Holly Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 As an example, I was going home and met one of my friends who persuaded me to go to this party in town, I was going to say no but said yes, I went to the party and met this lass who ended up being my wife. What if I missed my friend by a minute and went home or said no i wasnt going, where would I be now but for that meeting with my friend? Fate. Nearly 29 years ago, when I was 14, my friend's boyfriend went home and physically dragged his brother from in front of the telly (Starsky & Hutch) to a party. I told him off, he asked me out and the rest is history; we've been married over 26 years! What if Christian had refused to come to the party? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Fate. Nearly 29 years ago, when I was 14, my friend's boyfriend went home and physically dragged his brother from in front of the telly (Starsky & Hutch) to a party. I told him off, he asked me out and the rest is history; we've been married over 26 years! What if Christian had refused to come to the party? Well, looking at your siggy, you wouldn't be sharing a supe!!! Now THAT would be bad!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Well, looking at your siggy, you wouldn't be sharing a supe!!! Now THAT would be bad!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 If you think Donnie Darko doesnt make sense watch Mulholland Drive or any David Lynch film. Donnie Darko is brilliant in my opinion Mulholland Drive is absolutely spot-on storywise, once you realise what is real (5% of the stuff) and what is made inside her head while she's dying. She used the real people as actors in her made-up story to justify herself. I've had to watch it second time round for everything to fit neatly into place. Good job Mr Lynch. I wooooore blueeeeee....leeeather.....*bam* *bam* *bam*..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopite Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Not us! Eldest son and future daughter-in-law'a hen and stag 'do's'! :nana: Maybe tomorrow night! where's our invites! i've never seen Donnie Darko but i'm gonna watch it. I thought Mulholland Drive was mind boggling lol! hopefully this won't be as confusin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 where's our invites! i've never seen Donnie Darko but i'm gonna watch it. I thought Mulholland Drive was mind boggling lol! hopefully this won't be as confusin! LOL - good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRoy Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Excellent film must have watched it 20 times over on dvd. Watched The Machinist last night, enjoyed that too. Bale was brilliant, worth a look but will haunt you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted August 6, 2005 Author Share Posted August 6, 2005 So what do you think now after watching it tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Ooh, I want to watch The Machinist. Can't beat a film that makes you think I'd like to class Akira as worth mentioning as well. Also 2001, although reading the book pretty much explains it. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Wooo, spooky. We've just watched The Machinist. Great film and haunting too. Who ate all the pies? Not Mr. Bale, thats for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 So what do you think now after watching it tonight OK, here goes. All imo. First, the Time Travel stuff. I don't think any explanation can work 100% correctly, because the film is built upon a paradox and paradoxes are, by definition, immune to logical explanation. I'm using stuff from the Donnie Darko website which the director helped put together. 1. A rift in space-time occurs. These rifts occur very infrequently, but cause instability. Tangent universes can appear, which are unstable and collapse quickly, bringing the end of everything. In this case,the rift causes a jet engine to fall from the future into the past. This is against the rules of our causality-based universe. It has to be rectified. An explanation has to be created for the appearance of the engine. This is part of the paradox, turning cause and effect on their heads. 2. The explanation to be created is that the jet engine fell through a wormhole in space and time. The wormhole will be created by Donnie Darko. He is (says the website), the 'Receiver'. He has powers of telekinesis and over water (metal and water are needed to create wormholes, apparently!). 3. The tangent universe is created at the instant that the engine falls through the accidental rift. But Donnie Darko must not die in the accident, or he will never be able to put the situation right. Events are set in motion that rsult in his survival and ability to create the wormhole. Set in motion by who? God (more on Him later). 4. In order to create the wormhole, Donnie has to (a) create 'Frank' (because Frank, as a ghost, can travel through time and influence Donnie's actions (b) understand about time travel and wormholes © be forced into a position where he desperately wants to change the past and wipe out the current version of reality (aka the tangent universe he is in) (d) come to terms with the existence of God and the need for his own death. 5. To help him reach this position, those around him are also being guided by Mr. Big. His english teacher writes 'cellar door', a clue that will put him into Roberta Sparrow's cellar at the right time to meet the robbers. His Physics teacher is there to explain wormholes and to pass on Roberta's book, which will enable him to understand his own powers. Jim Cunningham drops his wallet, setting in chain the events that will lead to his sister and mother being on the fated plane. 6. When the world is about to end, note that Donnie's personal world is about to end too. His future is completely untenable: he will be responsible for the deaths of his girlfriend, mother and sister, and will be convicted of murder. He has to change what has happened, replacing all the shitty stuff with a new version (an idea Gretchen has planted, via her fantasy, in his mind earlier). 7. Donnie creates the wormhole and we see the engine falling through it. We see the events of the past few days in reverse. Now there is an explanation, even if mortals still don't understand it: the engine fell through a wormhole. The clockwork 'primary' universe starts working again, the tangent universe disappears. 