View Full Version : Donnie Darko - SBS tonight 10.10pm
NIK-O-LAKI
07-Dec-05, 09:55pm
Watch it. I love this movie.
LLsparks
07-Dec-05, 10:12pm
Me too. I'm a huge fan.
There's an interactive website.
http://donniedarko.com/
Got IMDB.com for theories plus more.
Probably not a good idea until you've seen the movie.
I'm going to buy it someday. maybe in the past ;)
I think I shall play my church cd whilst viewing.
Just finished watching it for about the third or fourth time and I think I am finally understanding what it is about. I've seen the Director's Cut and it really adds nothing to the film.
The first time I saw it, I really disliked the ending, but now I can see the symmetry (I think) with the intended purpose you are meant to glean from the axiom being constructed at the beginning.:P .
One of my favourite movies. Just finished watching it for the fifth time and I'm still headfucked by the depth and complexity of the story.
mikeynom
08-Dec-05, 01:25am
I :love: this film.
own the original & directors cut.
this is an amazingly written/directed/performed film. brilliant.
Mickstah
08-Dec-05, 01:35am
Great to see this film aired on SBS with no interruptions, as ad breaks would only serve to ruin the continuity of the story (as all the commercial ridden stations seem so good at doing).
CheapThrills
08-Dec-05, 03:08am
^^^Definately with you on this one mick.
Love this movie. I was just saying it on the same shelf as Dancer in the Dark adn Requiem for a Dream
krafty_x
08-Dec-05, 08:20am
Watched it on Sunday night. Cool movie.
k_x oxo
Just finished watching it for about the third or fourth time and I think I am finally understanding what it is about. I've seen the Director's Cut and it really adds nothing to the film.
Do the website (it's like a bit puzzle/game), it'll help you understand the movie better. :)
And for everyone that thinks that it is about time travel - it's not
indie_doll
08-Dec-05, 08:55am
Donnie is just too god damn cute!
The DVD has a narated version as well.
Pretty good.
;)
NIK-O-LAKI
08-Dec-05, 09:15am
And for everyone that thinks that it is about time travel - it's notDo you want to substatiate that?
Are saying that it is travel to a tangent universe whereby the time hasn't changed where Oct 30 in universe A occurs at the same time as Oct 2 in universe B?
PertiVanHelden
08-Dec-05, 09:38am
Seen it before and loved it, but fell asleep last night watching it! Fuck!
Civic Video 'ere we come 'eh?
toilet trained
08-Dec-05, 09:40am
Yer i thought it was all about the time travel.
the one part i didnt quite get was why the guy in the rabit suit thing kept making him do shite, seemingly to stir him up so much, he took the plunge
anyway
twistedbydesign
08-Dec-05, 09:46am
Beer and pussy. That's all I need.
We gotta find ourselves a Smurfette.
Smurfette?
Yeah, not some tight-ass Middlesex chick, right? Like this cute little blonde that will get down and dirty with the guys. Like Smurfette does.
Smurfette doesn't fuck.
That's bullshit. Smurfette fucks all the other Smurfs. Why do you think Papa Smurf made her? Because all the other Smurfs were getting too horny.
No, no, no, not Vanity. I heard he was a homosexual.
Okay, then, you know what? She fucks them and Vanity watches. Okay?
What about Papa Smurf? I mean, he must get in on all the action.
Yeah, what he does, he films the gang-bang, and he beats off to the tape.
First of all, Papa Smurf didn't create Smurfette. Gargamel did. She was sent in as Gargamel's evil spy with the intention of destroying the Smurf village. But the overwhelming goodness of the Smurf way of life transformed her. And as for the whole gang-bang scenario, well, it just couldn't happen. Smurfs are asexual. They don't even have... reproductive organs under those tiny, white pants. It's just so illogical, about being a Smurf, you know? I mean, what's the point of living... if you don't have a dick?
Dammit, Donnie. Why you gotta get all smart on us?
Do you want to substatiate that?
Are saying that it is travel to a tangent universe whereby the time hasn't changed where Oct 30 in universe A occurs at the same time as Oct 2 in universe B?
Yeh I tend to look at it through the tangent universe idea. Basically, as soon as Frank wakes Donnie up for the first time, everything is occurring in the TU, and Donnie gets a picture of what will happen if the engine doesn't kill him.
There are so many theories though, and most people agree that the film was written with no specific basis, just left extremely open to interpretation.
twistedbydesign
08-Dec-05, 10:02am
You are such a fuckass.
Did you just call me a fuckass? You can go suck a fuck.
Oh, please, tell me Elizabeth, how exactly does one suck a fuck?
