FEEDBACK FROM MY OTHER MOVIE ANALYSIS
SCROLL DOWN ... FOR 'DONNIE DARKO' ANALYSIS
Donnie Darko 2001
DONNIE DARKO (Director's cut)
Now, even more ‘disturbed’ ... he is seeking to go ‘back in time’ ... and avoid the ‘catastrophe’ ... caused by him ... that has destroyed his family ... and to do that ... he is utilizing ... a six foot ‘rabbit’ … called ‘Frank’
Nothing is real ... like most of the films I have analyzed ... ‘Donnie Darko’ is a ‘fantasy’ ... representing the warped reality ... of a very disturbed mind ...
Although it tells a ‘story’ ... of ‘reality’ ... ‘Donnie Darko’ portrays a ‘hidden reality’ via a ‘fantasy’ … going on in Donnie’s mind …
You have to ‘work it out’ … from what you are presented with … and it isn’t that hard - compared to Lynch’s work … it was a ‘breeze’ …
The opening scene ... of ‘Donnie Darko’ lying unconscious in the road ... then waking ... as if he is waking from an episode of ‘sleepwalking’ ... is actually ‘Donnie Darko’ 'awakening' ... in his fantasy ... and embarking ... in his disturbed mind ... as a ‘time traveler’ ... with the ‘opportunity’ to change the ‘destiny’ ... that he ‘created’ ... that destroyed his family ...
Just as Lynch’s ‘Lost Girl’ in ‘Inland Empire’ ... is trying to ‘go back’ ... and ‘rewrite/remake’ her destroyed life ... ‘Donnie Darko’ is trying to ‘go back’ ... and ‘remake/rewrite’ ‘history’ ... the last ‘28 days’ of his life
‘Donnie Darko’ ... is, effectively, a journey through 'The Dead Zone' ... he has entered into a ‘limbo period’ (as he sees it) ... a ‘tangential universe’ ... where he can ‘rewrite’ his past ... and change the 'future' ... which he has, effectively, already destroyed ...
We are ‘seeing’ ... two 'time periods' in ‘Donnie Darko’ ('the past'/with some 'future' 'mashed' into it - all as a 'fantasy') ... before ‘catastrophe’ (as a ‘time travel fantasy’ 'going back in time' to try to change it) ... with the real events leading up to that ‘catastrophe’ ‘embedded’ and ‘playing out’ in parallel (but still as a 'mashed-up' fantasy) ... and the clue is his mother reading Stephen King’s book ‘IT’
(Just like Inarritu’s ‘Birdman’ ... I do think some of the actors in ‘Donnie Darko’ have ‘relevant’ backgrounds – Drew Barrymore (Altered States, E.T., Firestarter, Cat’s Eye, Doppelganger, Batman Forever, Scream) – Patrick Swayze (Ghost) – Jena Malone (Contact) ... just an ‘observation’)
Opening scenes
‘Donnie Darko’ wakes up lying in the road ... on a bend ... not a ‘survival’ strategy – this, along with the fact that there is ‘loud thunder’ ... but no rain clouds anywhere to be seen ... immediately raised my ‘fantasy’ eyebrows ...
Music – ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ – ‘Two Worlds collided’ (reality/fantasy) (past/future) ... also references ‘good’ and ‘evil’ ... and Donnie Darko’s family ... has been ‘torn apart’
‘Donnie Darko’ wakes up ... and smiles ... because (in his time travel fantasy) he has succeeded in ‘going back in time’ ... and is about to embark on his ‘quest’ ... to ‘rewrite’ the past ... and save the (his family’s) future ... later, he will tell himself ... via ‘Frank’ the ‘rabbit’ ... that he has ‘28 days’ to do it ...
The ‘Halloween’ sign ... M.A.D.D. = ‘Mothers Against Drunk Driving’ ... is a reference to a ‘catastrophe’ ... where ‘loved ones’ are injured or killed ... Donnie Darko is that ‘runaway train’ ‘drunk driver’ ... just in a different ‘totally irresponsible’ way ...
The ‘leaf blower’ scene - Donnie’s family ... has been ‘blown’ apart ...
‘Where is Donnie?’ on the fridge (Donnie is often 'not there') – Donnie is in his own fantasy World!
