension is breached, making the realm extremely unstable with a life span of only a few weeks. The threat lies in the collapse of the fourth dimension, which will, likewise, destroy the primary universe and all of existence with it. There lies the reason for the aforementioned quote.
Through a conversation between Donnie and his professor, the fundamentals of time travel, as relevant to the plot, are revealed. First, there is the acceptance of the wormhole as Stephen Hawking explains it, a short cut between two distant spaces. Theoretically, to utilize the wormhole there must be a vessel that can travel faster than the speed of light. In this case, the vessel is a jetliner, which leaves a gap in the “speed of light” theory. With the basic components of a portal and vessel, the possibility of time travel becomes a reality. This scene also contains a small homage to Back to the Future, commenting on it’s use of the Delorian as a vessel.
The rest of the plot deals with the paradox of time travel: what will happen to those inside the wormhole, those in the parallel universe, and those in the primary universe. The film explains the paradox through the role of a living receiver, in this case Donnie. It is the role of the living receiver, who is chosen by unseen religious powers, to guide an artifact of unknown significance back to the primary universe before its collapse. In Donnie’s case, the living receiver is unaware of his role and merely guided by fate. Furthermore, the living receiver is usually plagued by horrific nightmares, explaining the manifestation of the giant rabbit. The affected living, those surrounding the receiver, are also plagued by bizarre and violent behavior, which all serves to assist the receiver in his role. In the end, however, fate is determined to be the major motivator.
Donnie Darko, set in the fourth dimension, is the story of the hands of fate guiding Donnie in his unknown task of returning the sacred artifact, in this case a fallen jet engine. The occurrence, motivated by a passenger plane’s breach of the fourth dimension, is based on plausible scientific theories. In the end, however, the paradox, the living receiver giving his life in the parallel universe to unknowingly save the primary universe, is mere fiction. Then again, would we even know if it wasn’t?
>>By aeroslash (Monday, 20 Jan 2003 18:08)
Donnie Darko was amazing. i m just gunna say one thing that no one has seemed to mention or if they did then u didnt make it clear.
the engine that crashed into the roof was the one from the plane that donnies mum was on. when they came into that turbulence one of the engines broke off and there was a porthole where it was allowed into the back to the future. get it?
he went foward in time into a tangent dimention. and when he ended the world, his world, and went back to the time where he started so that he could end his world by sleeping his bed, but the engine from his tangent world escaped into the real world to kill him.
>>By Tee (Tuesday, 21 Jan 2003 06:53)
Excellent analysis, Jamuraan, you explained a ton. The only things I don't understand are these:
What causes the 4th dimention to become unstable on October 30th? Is it the wormhole? Is it the fact that Donnie lived when he should have died? Does engine that fell through the wormhole cause the collapse?
I'm assuming that Donnine living is what caused the collapse of the 4th dimension, which is why his dying fixed it. If thats the case, then why did Frank save him in the first place instead of just letting him die like he eventually did in the end? Was it Franks fault then that the 4th dimension collapsed, and Donnie fixed it?
Help me out here, thanks.
>>By Bishop (Friday, 24 Jan 2003 19:42)
i've found myself obsessed with this movie ever since i saw it, and i have a question for anyone who can help me. i've been to the official web site many times, but i find it Very bizarree and not very helpful...i keep getting stuck on the second level in the same place and i can't figure out where to go...its at the part right after the golf thing and the clock thing is counting down....if anyones knows what i'm talking about i would appriciate some advice thanks!!! ~
>>By sammmieee (Friday, 24 Jan 2003 20:53)
Bishop; You are indeed correct. It was Donnie's living that caused the collapse. If something occurs that isn't "written" into a dimension, it thereby causes that dimension to become unstable. Donnie was supposed to die, it was written in, and lived for an extra 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes (tell me everyone caught the HGG reference here!), and 12 seconds. It took that duration of time for the wormhole to open and that particular dimension to collapse. It indeed was Frank who messed it up in the first place. Please note in the beginning, the quote exchange between Donnie and Gretchen; Gretchen: Donnie Darko... That's a weird name... It sounds like a super hero or something... Donnie: What makes you think I'm not...? Anyone else get that? Donnie had a choice (this also goes back to the discussion in the psychiatrist's office). If he continued on, the world would end, everyone would die, and he would be saved, but the only people would be left would be just Donnie and Frank... "I have to obey him...or I'll be all alone..." He sacrificed himself, made the choice to allow himself to be killed so the rest of his dimension wouldn't collapse on itself. Hence the superhero references (the deleted scene in which he reads his poem, for anyone who has the DVD, clarifies this theory). -SN: LilKatsyBug5
>>By Kate (Friday, 24 Jan 2003 21:01)
Sammmieee, you first click on Patrick Swayze to get the chalkboard section, then when thats done and it goes back to the golfcourse, you have to click on Donnie, then he'll wake up.
