That thing in the cellar is not my mother!
As a child, I was warned that there was a dragon behind the cellar door;
but somehow that caveat just increased my desire to open it.
So, what do you think I found?
Here is my solution to the Donnie Darko enigma:
--
*WARNING*
This is the proverbial bermuda triangle of discussion. The structure of this film has been carefully crafted to leave room for debate. Conspiracies abound... trust no one, stay alert, and above all, question the integrity of your own fundamental belief systems.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
--
I do think that reading motivation into the character's actions provides a great opportunity for argumentation; and many valid points can be raised concerning anyone's "grandmother's hysterectomy" (That being Richard Kelly's running joke about a particular fan's interpretation of the film). I have certainly enjoyed these discussions as much as the film itself, if not more so... However, if we are going to interpret the actual authorial intent, then we must go to the source material.
--
*ALERT*
Spoiler information ahead...
--
The part of the director's commentary on the dvd that provides any clue to the rationale behind Donnie's actions is that Donnie is said to be a superhero. During the Q&A at the Dobie, he also described Donnie as an anti-hero. Make of all this what you will, it has been left purposely vague for your own edification.
I believe that the only explicit evidence concerning the character's motivations is found in the The Philosophy of Time Travel. And this is the key:
` ` The Manipulated Dead will often set an Ensurance
Trap for the Living Receiver to ensure that the Artifact
is returned safely to the Primary Universe.
If the Ensurance Trap is successful, the Living
Receiver is left with no choice but to use his Fourth
Dimensional Power to send the Artifact back in time
into the Primary Universe before the Black Hole
collapses upon itself. ' '
My interpretation of this is that The Ensurance Trap is a plot device (a la deus ex machina), which allows the Manipulated Dead to enforce the Living Receiver's altruistic behaviour (this is the act that makes donnie a "hero").
Kudos to Richard Kelly for this finely crafted puzzle. Also, thanks and praises to paradoxosalpha & mendaxveritas for their excellent argumentation of thesis & antithesis, through which i believe to have arrived at a satisfactory synthesis. paradoxosalpha utilized an excellent kabbalistic model for his analysis, and mendaxveritas provided some fascinating gematria for Gretchen.
And just in case any of you still have your doubts, here's an extremely revealing interview that Jason Myers did with Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhall, which I read after finishing this post.
--
Along with the ET tribute, there are many other film references contained within donnie darko, which have been catalogued on imdb
Another issue related to Ms. Barrymore is her pro gun-control activism. In the original release of E.T., the government agents pursuing E.T. and Elliot had weapons in their hands; but in the 25th Anniversary edition digitally replaced them with walkie-talkies, as per Ms. Barrymore's request (that's what I remember... now where is that reference?). I would actually have thought that she would have wanted to further enhance the tragic role that the use of the pistol plays in this movie; but thankfully, they left the symbolism of the action to speak for itself. It certainly provided me with a cathartic experience; but that has more to do with the director & I coming of age during essentially the same generation and having experienced tragedy around that same times in our lives (hence the crucial success of donnie darko's dramaturgy with 1988 music, costumes, setting, props, news, books, etc.).
--
You won't find that much new material (some groovy stuff, though) in the Director's cut if you watched everything on the dvd (and have you seen the easter eggs?). The Director's cut has only twenty extra minutes of restored and extended scenes and quite a bit of that time is taken up with the chapter segue eye-candy. But don't get me wrong, i like it a lot. Since you really have to watch the movie at least twice to really get everything in perspective, I would recommend watching the original theatrical release first, having a discussion about the material, and then watching the Director's cut.
but somehow that caveat just increased my desire to open it.
So, what do you think I found?
Here is my solution to the Donnie Darko enigma:
--
*WARNING*
This is the proverbial bermuda triangle of discussion. The structure of this film has been carefully crafted to leave room for debate. Conspiracies abound... trust no one, stay alert, and above all, question the integrity of your own fundamental belief systems.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
--
I do think that reading motivation into the character's actions provides a great opportunity for argumentation; and many valid points can be raised concerning anyone's "grandmother's hysterectomy" (That being Richard Kelly's running joke about a particular fan's interpretation of the film). I have certainly enjoyed these discussions as much as the film itself, if not more so... However, if we are going to interpret the actual authorial intent, then we must go to the source material.
--
*ALERT*
Spoiler information ahead...
--
The part of the director's commentary on the dvd that provides any clue to the rationale behind Donnie's actions is that Donnie is said to be a superhero. During the Q&A at the Dobie, he also described Donnie as an anti-hero. Make of all this what you will, it has been left purposely vague for your own edification.
I believe that the only explicit evidence concerning the character's motivations is found in the The Philosophy of Time Travel. And this is the key:
` ` The Manipulated Dead will often set an Ensurance
Trap for the Living Receiver to ensure that the Artifact
is returned safely to the Primary Universe.
If the Ensurance Trap is successful, the Living
Receiver is left with no choice but to use his Fourth
Dimensional Power to send the Artifact back in time
into the Primary Universe before the Black Hole
collapses upon itself. ' '
My interpretation of this is that The Ensurance Trap is a plot device (a la deus ex machina), which allows the Manipulated Dead to enforce the Living Receiver's altruistic behaviour (this is the act that makes donnie a "hero").
Kudos to Richard Kelly for this finely crafted puzzle. Also, thanks and praises to paradoxosalpha & mendaxveritas for their excellent argumentation of thesis & antithesis, through which i believe to have arrived at a satisfactory synthesis. paradoxosalpha utilized an excellent kabbalistic model for his analysis, and mendaxveritas provided some fascinating gematria for Gretchen.
And just in case any of you still have your doubts, here's an extremely revealing interview that Jason Myers did with Richard Kelly and Jake Gyllenhall, which I read after finishing this post.
--
Along with the ET tribute, there are many other film references contained within donnie darko, which have been catalogued on imdb
Another issue related to Ms. Barrymore is her pro gun-control activism. In the original release of E.T., the government agents pursuing E.T. and Elliot had weapons in their hands; but in the 25th Anniversary edition digitally replaced them with walkie-talkies, as per Ms. Barrymore's request (that's what I remember... now where is that reference?). I would actually have thought that she would have wanted to further enhance the tragic role that the use of the pistol plays in this movie; but thankfully, they left the symbolism of the action to speak for itself. It certainly provided me with a cathartic experience; but that has more to do with the director & I coming of age during essentially the same generation and having experienced tragedy around that same times in our lives (hence the crucial success of donnie darko's dramaturgy with 1988 music, costumes, setting, props, news, books, etc.).
--
You won't find that much new material (some groovy stuff, though) in the Director's cut if you watched everything on the dvd (and have you seen the easter eggs?). The Director's cut has only twenty extra minutes of restored and extended scenes and quite a bit of that time is taken up with the chapter segue eye-candy. But don't get me wrong, i like it a lot. Since you really have to watch the movie at least twice to really get everything in perspective, I would recommend watching the original theatrical release first, having a discussion about the material, and then watching the Director's cut.