Then we have the fantasy ‘suck a fuck’ scene (somehow, I think I have always wanted to write that!)
What do we know?
We know Donnie ... stopped taking his ‘medication’
And next scene ... we know Donnie goes out at night (to cause trouble ... ignore the ‘sleepwalking’ misdirection)
Donnie ... is a very ‘problematic’ teenager ... to the point (we learn later) ... he is a ‘notorious’ ‘troublemaker’ - a ‘Destructor’
Notice the owl lamp ... Donnie is a ‘night owl’
Donnie starts to ‘rewrite’ history - he takes his medication ...
The old clock ... represents ... ‘time’ ... isn’t working properly ...
Donnie takes the marker pen off the fridge ... to write what ‘Frank’ tells him ... on his own arm ... (everything … is ‘in his head!)
The ‘jet engine’ crashes into Donnie’s bedroom (some of his family are killed in a plane crash ... so Donnie is ‘destroying’ the ‘plane’ that ‘did it’ ... before the ‘event’) – planes are ‘tracked’ ... they do not ‘go missing’ (in residential areas anyway) ... and ‘lose an (almost undamaged) engine’ ... this was ‘massive’ evidence ... that ‘Donnie Darko’ ... is a fantasy from a ‘fractured’ mind ...
(For some reason ... the ‘red spiral’ on the jet engine ... reminded me of ‘Jigsaw’/’Pennywise’)
How does Donnie’s sister, Elizabeth, know ... “they don’t know where it came from”
(It actually ... came from the ‘future’ ... in Donnie’s mind ... because this whole film ... is Donnie Darko going back in time (so we are observing ‘the past’ (going on in his disturbed mind) ... and Donnie trying to ‘rewrite/remake’ ‘history’ ... to ‘reverse’ the ‘catastrophic destiny’ ... that he has been responsible for) In Donnie’s mind ... he is removing the plane from the ‘future’ ... and the ‘authorities’ can’t track it ... in the ‘time-frame’ ‘timeline’ he is creating in his 'disturbed' mind)
(Donnie is ‘re-running’ history ... to create another ‘timeline’ ... another ‘future reality’ … in his ‘very fractured’ mind ... but 'real history' is 're-running' right alongside it!)
We have a young child, Samantha ... asking if ‘we can make money from this’ ... and ‘can we get on television if we sue the airline’ ...
Why is Samantha ‘sleeping with Donnie’ (#justasking) – it’s all fantasy!
‘Frankie Feedler’ ... another ‘fantasy’ name ...
“They said he was doomed’ ... ‘he died on the way to the prom’ ... ‘they could be saying the same about Donnie’ ... ‘he dodged his bullet’ ... ‘someone is watching over him” ... (At the moment ... Donnie is 'watching over' all of them’ … it's his fantasy ... and he is 'driving it' ... with (just like 'Lost Highway') a 'little help' from a 'friend' - a 'friend' living in the schizophrenic netherworld of his mind - 'Frank')
(There are 28 DVD chapter breaks in ‘Donnie Darko’ … (‘sad’ me - I counted them, across the bottom of MPC-HC ... as I watched the movie) ... each one ‘symbolically’ represents ‘a day’ ... but not necessarily ‘chronological’ days ... or ‘days’ ending at midnight)
We ‘see’ Donnie is actually ‘quite an arsehole’ ... at the bus stop ...
Then we have ‘Tears for Fears’ – ‘Head Over Heels’/’Broken’ (this film is getting clever ... really clever!)
So many apt music lyrics ... but these ones really stand out ...
“In my mind’s eye”
“Time flies” (this is actually ... what is happening ... in Donnie's mind!)
Then we have Drew Barrymore ... playing a great role as teacher Karen Pomeroy
Donnie says ... “They just want to see what happens when they tear the World apart” ... this references Donnie himself ... he is a ‘Destructor’
We meet ‘Gretchen Ross’
“Joanie ... get up” ... would any teacher do that to one of his/her students ...
“Matching serial number got burned” ... yeah right ... ‘screaming now’ ... ‘this is a fantasy’
The ‘rock wall’ in Kitty Farmer’s classroom ... is not what anyone would put in a classroom ... which is supposed to ‘open’ young minds ... not ‘roadblock’ them ...
Then we see Donnie asleep (an important image!) ,,, and ‘Frank’ makes an appearance ...
