Donnie Darko - Discussion and Questions

I have seen it twice and there are still things I don't get..........

Okay, without directing me to another confusing site........

CAN SOME ONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HE DOES THAT SAVES THE WORLD?

 

He sacrifices himself to save his family.

[edit] Maybe I should've explained it more. Through the course of the film, Donnie finds out that it would be better for him to die, so that his family and his girlfriend could have better lives. So he travels back in time to die when the jet engine hits his room.

There's a bit of a time travel paradox about the jet engine as well, seeing as his travelling through time was what made the engine fall.

I hope that helps.

 

There are lots of super hero references and etc in the movie. Basically, Donnie is a super hero with super powers and the power to do things that, when everything is set back into the normal universe, people will have a vague memory of from the tangent universe. In the end, they all realize what's important and their mistakes.

-sj loves llyod chasseur

 

One of the best. movies. ever.

 

Why was Donnie a super hero?
What powers did he have?

And Donnie going back in time did not cause the engine to fall.

I loved the movie but the real paradox was the fact that Frank seemed through the course of the film to be manipulating Donnie so that he would eventually go back in time and sacrifice himself when in fact it was Frank who saved Donnie from the falling engine to begin with.

Donnie went back in time to save his girlfriend, explain to me how it would help his family (besides saving his mother and sister from the plane crash, which he was completely unaware of anyway).

 

Careful, the Amphitheater goons will come and lock this thread, and punch each one of us in the gut for discussing film outside of the Amphitheater forum.

As for discussion, well, the way I see it, it was kind of the 'It's a Wonderful Life' scenario, but the opposite, and that the....

//runs off

 

*points to Amph. goon badge*

*punches everyone in the gut*

*proceeds*




Donnie has super human strength. He puts an ax in a statue. Donnie also has super sensitive senses. He can see the water spears that are everyone's path.

Frank wasn't really manipulating Donnie. If you read the Philosophy of Time Travel by Roberta Sparrow that's included in the dvd, you see that Frank is what is called one of the "Manipulated Dead." So is Gretchen. A higher power is using these people who, if not for Donnie, would die. They are being manipulated to in turn lead Donnie to the path that will save them.

About Donnie dying- was it necessary? I've heard several opinions on this. The thing is, at the end right before it happens, you can hear Frank (remember, his sister's boyfriend) outside honking his car horn. In the commentary, it's said that Frank is trying to warn Donnie. But Donnie just wakes up and starts laughing because of the sheer insanity of the situation. He doesn't remember that the artifact, the engine (also mentioned in the book), will still come back to the real universe.

-sj loves lloyd chasseur

 

"They are being manipulated to in turn lead Donnie to the path that will save them."

My point stays the same, If Frank or a higher power working through Frank had never gotten Donnie out of bed in the first place everything would have worked out exactly the same.

 

Well it looks like I won that argument

 

It's a rather odd point, that one. True, if Frank never woke him up, he would've died and the whole thing would've never happened.

I think that Frank was "divine intervention" - whatever you want to say it is, because Donnie didn't believe in god, so whatever higher power sent Frank.

I hate discussing the movie - it just makes me confused again.

 

So why does Gretchin wave to the mom at the end when she stops to see what happened? Was it just a pity wave or some other significance?

 

I just picked up the DVD yesterday and watched it last night! HOT DAMN!!! Now thats a great movie!! Loved loved loved it!

 

Frank woke him up the first time just to show him what would happen if he got out of bed - the end result being his girlfriend would die.

Donnie went back in time and was basically given the choice - get out of bed and save yourself, or stay in bed and save your girlfriend.

He chose to save his girlfriend, who, in turn, has some ESP sensation, and waves thankfully to the mother...

Or at least that's what I got out of it.

Vertical

 

There is no right answer I think.

It's just one of those great movies that inspire endless discussion.

 

I saw this movie last night twice, once straight through, and once with director and jakes commentary. This has just earned a spot in my all time fave top 5 movies.
What a great movie. If there were certain things you didn't understand, get the dvd and listen to the directors commentary, it cleared alot up for me.

And WOW the list of Actors was phenomenal, and most of them are tied to another actor in the film through other movies. The casting for the film was perfect, each actor did a great job, the films cinemetography was awesome. Its one film i will buy on dvd as soon as possible, ***** five star rating.
can't wait to see what this director does in the future.


Donny doesn't not believe in God, he had no opinion on whether god existed, also, the mother recognised gretchen and gretchen recognised the mother, not actually knowing them, but sort of having the feeling they know each other.
To get the most out of the film i recommend the commentary on the dvd.

 

This is one of my all time favorite movies.

Donnie had to get out of bed the first time in order to see what would happen if he were saved. By going through the ordeal he saved everyone, not just his girlfriend in the end. In the ending montage, you see everyone awakened in the middle of the night each realizing a bit of what happened to them. Ms. Farmer realizes Jim Cunningham is a fraud, Jim realizes the sickness of what he is doing, Sharita gets the moment of peace that Donnie promised, the teacher doesn't get fired (because no one flooded the school in the manner of the short story). Everyone in the town was affected and everyone remembered, or had intimations of what happened.

 

I too love this movie. I didn't discover it till recently when I saw it on cable a couple of weeks ago. I said to myself, "Self--this is a movie you HAVE to own on dvd..." And low and behold, Best Buy had it on sale for nine bucks last week!!!


**Starts dancing "The Charleston"**






Shelby

 

While reading the post on here I had an epiphany in regards to Donnie Darko.

I think it was like a retelling of A Christmas Carol.

Sounds weird? Yep.

Ok, so Donnie isn't really Scrooge but it is the same kind of premise.

A ghost from the 'future' (ie; Frank) shows to Donnie what might happen if things don't change.

The whole time travel thing is just Donnie's way of dealing with what's going on around him.

I'm Kent Brockman and that's my 2 cents.

 

At first I was left with quite a few questions but after rewatching it I was able understand it.
By dieing Donnie was able to save not just his girlfriend, but the lives of those around him.