Davomaxi
08-Dec-05, 10:10am
Yeah such a good movie seen it a few times now. Totally unpredictable. I have to saw it's one of the very few films I've watched that have left me truly blown away.
You are such a fuckass.
Did you just call me a fuckass? You can go suck a fuck.
Oh, please, tell me Elizabeth, how exactly does one suck a fuck?
:lol:
"Now Ms. Whatever, tell us exactly what Donnie said to you."
(crying)"He told me to forcibly insert the lifeline card into my anus."
Dad starts coughing to hold back laughter.
Do you want to substatiate that?
Are saying that it is travel to a tangent universe whereby the time hasn't changed where Oct 30 in universe A occurs at the same time as Oct 2 in universe B?
He didnt travel anywhere, a tangent universe was created (due to a rupture in the 4th dimension of time) in which he already exists. He is chosen to save the primary universe by sending the engine back to where it rightly belongs, everything that happens to him in the tangent universe (particularly Frank's interventions) are designed to help him complete the task.
so he didnt travel anywhere, there is tangent Donnie and primary Donnie.
Have you done the website?
twistedbydesign
08-Dec-05, 12:43pm
"Why do I have to sleep with Donnie? He stinks."
"When you fall asleep tonight, I'm gonna fart in your face."
So really it's backwards, at the end when the engine kills him that's the primary universe ?
And the beginning is the tanget universe.
Maybe he travelled back in time to stop the tangent universe from manifesting.
So instead of sleepwalking he gets killed and stops the tragedy from occuring.
Although due to the nature of time travel, Frank is able to appear before Donnie's girlfriend gets killed.
for Frank to appear then the tragedy has already happened , and in fact happens again , which we see in the movie.
Donnie then somehow creates a hole in the time space fabric and decides to die in order to prevent the tragedy.
On IMDB someone said when he wakes up just before getting killed he thinks it is just a dream hence why he laughs and rolls over before going to sleep.
Then , we all know what happens after that.
The fact that he creates a rupture in the 4th time dimension means he has altered the sequence of events and is in fact a form of time travel ?
the one part i didnt quite get was why the guy in the rabit suit thing kept making him do shite, seemingly to stir him up so much, he took the plunge
anyway
The book mentioned in the movie, 'The Philosophy of Time Travel', explains some of Donnie's actions (and the presence of Frank). The exploration of the book was left out of the original, (but you can access it on the DVD, I think) but was added into the directors cut, or so Im told.
The fact that he creates a rupture in the 4th time dimension means he has altered the sequence of events and is in fact a form of time travel ?
He didnt create the rupture.
heres the movie as I see it based on seeing the movie about 10 times, doing the website, and a lot of discussion. posted it on a Donnie fan site a couple of years ago
ALL of the terminology and theories are directly from the website
The Primary Universe is fraught with great peril. War, plague, famine and natural disaster are common. The Fourth Dimension of Time is a stable construct, though it is not impenetrable. Incidents when the fabric of the fourth dimension becomes corrupted are incredibly rare. If a Tangent Universe occurs, it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks. Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence.
The Tangent Universe was created because of a rupture in the 4th dimension.The engine (Artifact) provided the first sign that a Tangent Universe had occurred.
The Tangent Universe was not created by Donnie waking up and moving when he was supposed to die. His actions had nothing to do with the creation of the Tangent Universe. Even though Donnie didn’t create it, he was chosen by divine power to fix it.
The book explains that Donnie is what is known as a Living Receiver which is chosen seemingly randomly. The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for it's journey back to the Primary Universe. To enable him to achieve this Frank prevented him from being killed by the engine.
Donnie has special 4th Dimensional powers (Those of increased strength (remember the axe in the Mongrel's bronze head?), supposed Mind Control, telekinesis (moving things with the mind, which he uses to open the portal and send the engine back), and the power to conjure Fire and Water (The flooding and the burning of Jim Cunningham's house)). He uses these powers (some are very subtle in the movie) to ensure that he can position the Artifact in the proper place to send it back.
If a person dies within the Tangent Dimension, they are able to contact the Living Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct. They are known as The Manipulated Dead and are more powerful than the Living Receiver. Frank (Yes, he is Elisabeth's boyfriend) and Gretchen are the Manipulated Dead.
The rest of the people around him are Manipulated Living. The manipulated living are often the close friends and neighbours of the Living Receiver. They are prone to irrational, bizarre, and often violent behavior. This is the unfortunate result of their task, which is to assist the living receiver in returning the artifact to the Primary Universe. Frank (appointed as a guide by an unknown entity) guides Donnie from his place in the Fourth Dimension
Frank and Gretchen (Frank's actions are much more noticable, Gretchen's are very subtle) are responsible for leading Donnie through the actions he needs to take in order to return the Artifact to the Primary Universe. Donnie’s failure to do this will allow the Tangent Universe to collapse upon itself, thus destroying the Primary Universe.