Ok, I scoured the site and I think I understand things better:
Donnie lives when he should have died. That is the source of the problem. Its Frank's fault that the 4th dimension is going to collapse because he went back in time to fix a conundrum. The conundrum is that Donnie in the future sent the airplane engine back into the past, yet the jet engine in the past killed him. If the jet engine in the past killed him, then how could he be alive in the future to send it back in the first place (whew)?
What Frank didn't know was that this breach had formed between the two dimensions in the form of this wormhole, and 4th dimension Donnie was chosen to fix it. 4th dimension Donnie was to send this engine back into the past to in essence kill his primary dimension self. But Frank stopped it, which set in motion the collapse of the 4th dimension.
I know I must be missing something here. Is the tangent reality they talk about the same as the 4th dimension?
>>By Bishop (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 05:25)
That's an interesting proposal... Actually, I was wondering the same... I'm pretty certain when they make reference to the "tangent universe", they are indeed talking about the 4th dimension. It's most likely just a second name for it. What I didn't quite understand was what became of Roberta Sparrow... I understand that she was going back and forth between her house and the mailbox in expectance of Donnie's letter, and that she didn't die because if she did, then Gretchen wouldn't have been killed... But what happened after all of that, when they returned to the original universe, and everything had been as it was? They never wrapped up her role in the movie. I'm pretty certain I remember the mention of her death on the website, but I'm not positive. Also, Donnie was indeed alone when he died, that's where her quote came from, correct? Feel free to respond. Also, did Gretchen play a specific role in the scheme, or was she just a random love interest? -SN: LilKatsyBug5
>>By Kate (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 22:33)
I like all of ure therios and i don't doubt that u guys are wrong...but u guys are missing the big points. Please explain how Frank traveled back in time and when? he didn't die with a shot to the head? Another thing is that none of u have explained why frank didn't save donnie the second time u see him in the bed. If we are dealing with 2 completely different dimensions (one where donnie gets up and one where he doesn't) Where does frank the guide fit in!?!? Which demention did he come from? A third one??? Please answer questions if u can
>>By SomeConfusedGuy (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 23:41)
Alright, yes, he did die with a shot to the head, and the reason why he didn't save him the second time was because, guess what, he was dead. He was shot in the head, so he's not going to be travelling anywhere. Hence, the second time around, Donnie is not saved, because all is back to normal, that's where it's supposed to be. Frank didn't come from anywhere, really, he just...is. He's a time wanderer. "It was my father's name, and his father before ME." Didn't that strike you as odd? Well that's why. He's not really meant to be...normal. -SN LilKatsyBug5
>>By Kate (Sunday, 26 Jan 2003 00:39)
eeerrr wrong...that was BACK in time so it was BEFORE he got shot in the head...and remember....Frank was giving advice while he was dead remember? he took off his mask and he had already gotten shot in the eye. BUT HEY!!!! I believed i have solved it!!! Tell me wut u guys think: First: The Tangent demension was not created by Donnie waking up...it was created bye Frank waking him up....or by god (explained in point 3) if Donnie had stayed asleep...there would have been no tangent demension so there wouldn't have been a Plane engine to smash the house so Donnie wouldn't have died anyways right?Everyday life would have continued. Second: Frank is not in either Primary or Tangent universe...he is in the 4th demension. The Primary Universe is normal Universe..the Tangent Universe is the Primary universe gone bad...something happened and screwed it up. This is why he didn't wake up donnie the second time around...because time in primary and tangent universe had nothing to do with time in the Fourth Dimension ahahah. Third: I believe most of you are missing one BIG point in the story...GOD. I Do believe everything was God's fualt.Remember the shrink told Donnie "Maybe Frank is a messenger of God." and i believe he was. I believe he created The tangent universe which bam created Frank in the Fourth dimension. God created it to teach the people of the Primary universe a lesson. Even though they don't really remember the tangent universe...the kinda remember it as a dream and i believe they have learned there lesson. Fourth: As for all the coincidences like "Cellar Door" and "Old Lady Death" I beleieve they were also set up by God. Alot of this movie has to do with destiny...none other that God chooses your destiny. I believe that Roberta Sparow was once herself a Living Reciever. This is why she wrote the book and remembers it so clearly...remember she just woke up one night and changed from a nun to a scientist.