We see Donnie with an axe ... 'Frank' in the background ... as if 'making him do it' ... but the 'reality' is ... this is all Donnie's 'mad tea party'
Then he attacks the water pipe ... Oct 6th 1988 ... so we know ... that 24 days before ‘wiping out’ his family ... Donnie did in fact ... ‘vandalize’ the school ...
(But the ‘bulldog’ mascot ‘Mongrel’ ... is ‘unrealistic’ ... and it would be impossible for a human being ... in the context of ‘vandalizing’ a school ... to bury an axe in the top of it … where did they stand?)
The attending cop says it out loud ... “That’s unbelievable! (it most certainly is!) That’s solid brass isn’t it!”) (It’s actually ‘solid fantasy’ ... 24 carat fantasy!) (“How did that happen?” - It didn’t! (as portrayed)
(The ‘Mongrel’ actually represents Donnie … and his ‘demons’ ... ‘they’ made him ‘do it’ ... and, now, he is ‘outing his ‘demons’ ... and blaming them ... for the ‘chain-reaction’ devastation that he caused/causes ... 24 days into the ‘future’ he is now ‘backtracking’ from)
The words ... ‘They made me do it’ ... also reference Donnie’s ‘meds’ (which we know … he wasn’t actually taking) … and the ‘voices’ in his ‘schizophrenic’ mind ... 'Donnie is blaming ‘everything’ but himself … for him being a ‘fuck-up’
(Notice all the 'double-barrelled' names occurring - Cherita Chen - Donald Darko - Daye Dennis - Donnie Dickson - Frank Feedler ... all 'indicators' something is a 'little off' - it's all 'fantasy')
We find out Donnie ‘burns down’ houses (‘Destructor’) and has been in a lot of trouble ...
What a ‘creepy’ office therapist Dr Thurman has ...
“Do you ‘still’ think about girls a lot?” - ‘Loaded’ question ... what teenage boy doesn’t think about girls ‘a lot’ ... this represents something Donnie has done ... in the future! (girls got killed ... because of him)
Then we have the ‘Smurfette’ situation – Really ... teenage boys having sexual fantasies about ‘Smurfs’ ... we are not getting off this fantasy ‘magic carpet’ ... anytime soon!
(‘Grandma Death’ is 101 years old ... born in 1887 ... the first observance of ‘Groundhog Day’ ... what is Roberta Sparrow living – ‘Groundhog Day’ ("She does the same thing every day") (‘Time Travel’) ... now, I know ... I am dealing with a very clever Director ... my favorite type of ‘Smurf’)
Then we see Donnie taking his ‘meds’ ... but, please note ... they’re not his meds! (#justsaying) (His ‘meds’ are in the cabinet - as we saw earlier)
Donnie's 'poem' references the deaths of children (which are coming!) ... and that he will 'save' them
("A place where no one else can see them" (the 'monsters') ... is in his mind!)
“It’s important ‘our lifeline’ be ‘rejuvenated’ ... ‘so we can breath again” – they’re dead ... and Donnie has gone ‘back in time’ (in his fantasy) to 'rejuvenate' them ... so they can ‘breath again’
(‘Time travel’ isn’t ‘rocket science’ ... it’s just a six foot rabbit ... in your mind!)
(‘Six foot Rabbits’ ... often ‘in fashion’ from ‘time to time’ ... with movie directors!)
(Cherita Chen is ‘listening in’ ... with earmuffs on - Why is Cherita wearing earmuffs? - Because she doesn't want to hear nasty, bullying comments (She says "Shut up" a lot) - Why is she now 'listening in'? - Because Cherita is one of 'The Manipulated Living')
Donnie says ... “I don’t want to be alone” ... because, effectively ... he is (will be) ... alone ...
We then see the ‘fragility’ of the ‘wormhole’ past Donnie is creating with his mind ... which takes him to ... the gun ....
Gretchen says ... “And what if you could go back in time ... and replace all those hours of pain and darkness ... with something better” (Exactly what Donnie (believes he) is doing ...
His parents can’t ‘recall’ Donnie ever mentioning a ‘rabbit’ ... because they are 'fantasy' too ... inside a ‘fantasy’ taking Donnie ... from the future ... to relive the ‘last 28 days’ ... of his ‘past’
We now find out ... Donnie is a paranoid schizophrenic ...