If you pay attention to the cause and effect of the movie, you'll see everything happens for a reason. Donnie's flooding of the school enables him to "meet" Gretchen and form a relationship with her. Donnie's burning of Jim Cunningham's house which exposes his child pornography, keeps Mrs. Farmer from chaperoning Sparkle Motion's trip. This means that Donnie’s mum must go in her place on the flight. This enables the kids to throw a party. Tangent Universe Frank (sisters boyfriend) goes to get beer and on his way back, he runs over Gretchen, causing Donnie to shoot him. At this point it becomes clear to Donnie the role he has played. The engine falls from his mothers plane into the wormhole. The Tangent Universe no longer exists as the artifact has been returned to the Primary Universe by Donnie.
Back in the Primary Universe, most of the Manipulated Living and Dead will not remember the journey, depending on their involvement with the Living Receiver. When those who do remember "awaken" from their "dream", they normally feel remorse for the actions they remember doing. You'll notice Frank touches his right eye because he remembers being shot.
Frank, Gretchen, Donnie's Mother, Rose, and his therapist, Dr. Thurman are the closest to Donnie, and are therefore the ones who remember more. In the end, when Gretchen and Rose wave to each other, even though they have never met in the Primary Universe, it is because they have this odd memory of one another from the Tangent Universe
Unfortunately, the engine killing Primary Donnie was the side effect of Tangent Donnie saving the Primary Universe. 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 receiver himself, that he would remember everything.
I believe that Roberta Sparrow had also been a living receiver in a Tangent universe in the past. Unlike Donnie it was her fate to live after her mission as a Living Receiver was complete. After this experience she left the church and wrote the book overnight(like Donnie before he was staked, she remembered all her experiences clearly).
The professor stopped talking to Donnie about time travel for more than just fear of being fired. There was more to that guy than meets the eye, as well as his wife. 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?. Also, the website said that he worked for the CIA, AND he died in a 'mysterious' car accident some time after that. He was forcibly run off the road by a 'black vehicle' that was never found.
alison87
08-Dec-05, 02:29pm
Man i haven't seen this movie for years. It's good fun. I remember when i watched it though that it reminded me a lot of Lost Highway, or Mulholland Drive which came out a bit later. I saw all these movies as being more of a fugue-type thing where the main character creates a new life to deal with the trauma, or has this whole imaginary life flash before his eyes in death. The Butterfly Effect had the same thing. It's taking the science-fiction out of parallel universes and time travel and replacing it with a study of one person's insanity.
For cool time travel movies more on the sci-fi tip there's 12 Monkeys, Minority Report, Bill & Ted, Star Trek IV etc. Planet of the Apes was kinda nifty too.
Nice post smilla. That was more or less my understanding too, though in a bit more detail. :)
Nice post smilla. That was more or less my understanding too, though in a bit more detail. :)
thanks :)
mikeynom
08-Dec-05, 02:48pm
If you pay attention to the cause and effect of the movie, you'll see everything happens for a reason. Donnie's flooding of the school enables him to "meet" Gretchen and form a relationship with her. Donnie's burning of Jim Cunningham's house which exposes his child pornography, keeps Mrs. Farmer from chaperoning Sparkle Motion's trip. This means that Donnie’s mum must go in her place on the flight. This enables the kids to throw a party. Tangent Universe Frank (sisters boyfriend) goes to get beer and on his way back, he runs over Gretchen, causing Donnie to shoot him. At this point it becomes clear to Donnie the role he has played.
This could also be called a "plot". You know... the narrative of the movie. :lol:
This could also be called a "plot". You know... the narrative of the movie. :lol:
Gee really?:thumb:
mikeynom
08-Dec-05, 02:59pm
Yeah. Surely everything in a movie happens for a reason, ie as a way of progressing the story.
I realise you've done a lot of research and thought long and hard about deeper meanings and intentions, btw.
Yeah. Surely everything in a movie happens for a reason, ie as a way of progressing the story.
I realise you've done a lot of research and thought long and hard about deeper meanings and intentions, btw.
I mentioned it in this way as it is a rare movie or book where every action is specifically designed to have exact repercussions to the degree it does in this movie (in fact I would say that it is the minority of movies these days that have a decent ‘plot’, but that’s another thread)
Maybe I'm dumb but I never picked up on the reasons behind the actions of Frank, etc the first few viewings; I guess I thought at the time that maybe there were other people that didn’t either.