I saddens me that most people think that Donnie went back in time and killed himself. That just means that people don't pay attention to the movies. he couldn't have done that because then there would have been 2 donnies...one that died and one that slept on the gold course that night. Please if u have any comments of questions for me don't hesitate to ask.
>>By SomeUnConfusedGuy (Sunday, 26 Jan 2003 11:27)
I have reread most of your posts and i feel i have to slarify. i believe some of you are mistaking the 4th Dimension for the tangent universe.
The Fourth Dimesion is made up of time and water thats it. If you die in the Tangent universe you have the ability to try and save ureself by Guiding the Reciever using the fourth Dimension (Ie: Frank). Nuffin really happens in the fourth dimension. The Reciever does have some 4th Dimension powers like strength and telekinesis. Time in 4th dimension has nothing to do with time in either universes.
Now The Tangent Universe is the Primary universe that has gone off of the path that destiny has set. The tangent universe is everything from October 2nd on. The tangent Univese can become the primary universe is left alone. Unfortunatly a tangent universe is very unsatable and a hole is created in a matter of weeks as you saw. if nothing is done it will destroy the tangent universe...whcih destroys the primary universe because they are both very closely linked. Get it?
As for gretchen...i don't think she ever died....she never contacted Donie thru the 4th dimension so i don't think she was a manioulated dead. I believe she was in a comma because Donnie put her in the car and stuff....i bet she showed signs of living.
As usual please care to comment and as questions...Thank you for reading :)
>>By SomeUnconfusedGuy (Sunday, 26 Jan 2003 11:53)
Is there any reason why the science teacher had to end his conversation with Donnie? Why would he lose his job? Does he know more?
Also why, at the start of the film, is Donnie asleep at the same spot where he is at the end (on the hill)?
Was Donnie an actual paranoid schzophrenic or was it just the nightmares of his learning process? (even if he wasn't, I love the way that Kelly makes most of his audience suspicious and paranoid!)
I think there might be more to Donnie's conversation with the science teacher. The teacher said that if you knew the path of your destiny and could visualize it, this would be a form of time travel. Maybe the 28days was just the time it took for Donnie to fully realise, and finally, actualize this. If Donnie's unconscious knew the path of his own destiny, frank could actually be just a mental manifestation that guides his conscious mind to the realisation that he can travel back in time, thus preventing loads of bad stuff (the death of his girlfrnd, the unsure fate of his mother and sister, killing frank, etc). It would explain why Donnie knew that Frank was wearing a costume. Also Donnie asks Frank what happened to his eye and even though Frank doesn't answer, Donnie still apologises in a guilty tone i.e. Donnie's unconscious already knew.
Must be said that I've only seen it once and haven't seen any deleted footage or other stuff, so I could well be totally overlooking something............?
Thoughts?
>>By West (Sunday, 26 Jan 2003 19:09)
1) I believe the science teacher could lose his job merely cuz of the fact that they werestarting to talk about religion and GOD...remember the public school teachers can't talk about god. 2)I believe where he slept is irrelevent...it had a good view :) 3)No...remember towards the end the shrink said he wasn't i believe that Frank was actuaslly real in the 4th demension. 4)Thats an interesting theory..i believe he did know some of what he had to do towards the end when he figureed it out. As for Frank...you could blatanly see he was in a costume. And 28:06:14:12 was the actual time that a black hole would open up and end the world. I liked your theory though...good thoughts :)
---Care to comment or ask please?