The ‘Manipulated Living’ ... are the people ... from his past ... that Donnie is ‘manipulating’ ... in his ‘gone back in time’ fantasy
Donnie even says ... “I’m moving through time” (He is!) (In his mind!)
Donnie is creating his own ‘Tangent Universe’ ... and ‘passing through it’ ... like the ‘water snake’ effect we see ‘passing through’ his house etc
The ‘jet engine’ was an ‘Artifact’ (from the ‘future’ effectively … in Donnie’s fantasy to ‘rewrite’ his past)
‘If an ‘Artifact’ occurs ... ‘The Living’ (which is ‘local’ people ... but people not being directly ‘manipulated’ by Donnie Darko’) will retrieve it ... with great interest and curiosity’ (which is exactly what happened with the jet engine)
‘The Destructors’ is banned ... and replaced by ‘Watership Down’ ... but both are very ‘relevant’ in Donnie Darko’s universe ...
‘The Living Receiver’ ... who is ‘The Living Receiver’ ... Donnie Darko
Donnie finds Jim Cunningham’s wallet, right outside Jim Cunningham’s house – what sort of ‘coincidence’ is that – a ‘fantasy’ one!
(I told David Lynch he was not going to get ‘fantasies’ past me ... welcome to the club Richard Kelly!)
‘Frank’ reveals himself in the movie theater ... there’s definitely a ‘Halloween’ meets ‘Terminator’ ‘vibe’ going on – ‘Frank’ ... literally is the ‘Evil Dead’ (the movie they ‘aren’t’ watching) ... and tells Donnie to “Burn it to the ground”
(Empty theater, Gretchen asleep!)
We see ‘Sparkle Motion’ performing to Duran Duran’s ‘Notorious’ ... and Donnie ‘burns down’ Jim Cunningham’s house – Donnie Darko is a ‘notorious’ ‘Destructor’
Jim Cunningham is arrested on child pornography charges ... we can later deduce this did happen in Donnie’s ‘past’ (everything actually happened in Donnie’s ‘past’) ... so, just like the ‘Mongrel’ ‘They made me do it’ ... Donnie is blaming his ‘past’ ‘Destructor’ behavior on others ... this time ‘Frank’
Teacher Karen Pomeroy is fired … it would seem to be for being a ‘bad influence’ on her pupils …
(All the 'texts' we 'see' in Donnie Darko are 'significant' - Stephen King's 'IT' ... Graham Greene's 'The Destructors' - Richard Adams' 'Watership Down' - and at this time, we see an image of poet Robert Frost ... and the titles of some of his most famous poems are also 'relevant' to 'Donnie Darko' ... particularly titles like 'The Road Not Taken' ... 'A Door In The Dark' ... 'Acquainted With The Night' ... 'Storm Fear' - these are not 'accidental' ... we are dealing with a screenwriter/Director ... that is going to similar degrees of detail as David Lynch ... and it's 'really impressive' ... 'someone' has even created books by 'Roberta Sparrow' ... which hopefully, I will find time to read at some stage - Lynch created some kind of cryptic 'easter egg' to 'Inland Empire' called 'Rabbits' ... did Richard Kelly die 16th Jan 2025 too #justasking)
(All the screenwriters/Directors of the movies I have analyzed on this blog ... are 'trying' to take you 'out of the box' ... and you actually need to get 'out of that box' ... to 'get' their movies ... and the best way to 'take yourself out of that box' ... is to understand screenwriting ... once you make that 'investment' ... you begin to 'see' movies with your mind, not just your eyes ... and it is just as 'mindblowing' as the movies themselves become, once you fully understand them - probably the 'biggest' 'message' in my entire blog)
The ‘Deus Ex Machina’ saved the ‘rabbits’ in ‘Watership Down’ ... Donnie is looking for a ‘Deus Ex Machina’ to save him ... and reverse the ‘catastrophe’ he has created ... but, just like the ‘irony’ in ‘The Destructors’ ... it looks like the ‘irony’ in Donnie’s ‘rewritten’ life ... is that ‘Frank’ is actually urging him to ‘re-destroy’ his life ... not save it ...
