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My interpretation of Donnie Darko - Please respond.

thebestMAX

thebestMAX

Diamond Member
Saw this movie last night and used this answer to reply in another thread but deceided to reallyget some feedback that it maybe needed a thread of its own.

The Clown in the car with the Rabbit!!!! Scariest scene in the movie.

My take is the whole thing was a dream hence the lyrics, "The best dreams are the ones you die in" You are supposed to really die if you die in one of your dreams but of course no one really knows.

The engine wasnt from the future, it happened in REAL TIME (Mom wasnt on the plane and the FCC had the explanation) and the "Dream" was what was happening in his mind while he was dying. Hence "A second can seem sooo long" dialog.

Him sacrificing himself so other could live? I dont think so but I see how it could be interpreted this way.

Just my opinion but I would like to hear some arguements.

Good flic though, really makes you think.
 
I got two main arguments in the movie. The question of whether your life is predetermined, or whether you have some say in its direction, and if you did have a say in its direction, do you really want to go on living? Remember, if this wasn't a moive, this character would of died as soon as that engine crashed and that would be the end of it, that's reality. But since this is a movie, he's led out of his room, and disaster is averted. Or is it? Donnie, with his known sleep-walking fits, goes on to destroy the school, and then the motivational speaker's house. While they do reveal that the motivational speaker is a kiddie-porn fan, it does put his mom on a flight that's about to crash, and his English teacher is fired for teaching her students material that might of led to the destruction of school property. As he realizes the time is coming soon for the end of the world, he takes his girlfriend and wisks her away, going to Grandma Death's house to hopefully find some sense (or course, out of a mad woman). But the two school bullies are there, and they get into a fight with the two, and here comes Frank, running her down totally out of no fault of his own. Skip back to the real world, he lies in bed, laughing his head off, because it wasn't real, or if it was, nothing has happened yet, and he makes that crucial decision: Knowing what will happen, do I make my own path, and endanger the lives of who I love, or do I let the chips fall where they may, and let life continue according to its plan? You know the outcome.
 
it's been a few months since i've seen it, but i generally remember my interpretation which was supported by the extra stuff on the DVD (deleted scenes, commentary) that essentially leave no room for arguement as to what the director's intent was. you can interpret till the cows come home, but i beleive that an author (typically) has a single intent, but he/she chooses not to spell out the intent so as to avoid preaching.

here's my recollection of the movie: donnie darko was a time travel story with religious overtones. frank was sent by some higher power that had made some judgements about the moral quality of the characters in the movie. frank was sent so that donnie could start a chain of events that would punish those who deserved punishment and save those who didn't. obviously there's also some discussion of free-will vs predestination.

the scene with frank and donnie on the golf course was shortened. in the full cut that can be seen on the DVD, Frank says that he was sent by God.
 
There was a Donnie Darko thread here last year (probably need to search archives, and I'm not implying the R-word) that linked to a website explaining the "science" behind time loops, with people being either "manipulated living" or "manipulated dead" depending on how their lives changed during the event. Weird stuff, but interesting.
 
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