>>By SomeUnConfusedGuy (Sunday, 26 Jan 2003 21:32)
Well I finally watched it a few more times and reanalyzed theories, so I have to say I'm half agreeing with Guy now. I'd like to rewatch the deleted scenes whenever I get the chance to. In the meanwhile, I'm not so sure about your theory on why the science teacher could have lost his job. It is the '80's we're talking about, and the period of time in which people became activist against religion in school would be the early '90s. Not to mention, Donnie goes to a religious school; if you didn't catch this, when they do various shots of the front of the school, there is a cross at the top point of the roof; you can also tell by the uniforms, and by the rediculous Jim Cunningham morality course they taught there. He didn't go to a public school. And the psychiatrist never gets the chance to tell him Frank is real, she's frantically calling him and they won't pick up the phone. The way she finds this out is that the medications they've been giving him are placebos. And by the way, Donnie doesn't say "I'm so sorry" in the movie theater, Frank does. You can tell it's Frank by the voice and because the camera is directly on Donnie's face for the response and his mouth doesn't move. I checked for that as well. -SN: LilKatsyBug5
>>By Kate (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 00:42)
Ok, guys, I watched the movie again too, and we got a few things wrong. I think I figured it out (yea right), so here it goes:
First off, the tangent reality and the 4th dimension are NOT the same thing.
The one thing that everyone got wrong, including myself, is how the tangent universe was created. It was not created by Donnie waking up and moving when he was supposed to die. The tangent reality was created because of a rupture in the 4th dimension! If you check the website out, they talk about how stable the 4th dimension is, but when something goes wrong with it, it can bring destruction.
Well, something did go wrong with the 4th dimension, and it created this tangent universe. You guys remember on the site when they said that the first evidence that a tangent universe was created was with the appearance of an artifact? Well, the artifact appeared, both when Donnie got out of bed at the beginning of the movie, and when he stayed in bed at the end. Staying in bed didn't prevent the artifact from appearing, in other words, so the tangent universe couldn't have been created by Donnie's actions because no matter what he did, the artifact appeared. Does that make sense?
Even though Donnie didn't cause the creation of the tangent universe, he was chosen by divine power to fix it.
The tricky thing that took me a loooong time to think about, was that history was infact, never changed. Donnie in the primary universe always got crushed by the engine. At the beginning of the movie, when we hear Frank telling Donnie to get out of bed, that took place in the TANGENT universe, not the Primary! Remember before that scene occured, we got a black screen that said 'October 2, 1988', well, that was October 2 in the tangent universe. We don't actually get to see October 2 in the Primary universe until the very end.
See, thats why Frank told Donnie that he had to save him. Remember though, Frank didn't save the Primary Universe Donnie, only the Tangent Donnie. This was important because if Tangent Donnie died as well as Primary Donnie, then the tangent universe would have gone onto October 30th without Donnie, the wormhole would have appeared and destroyed both. Tangent Donnie HAD to survive in order to be there on the Tangent 30th to send the artifact back to the Primary universe.
Unfortunately, the engine killing Primary Donnie was the side effect of Tangent Donnie saving the Primary uninverse. When Tangent Donnie sent the engine back and killed Primary Donnie, it made it impossible for the Tangent universe to exist in the first place, and Primary Donnie knew it when the engine crushed him in the end. Primary Donnie knew the engine was coming as well, because they said that the closer you were to the Receiver, the more your Primary self would remember the Tangent universe. You have to assume that because Donnie was the reciever himself, that he would remember everything.
The trick is to realize that Frank didn't make a mistake at the beginning of the movie by saving Donnie. Frank didn't save Primary Donnie, who HAD to die to correct things, he saved the Tangent Donnie, who had to live in order to send the engine back on Tangent October 30th.
I do believe that Roberta Sparrow was also a living receiver, and that she lived through a Tangent universe as well. Thats why she left the church and wrote that book overnight. Thats also why she kept waiting for that letter from Donnie, probably because she encountered HIM in the tangent universe and he sent her that letter there. That is why she is a bit strange. It was not her fate for her Primary self to die after her Tangent self did what she had to do, so her Primary self remembers everything, just as Primary Donnie did before he was crushed. Also, who knows how long Roberta spent in the tangent universe. I know they are unstable, but she could have spent decades in hers before fixing it and going back to the primary universe. Of course, thats all conjecture, and we'll never know, but she sure did seem to know a heck of a lot more than Donnie did.
I think the professor stopped talking to Donnie about time travel for more than just fear of being fired. I think there was more to that guy than meets the eye, as well as his wife. I mean, come on, Donnie comes to talk about time travel to him and he just HAPPENS to have a copy of Roberta Sparrow's book in his bag!? Give me a break there. Also, the website said that he worked for the CIA, AND he died in a 'mysterious' car accident some time after that. He was forceable run off the road by a 'black vehicle' that was never found. That sounds like a government vehicle to me.