The ‘catastrophe’ Donnie has ‘created’ emerges … Kitty Farmer wants to defend Jim Cunningham … so asks Rose to take her place … to chaperone ‘Sparkle Motion’ to Los Angeles …
Then we see a drawing of a ‘Frank-like’ rabbit … waving goodbye … but there is, very much, a ‘Grim Reaper’ vibe to this ‘rabbit’ … and nearly all the days in October are ‘crossed out’
We can deduce … fairly quickly … that a plane Donnie’s mother will soon be on … won’t be landing … with it’s wheels down …
Donnie Darko is about the ‘consequences’ of your actions … and we see that next … with Donnie in Dr Thurman’s office …
(When Donnie says to his mother ... "There's nothing broken in my brain" ... that's a 're-write')
(Dr Thurman says to an 'upset' Donnie ... "the choices you've made ... and the people you've touched")
Donnie and his sister Elizabeth throw a party (Their Father, Eddie, is in New York ... their mother, Rose, has gone to Los Angeles with Samantha ... Elizabeth is 'in charge') (It’s a fantasy ‘recreation’ of what happened leading up to the 'storm' ... the 'catastrophe' that has actually already 'happened' in the future ... and the 'closer' he gets to that 'eventuality' ... the more Donnie realizes (in his disturbed mind) that he needs 'more help' to 'rewrite' and 're-route' that 'eventuality')
Gretchen now represents someone who has been touched by tragedy … and is now ‘alone’
The ‘water’ ‘wormhole’ now represents Donnie’s ‘past’ has ‘caught up with him’ … he is only hours away from it’s ‘catastrophic’ consequences
Donnie realizes he needs (‘more’) help to ‘rewrite’ his destiny … he seeks that help from ‘Groundhog Day’ ‘survivor’ Roberta Sparrow …
The ‘cellar door’ is a metaphor for a ‘portal’ … ‘out’ of the ‘fantasy World’ Donnie has found himself in … somehow looking for redemption …
We find out why Gretchen had asked Donnie about blood on his neck … he has a knife held to his throat … so the ‘cellar door’ has taken him back … to (a kind of) reality … the two Worlds’ … have now ‘collided’ …
Gretchen gets run-over … and the car is driven by … ‘Frank’ … Donnie shoots him … in the eye, killing him - this is now ‘reality’ … and we are ‘reliving’ the last few hours of Donnie’s ‘fantasy’ 28 day countdown … in ‘flashback reality’ - but still ‘fantasy’
Roberta Sparrow tells Donnie “A storm is coming … you must hurry”
We see the valley we saw in the opening scenes … for the third time I think - this represents there is a sort-of ‘mobius strip’ going on in this fantasy/reality World … inside Donnie’s disturbed head … because we are immediately back in Donnie’s ‘salvage operation’ fantasy World … at the aftermath of his sister’s celebration party
There are ‘two Worlds’ … Donnie trying to ‘re-imagine/rewrite’ his ‘past’ … to avoid the consequences in his ‘future’ … and Donnie’s actual ‘past’ … where ‘shit happened’ and ‘people died’ … the ‘future’ he can’t ‘really’ avoid … (evidenced with the ‘cellar door’ portal)
The ‘storm’ … that we have been watching ‘28 days … 6 hours’ … to see … is almost upon ‘us’ …
We see the consequences of Donnie’s actions … he hasn’t been able to ‘rewrite’ his ‘past’ … he remains insane … his mother and sister have been killed in a plane crash because he burnt down Jim Cunningham’s house … he changed ‘everyone’s’ lives by being a ‘Notorious’ ‘Destructor’ … his girlfriend ended up dead … ‘Frank’ ended up dead … and his family has been ‘torn apart’ - just like David Lynch’s ‘Lost Girl’ in ‘Inland Empire’ (yes, this film does rate comparison to Lynch’s work … I’m sure it’s ‘cleverness’ will continue to reveal itself) Donnie Darko is a ‘Lost Boy’ … that will remain … ‘Lost’ …
“The dreams where I am dying are the best I’ve ever had”
Let me be ‘very clear’ in summary … a jet engine did not fall on the ‘Darko’ house … Donnie ‘thinks’ … in his fantasy World … that he has committed ‘suicide’ (by having the jet engine fall on him this time) … as opposed to his original fantasy version, where he tried to remove it from the future (he can’t actually change his future) - he has reached the point where he goes to sleep, on the final night of his ‘28 day’ fantasy, and dreams up another fantasy ‘going back in time’ fantasy - but this time he is fantasizing the jet engine does kill him … fantasizing (this time) he has successfully ‘re-written’ ‘his’ ‘history’ … and ‘saved’ ‘everyone’s’ (The Manipulated Living’) lives … Dr Thurman from the trauma of trying to ‘get into’ a very fractured, disturbed mind, and the ‘guilt’ of only giving him ‘placebo’ ‘meds’ … Cherita Chen is ‘okay’ from his bullying … teacher Karen Pomeroy still has her job … his father Eddie … and sister … haven’t lost mother Rose … and younger sister Samantha … in a plane crash … that he has ‘saved’ Frank Anderson … saved Gretchen Ross … saved Kitty Farmer from the trauma of knowing she sent Rose and Samantha to their deaths - the ‘reality’ is … that all these people have had their lives destroyed by his insane/selfish actions … the removal of the jet engine, and his body … is still, very much … the ‘fantasy history rewrite’ going on in his head … he is very much alive … ‘asleep’ in fantasy … his mother Rose … sister Samantha … girlfriend Gretchen … Frank Anderson … are all, very much … dead!
