I LOVE this film. I rented it out last year and only half watched it.... I wasn't very bothered. But on Saturday I bought it because its only a fiver (prism edition) but thats a little annoying as I would have liked to watch the extras! However, I do feel that some people may be off in understanding it. This is a massive SPOILER/EXPLANATION.
Written by 'Lord Roke' on
www.shoresofvalinor.com ( I take no credit! )
The movie is all about time travel and parallel universes (of a sort). It's a bit complicated, but here we go. Sometimes ordinary reality gets a bit messed up. In some very rare cases, reality branches off into a different direction. This is called a Tangent Universe (as opposed to our Primary Universe), and this is what happens in Donnie Darko.
The Tangent Universe separates from the primary one at the point where Donnie is first contacted by Frank and leaves his house. From this point until Donnie's death (and the end of the Tangent Universe), nothing that happens is real, for lack of a better word. The "creation" of a Tangent Universe is precipitated by the arrival of an Artifact, which is always a metal object that mysteriously appears in a fashion that defies all logic. In other worRAB: the jet engine that crashes into Donnie's house. The force behind the appearance of an Artifact is often labeled as divine intervention.
Once an Artifact appears and a Tangent Universe is created, a Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact back to the Primary Universe. The Receiver in this case is Donnie Darko. But this is where things start to get complicated. See, in a Tangent Universe, everyone who is NOT the Living Receiver can be separated into two groups: the Manipulated Living, and the Manipulated Dead.
Let's start with the M. Living. These folks, while they may fear and often try and stop the L. Receiver, actually have a part to play in helping him complete his task. This rings true with the movie. Donnie's English teacher tells him about the "cellar door," which tells Donnie where to go on Halloween. Donnie's Science teacher helps him understand the nature of time travel. Jim Cunningham has his house burned down by Donnie to reveal the kiddie porn dungeon, which in turn forces Kitty, the health teacher, to ask Donnie's mother to take the Sparkle Motion dance team to Talent Search, thus allowing Donnie and his sister to have a party on Halloween.
The M. Dead, on the other hand, are a lot different. Anyone who dies in the Tangent Universe becomes a special entity who is able to contact the L. Receiver through time. This is Frank, who is able to talk to Donnie in his dreams. Frank dies in the Tangent Universe when Donnie kills him (after Frank swerves to avoid Roberta Sparrow (who is retrieving a letter from Donnie from her mailbox) only to kill Gretchen, Donnie's girlfriend). The M. Dead exist to ensure that the L. Receiver is successful in his mission of returning the artifact to the Primary Universe (which Donnie is, when he unwittingly forces his mother and sister to board the doomed plane).
So. A Tangent Universe is created, Donnie is chosen as the one who must fix things, Frank is there to guide him, and everyone else in his life is forced into helping him along his way. Then the Tangent Universe collapses upon itself, Donnie dies and reality returns to the Primary Universe. However, the M. Living from the Tangent Universe still retain some memories of the events that they experienced. All that remains of the Tangent Universe, though, is their fading memories and the mysterious Artifact.
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Overall: A flemming stunning film. I've been thinking about it all weekened and look forward to seeing it again!