Also remember that when the two of them were sitting together, Wyle looks at Barrymore and says 'Darko, heh...' and she smiles and shakes her head, like they both know something that none of us do...very very strange.
I welcome all comments and criticisms, of course.
>>By Bishop (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 02:25)
Thank you guys for responding
Kate: Thank u very much..that is an excellent point about the professor..i didn't even think about that...thank you.
Bishop: i agree with u partialy. Something in the fourth dimension did cause the tangent universe to be created. I believe it was God that sent Frank to wake up Donnie. If Frank hadn't waken up Donnie....he woulda never done all that stuff therefore there would be no jetengine..therefore Donnie woulda lived in the first place. I believe thats how History was supposed to go. I believe some Divine power chose to alter it in order to teach people a lesson. This power sent Frank in the 4th dimension and Bam. Thank you for more info on the Professer and the lil extra on Roberta. I am glad you agree with my theory :) As for the Professor having the book on his hands, i believe that was a setup by the devine power...just like cellar door and the rest of the lil stuff... "destiny". I believe that Donnie teachers had that lil laff when they were sitting together simpley because Donnie Darko is a very strange student. I woulda prolly done the same if i were his teacher :) I am going to rewatch this movie again tomorrow and pay close attention to the discussion between darko and the professor
---Please reply i Again..ahaha i am enjoying this :)
>>By SomeUnconfusedGuy (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 09:54)
Oh, by the way, who is HGG, and what is the 28 day reference to him?
And what does Dues Ex Machina mean and how does it relate to the story?
>>By Bishop (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 22:49)
Hgg???
Dues ex machina just means a person that saves you from a real akward predicament...so Frank was his dues ex machina or "Savior" as he said after
>>By SomeunconfusedGuy (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 23:46)
HGG=Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams (good book series). It's a set of four books commonly called the inadequately-named trilogy, and it follows the last of the earthlings (a grumpy British guy) through space (it's after earth is destroyed). According to Mr. Adams, the number 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything (as calculated by a supergenius computer). No one knows what it means, they just know it's the answer to life, the universe, and everything. And by the way, Frank is not the "deus ex machina", Donnie is. He pretty much saves everyone in his dimension because it was going to collapse if he didn't do something. Frank may have saved Donnie, but he screwed everyone else over.
>>By Kate (Monday, 27 Jan 2003 23:57)
I didn't mean in that way...at the time he said it cuz of the car drove up and saved donnie from the guy that was on top of him with the knife...that is why he said dues ex machina...so the guy driving the car was who he was talking about..frank.
>>By SomeUnconfusedGuy (Tuesday, 28 Jan 2003 00:02)
Frank did not screw everyone else over.He was the minipulated dead. He was the Deus Ex machina.Tangent Frank died before october 2nd but after the rupture in the fourth demension,Causing the parrarel universe. As mentioned earliar,Tangent Donnie had to send the artifact back to the primary universe,or both universi would be destroyed.Franks duty would be to wake up donnie and to make sure that he sends the artifact to its destination.Its shown hes a minipulated dead when he removes hs mask and shows hes human.
>>By Digiwizzard (Tuesday, 28 Jan 2003 04:00)
Does anyone see the Jesus figure here or is it so obvious no one's mentioned it. You have a guy who is faced with saving the people around him by allowing himself to die. I felt like he was fighting with himself on whether or not he wanted to go thru with it as Jesus did. There was all that talk with the professor about which path you had to take in life. He claimed to be a superhero.
>>By Alora (Tuesday, 28 Jan 2003 05:32)
hmmmm--maybe the spirit guide you follow down the rabbit hole isn't a cute white bunny---maybe he is Frank. Maybe time is a spiral and you can walk through it in any direction you choose; maybe we are all doing this all the time. In a completely fucked up insane world maybe the schizophrenics are the ones who know what's going on.......
>>By inanna (Tuesday, 28 Jan 2003 10:18)
what was up with the comment, "take off that people suit?" from frank to donnie in the cinema? polite conversation or something more sinister?
>>By donkeypunch (Wednesday, 29 Jan 2003 11:16)
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