8. Donnie dies laughing with delight at the knowledge, maybe remembered as a dream, that everything is put to rights and that he is not alone. The others experience vague memories of the events that will now never take place, but there is a sense that things will turn out right. Cunningham is perhaps blubbering with remorse at his paedophile activities; the Chinese girl sleeps contentedly. In this subtly different Universe, maybe Donnie has to die as the last remaining piece of the disappeared 'Tangent Universe'. OK, so I know that the engine falls from a reality that will now not exist....I give up on that. Maybe the worm hole flows from both futures to the past. Give up. Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 The first time round, I missed the huge religious element to it. This is a film that is as much about God as about time travel. Donnie Darko is a Christ-like figure: as we see at the end, his death 'saves' all of those around him. God is in charge of the whole show and He is directing Donnie and those around him to fix something that has gone badly wrong with the fabric of the Universe. Apart from several references to Donnie's crisis of faith, the film shows us that one event leads to another and it's all part of a Grand Plan which we cannot know. But Donnie becomes convinced that the plan is not only there, but it is for the best. As Einstein put it: 'God is subtle, but He is not malign'. Or, as Tennyson wrote [in Memoriam, AHH]: 'not a worm is cloven in vain'. When Donnie is pinned down by whatsisname, the thug, with a knife to his throat, he says 'Deus ex Machina'. This is just as Frank turns up in his TransAm. 'Deus ex Machina' = 'the ghost in the machine'. This is an arcane term for a plot device which is needed to get the protagonist out of a jam, or just resolve things. But it could also be taken literally: Frank will soon be a ghost and he's in a machine. Or 'Deus' could be read as 'God', because Frank is God's agent. I think he also says 'Our Saviour' and if so, that's a direct Christian reference. I'd forgotten what a good film it is. There's more thought gone into two minutes of it than in the whole of Independence Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doughie Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 One of my favourite films !! try this: http://www.anthroid.net/autopsiadonniedarko.htm rgds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I've watched Donnie Darko and the 'Directors Cut' and the 'special features' and useless commentary crap. My impression is that a lot of the 'theory' is an afterthought, made up following the unsuspected success of the film. Just like the Matrix 'trilogy' that was never really meant to be a trilogy at all (but they make this up in Hollywood if a film is very successful, to hype up future sequels) I can't understand why Donnie Darko is so popular at such wide a range of ages, I really don't. I find it spooky and with a touch of genious, but on the face of it it's just a teen movie with some supernatural pretentions. I can't explain why I like it either, it's one of those things. The song in the end (special version of Mad World) really makes my skin crawl... Actually the full soundtrack is awesome, music and all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannhauser Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I can't understand why Donnie Darko is so popular at such wide a range of ages, I really don't. I find it spooky and with a touch of genious, but on the face of it it's just a teen movie with some supernatural pretentions. I can't explain why I like it either, it's one of those things. The song in the end (special version of Mad World) really makes my skin crawl... Actually the full soundtrack is awesome, music and all... Interesting - I was thinking the same thing. I think that one reason is that it presents a puzzle that is pitched at just the right level. It seems as though, with a bit of effort, it could all be explained neatly - but when you form an explanation there's just enough residual paradox to keep you wondering. But it's not like an art house movie, with themes so obscure you can't make head nor tail of it. Secondly, as you say, it's got 'teenage' themes:angst, alienation, uncertainty over personal destiny, acts of rebellion against a ridiculously out of touch establishment. All of which I guess resonate with teens or those who've just left that phase behind. It brilliantly captures the late 80s, so I guess it will be evocative of a formative period for people in their late twenties/early thirties. It allows for broad enough interpretations to satisfy a whole host of different types. Techies and sci-fi types will maybe see it as a straight forward time travel tale. Those interested in matters spiritual will see the religious element writ large. Amateur philosophers will pick up on themes of predestination versus free-will. Some will focus on the theme of 'schizophrenic as visionary'. And so on. To be fanciful, you could say that it appeals to a fundamental wish: that life is following some sort of plan, that life and death are meaningful and that someone is there watching over us. Like you, I find parts eerily beautiful - in particular, the sequence where 'Mad World' is playing whilst the camera tracks through the school. Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadyn Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 ....eerily beautiful Thats the perfect way to describe the film really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Has anyone here seen 'Rumble Fish'? It is supposed to be one of Coppola's "flops", as in "commercially unsuccessful" The whole film is a work of genious, with excellent soundtrack (stuart copeland of 'police') and everything flows like a dream. Like the perfect video clip in some ways, a work of art. Talking of 'teenage angst', etc. All-star cast by today's standards, when I first saw it they were all unknowns (nicolas cage, lawrence fishbourne, matt dillon, mickey rourke) even Dennis Hopper is excellent. It's out on DVD now, stick surround full blast and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.