(So … ‘catastrophe’ happens (the plane crash, Gretchen’s death etc) … a ‘chain-reaction’ consequence of his ‘Destructor’ behavior - he ‘dreams up’ a ‘go back in time’ fantasy … to the ‘ground zero’ of that horrific ‘chain- reaction’ … effectively ‘28 days’ in the past … but his evil subconscious turns ‘Frank’ into a ‘Destructor’ too - eventually he realizes he needs ‘more help’ to maintain his ‘time travel’ fantasy to change the future (to save his family/girlfriend etc) (Roberta Sparrow) … and finally manages to create another fantasy where he ‘sacrifices’ himself … in a type of ‘suicide’ … where the jet engine actually does fall on him - he only lives a ‘28 day’ fantasy in his ‘dream’ … and will wake up in the morning … just as disturbed as ever … and, ironically … alone … as more and more people are removed from his life/are damaged by his ‘Destructor’ behavior … just like ‘Enemy’ … his life is destined to be bleak … and become bleaker - just like Inarritu’s wonderful ‘Birdman’ … ‘Donnie Darko’ is, effectively … a ‘dream’)
(Taking ‘dead’ Gretchen back to ‘ground zero’ (the valley) … of his ‘back to the future/back to the past’ mobius strip fantasy … indicates he is ‘restarting’ his ‘28 day’ fantasy again … and it is, in fact, a ‘Groundhog Day’ ‘mobius strip’ situation … he has been ‘living’ (reliving) his fantasy (going forward) … ‘back to the future’ … and come to the ‘end’ of his ‘28 day’ fantasy … ‘back’ to ‘reality’ (people are dead) … which is the ‘twist’ that takes the mobius strip ‘back’ into a ‘new’ ‘28 day’ ‘back to the future’ fantasy (in this case Donnie fantasizes the jet engine falls on him … in a kind of ‘suicide’ … ‘saving’ ‘The Manipulated Living’ … but it will always ‘fail’ to ‘rewrite’ ‘history’) … he will briefly ‘re-enter’ ‘reality’ (the ‘twist’ … which ‘restarts’ mobius strips)… then his insane mind will take him back … into another ‘Groundhog Day’ dark fantasy)
On the 31st of October 1988 (or the 1st of November … I couldn’t be bothered to actually ‘map’ the 28 days 6 hours ‘catastrophe’ date out to the hour … which could refer to the plane crash … or his fantasy ‘suicide’) … Donnie Darko … will wake up … very much ‘alive’ … and, very much … still … a very disturbed ‘Destructor’)
(I have now realized … that it is actually the ‘situation’ of Gretchen’s (and Frank’s) death … that is the ‘end’ of the ‘28 day’ time period … and the (unavoidable) ‘reality’ of those deaths … is the ‘twist’ that takes Donnie back into his ‘mobius strip’ dark fantasy … and we ‘see’ that ‘magic’)
(Donnie himself … is a ‘victim’ … of his own actions … the ‘consequences’ (the deaths) have been the ‘tripwire’ … tipping him into total insanity (we ‘see’ it) … and he will not ‘escape’ his (mobius strip) ‘Groundhog Day’ dark fantasy - just like ‘Inland Empire’ (and ‘Lost Highway’) he will ‘escape’ ‘reality’ … and ‘live’ … in a ‘fantasy World’ … his ‘unpaid bill’ will remain ‘unpaid’ in terms of ‘reality’)
What a powerful, moving film … I now think that this film is ‘right up there’ with Lynch’s work … and I consider Lynch the cleverest director/filmmaker to have ever walked this planet - I am very particular about the films I analyze/put on my ‘Keep Your Eye On The Donut’ blog … this film is very worthy!
