Dark. Darker. Darko.

Last night was the first in our new series of films as part of Reel Spirituality (with due deference – or reference? - to Rob, Barry, et al - thanks guys!)

The film was Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut, as the first in our series on “The Outsider”.

We had some slight, ahem, technical problems, and started about 10 mins late, but overall it was a great night. Nice to see a few new faces and some familiar ones too! If you're still wondering what the heck it's all about - there's a Wikipedia entry here, covering trivia, interpretations and possiblities.


*** WARNING – the rest of this post contains potential SPOILERS ***

Issues, themes and questions that we raised as part of the discussion after the film included:
In what ways is Donnie an outsider?
Is he “mad” and everyone else “sane” - or vice versa?
Is it a film about time travel or mental health issues or tangent universes?
How do Donnie and his parents get along, connect, interact (or not)?
Do the new sections added to the film help “explain” it more?
How many other film references are there and what are they? (I think we counted at least six.)
What is the near-end sequence about – the shots of people at home, at night, in bed, crying, waking up (with Mad World played over the top)?
Is Donnie a superhero as he claims when talking with Gretchen?
Why is it set in 1988 - does Richard Kelly love the 80s, is it a device to make us think more about time, or does it serve to highlight the similarities/ differences between then and now?
Does Donnie have to die to redeem the “real” world?
Is everything in the world to do with fear or love as Jim Cunningham would have us believe?
What is the significance and symbolism of the eye/ seeing/ being seen, which appears in many ways/ forms throughout the film?


NEXT FILM:-
Here’s looking forward to the next one! It’s going to be Kes by Ken Loach on 5th November. More details in the coming weeks.