TrickmA
08-Dec-05, 03:28pm
DD is the best movie ever ever ever ever
Alicia Laner
08-Dec-05, 04:00pm
dont forget the top soundtrack!
Junglejunkie
08-Dec-05, 04:35pm
You are such a fuckass.
Did you just call me a fuckass? You can go suck a fuck.
Oh, please, tell me Elizabeth, how exactly does one suck a fuck?
.
...
.....
Whats a fuckass?
Specialstu
08-Dec-05, 04:35pm
dont forget the top soundtrack!
Did they end up releasing the soundtrack with the original artist tracks or is it still just the score.
Do you want your sister to lose weight? Tell her to get off the couch, stop eating twinkies and maybe go out for field hockey. You know what? No one ever knows what they want to be when they grow up. You know it takes a little, little while to find that out, right, Jim? And you... yeah, you. Sick of some jerk shoving your head down the toilet? Well, you know what? Maybe... you should lift some weights, or uh, take a karate lesson and the next time he's tries to do it, you kick him in the balls.
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
Chut up!
Our son just called me a bitch.
You're not a bitch. You're bitchin', but you're not a bitch.
Fcuk I love this movie!
Plankton
08-Dec-05, 04:57pm
^^^Definately with you on this one mick.
Love this movie. I was just saying it on the same shelf as Dancer in the Dark adn Requiem for a Dream
Love Donnie Darko! Brilliant. Ditto on you with Dancer in the Dark. Oh i love that movie! So tragic
gymboxer
08-Dec-05, 05:45pm
Its interesting the debate over the directors cut. That version, while slightly more understandable, loses some of the mystery that made the original cut so great. But the director was never happy with the forced cuts (due to length).
So which do you prefer? And which is it playing tonight?
i bought the DVD a few months ago, just to re-watch it again to try and wrap my head around it.
a lot of profound themes, and i think i have grown up since watching it when it came out.
:P
NIK-O-LAKI
08-Dec-05, 07:18pm
Its interesting the debate over the directors cut. That version, while slightly more understandable, loses some of the mystery that made the original cut so great. But the director was never happy with the forced cuts (due to length).
So which do you prefer? And which is it playing tonight?It was last night and it was the original ...
twistedbydesign
08-Dec-05, 10:01pm
Okay, now girls... I want you to concentrate. Failure is not an option. And Bethany, if you feel the need to vomit up there... just swallow it.
In the tangent Universe did his mother and sister die when the engine broke away from the plane ?
It seems his mother had some idea of what was going to happen , lilke Gretchen , when she is comforting in his room and crying.
That is his mother is one of the manipulated living.
Also with the teacher (Noah Wylie) who seemingly randomly in the teachers lounge says to Drew Barrymore "Donnie Darko" and she replies "i know" and that's all that is said.
Donnie's laughing just before being killed by the engien serves to prove he knew what was going to happen as the living receiver
Is it clear why primary Donnie dying was a side effect of saving the primary universe ?
I don't think he has the power to conjure fire and water , he clearly is seen dousing Jim Cunningham's house in petrol.
]The professor stopped talking to Donnie about time travel for more than just fear of being fired. There was more to that guy than meets the eye, as well as his wife. 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?. Also, the website said that he worked for the CIA, AND he died in a 'mysterious' car accident some time after that. He was forcibly run off the road by a 'black vehicle' that was never found.
what?
twistedbydesign
09-Dec-05, 07:19am
she said acid
the darkomentary ( i think thas what its called) on the bonus disc of the directors cut dvd ive got is one the the funniest/weirdest things ive ever seen.
long live darko fans.. its a great great movie.
CheapThrills
10-Dec-05, 11:45am
The book explains that Donnie is what is known as a Living Receiver which is chosen seemingly randomly. The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact into position for it's journey back to the Primary Universe. To enable him to achieve this Frank prevented him from being killed by the engine.
Nice breakdown, this has got me attempting some serious thinking.
I'm a little confused, what is this 'artifact' you are talking about? As far as i can tell, only the engine travels in time, and it's not returned, it's sent.
Also, can anyone explain what this whole 'EVERYBODY DIES ALONE' thing is about?
LuvDatPoontang
10-Dec-05, 11:56am
<3 echo and the bunnymen in the beginning. and the church. and tears for fears. such a good soundtrack.
Also, can anyone explain what this whole 'EVERYBODY DIES ALONE' thing is about?
One of the theories is that this is donnie's primary fear, and the whole tangent universe thing is God showing Donnie that there is more beyond death. Hence Donnie's contentness at the end of the movie.
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