(I will do a 'write up' of 'Joker' at some point ... but, apart from Joaquin Phoenix nearly losing enough weight to kill himself ... and his Oscar worthy performances in both 'Joker' films ... they are a 'real disappointment' and 'let-down' relative to the 'cleverness' in 'Birdman' and 'Donnie Darko' ... and could have been so much better if just taken a bit further out of the DC 'Batman' universe - I originally thought the 'green-haired' clown scenes were set in New York ... rather than a fictional 'universe' ... but they are not ... and along with a 'DC based' fictional hospital ... 'spoil' what could have been a 'masterpiece' ... with an exceptional 'set in reality' ending - I will try to find the 'cleverness' that I think is 'mia' with re-watches of both soon ... but I'm not expecting to find the 'cleverness' which 'should' be there)
Quite ‘frankly’ … this film is so poignant … so powerful … so moving … it brought a tear to my eye …
‘Donnie Darko’ … is, effectively, another ‘type/version’ of ‘Groundhog Day’ (which isn’t so much about a man (who doesn’t treat people right) reliving the same day … but a ‘message’ about making every day as ‘good’ as you can possibly make it … not only for yourself … but for those around you!) - Donnie Darko is another who doesn’t treat those around him very well … he is a ‘Destructor’ - he can’t really change his past (his ‘future’) but his insane mind continually ‘fantasizes’ the last ‘28 days’ of his life … trying to change his destiny … and the ‘affected destiny’ of those around him - he will always relive a slightly different ‘version’ of his ‘fantasy’ (trying to escape the consequences of his actions) … but, ultimately, he cannot ‘escape’ the ‘consequences’ of his actions … and change his past … or his ‘destiny’ … he will continually wake up from his ‘dream’ … in a bleaker ‘reality’ … and ‘fashion’ a new ‘28 day’ ‘time traveling’ fantasy … to try to escape his ‘insane culpability’ …
‘Donnie Darko’ is a ‘ride’ in an 'insane' mind (just like Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ … and ‘Inland Empire’ … and Villeneuve’s fantastic ‘Enemy’) and is a movie of ‘escape’ … rather than ‘redemption'
Donnie can never really change his (sad/insane) destiny … just relive his ‘last 28 days’ … every single day ... as a 'dream' ... that's why we see Donnie ... so many times ... asleep ... and therapist Dr Thurman says he is 'hallucinating during the day' ... whether he is hallucinating the entire '28 days' in one 'dream' ... or 'splitting' it into any combination of the '28 day' period he is fixating on, doesn't matter .... 'Donnie Darko' is a ride in Donnie's fractured mind ... trying to 'escape' the consequences of his actions ... over and over ... which he can never do ... he is destined to be a 'prisoner' of his own 'Groundhog Day' dark fantasy ... and the 'loneliness' of his World ... which he is trying to 'escape' ... because he 'doesn't want to be alone' ... has become very evident - just like 'Groundhog Day' itself ... this film has a very powerful underlying 'message' - be a 'good' person ... because whatever you do ... always catches up with you ... in the end!
Donnie may have 'escaped' into complete insanity ... and in his 'mind' ... 'The Manipulated Dead' may actually be 'alive' ... but in reality ... he has left a trail of destruction ... and 'very dead' bodies!
This is a very, very clever movie …
It’s a very worthy masterpiece … of both screenwriting … and filmmaking
I loved it … thank you Richard Kelly
I can’t wait to watch it again …
Very few movies … you go ‘Wow!’ …
This movie … is one of them!
Thanks for reading - feel free to email me if you have any comments, or suggestions/requests for movie analysis
plisskenboon (at) gmail.com
pb
