Lost in Translation

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed!

Lost in Translation (2003), written and directed by Sofia Coppola (she won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay), has at its center two people who feel alienated from others and maybe even themselves as they search for what they want. This sense of feeling “lost” is dramatized by placing the main characters in a foreign land where they are not able to connect to the inhabitants due to the inability to understand the native language and some customs.

Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is an actor who is in Japan to do a whiskey commercial for a nice sum of money which he can use since his show business career has stalled. Tokyo is a modern city lit up like New York, but all the electric signs are in Japanese, which reminds Bob he is the foreigner, the outsider. Bob even sees himself in an advertisement, with Japanese writing next to his face, stressing familiarity and strangeness at the same time. Bob makes a bit or a racist joke about how his greeting is “short and sweet,” and, so, very Japanese. He does stand out as the tall one in the elevator, emphasizing how he is out of place. He receives a message from his wife, Lydia, that says he forgot his son’s birthday. It indicates that he is estranged from his family, which indicates his solitary situation.

He sits on his bed listening to classical music and looks inanimate, as if entropy has taken him over. At the hotel bar two young men recognize him and talk about a car chase in one of his films. He responds minimally to them, and escapes. He does not want the superficial and awkward intrusion of fans. He’s jet-lagged and can’t sleep. The communications he receives from his wife are not about how he is missed but instead are faxes about house remodeling which shows how removed from emotion their relationship has become. Bob’s out-of-sync existence here is stressed by curtains sliding open automatically letting bright light in his room in the morning, forcing him to wake up. And, the shower head only fits at a level that does not accommodate Bob’s taller height.

Charlotte, (Scarlett Johansson) is also sleepless in Tokyo. She is the young wife of John (Giovanni Rabisi), a very busy photographer who has little time for her and basically abandons her in Tokyo. John sleeps soundly, at peace with his life. He runs out in the morning with a drive-by “I love you,” to Charlotte as he rushes out the door. Charlotte is in her underwear a great deal in her room, suggesting she isn’t ready to meet the outside, alien world.

At the shoot for the whiskey commercial, the Japanese director goes on in his native tongue about what he wants. The translator says the director said, “he wants you to turn, look into the camera.” The perplexed Bob asks, “That’s all he said?” That confusion continues throughout the scene. What we have here is a failure to communicate (which is the famous line delivered by Strother Martin in Cool Hand Luke, a story about another outsider).

Charlotte is also experiencing alienation. She goes to a Buddhist shrine that has chanting monks. She wanted to feel something, make a connection to this far-off culture. But, she retreats to her womb-like hotel room and says in a phone conversation that she couldn’t feel anything at this religious place. She tries to express her solitary pain in the phone call but the person on the other end is distracted. Charlotte cries afterwards, showing how desolate she feels. When John returns for a bit all he talks about is his experiences.

Bob watches TV in his room and with everything in Japanese, he can’t find any distraction from his being ill-at-ease in this foreign country. It is funny and upsetting when he watches an old clip of himself dubbed into Japanese.

Then comes the hysterical “Premium Fantasy” woman (Nao Asuka) scene. She is sent by one of Bob's hosts. She shows her exposed leg with thigh-high stockings, and it sounds like she wants him to “lip” them when she actually means “rip” them. It is supposed to be some strange sexual role-playing, as she falls to the floor as if not wanting to be touched and then wanting to be. Bob is confused and embarrassed by this awkward bit of miscommunication.

Bob eats breakfast alone, but Charlotte is just as solitary walking anonymously in a crowd. Bob goes to a photo shoot for stills for the whiskey promotion. He makes jokes since the direction he receives sounds strange to him. For example, he is told to act like “007,” but he comments that James Bond drinks martinis. The director asks for “more,” or does he mean Roger Moore? More (pun intended) confusion.

Bob again seeks refuge in the hotel bar where the lounge singer (Catherine Lambert) performs in an overly dramatic manner. She sings American songs in a way that is not comforting to the visitors. Bob and Charlotte exchange amused looks and gestures across the room concerning the singing. In contrast to what has happened to them so far, there is a connection between them that doesn’t even require words. She is at a table with her husband and others but feels uninvolved with their words. She sends over what looks like sake to the appreciative Bob.

There are several funny quick scenes which show the effects of feeling out of touch with the surroundings. One such slapstick bit occurs when Bob gets caught on a runaway elliptical machine which he can’t control since it only responds to Japanese commands.

John runs into a previous photo client, a flirtatious actress named Kelly (Anna Faris). The two talk and Charlotte looks like she isn’t even there, which shows how one can be left out of the loop even when one’s own language is spoken. Kelly is going under the name “Evelyn Waugh,” which, as Charlotte notes to John, is the name of a male writer. The scene shows how inaccurate language can be if ignorance is involved.

After both can’t sleep and or find anything desirable on TV, Bob (who tries to talk to the bartender who wanders off – again no communication) and Charlotte meet in the hotel bar and begin to talk. When she asks what he is doing there, he is very frank, probably aching, despite his glibness, to connect with someone. He says he is “taking a break from his wife,” and has forgotten his son’s birthday. He is getting paid two million dollars instead of doing a play, which shows how he is admitting to being an artistic sellout. He says the “whiskey works,” so he can get a laugh to soften his opening confessional remarks. She notes that his twenty-five years of marriage is “impressive,” but he deflates her admiration by saying one sleeps one third of an individual’s life, so that brings it down to “sixteen and change.” As IMDb notes, Charlotte finds her husband and later others of her age as being superficial. She is intelligent and searching for answers, as she went to the Buddhist shrine and listens to an audio book about finding one’s true self. Perhaps that is why an older man, like Bob, might have more to offer. He says that when one is young and gets married, “you can drive but there’s still the occasional accident,” which can give hope to someone younger who is having marital questions. She notes that he may be having a “mid-life crisis.” She says that her major was philosophy,” the impractical study of a questioning youth. The older, cynical Bob says, “There’s a lot of money in that racket.” Instead of being upset she jokes by saying so far it’s been “pro bono.” They are beginning to understand each other.

Charlotte decides to go with John to the bar for a meet-up with Kelly. He is reluctant because he knows she doesn’t connect with Kelly, but she wants to spend some time with her husband. The conversation is vapid, including Kelly’s urging to have a “power cleanse.” Charlotte tells a DJ there talking about hip-hop music that she doesn’t know what he is talking about, which pretty much sums up her situation. Charlotte eyes Bob at the bar, who pretends to fall over, as if channeling what she is going through. She walks over to him, and he tells her he is “trying to organize a prison break,” to basically get out of the country. He wants an accomplice, and she says she is “in.” The scene is funny, but it also reveals how they feel trapped by their respective lives.

The soundtrack has a muted, dreamy feel to it, which reflects the unreal sense of being in a faraway land. Bob and Charlotte both use the hotel pool, and those familiar with The Graduate and Ordinary People know how that water experience can symbolize drifting with no direction. Charlotte asks Bob if he wants to come out with her to see some of her friends that live in Japan. He had said that he would be spending the week in the bar, another form of being lost in a liquid environment, so her invitation may be a wish to rescue him.

On the night out they are very relaxed with each other except when Bob arrives at Charlotte’s room. She notes how loud his shirt is by again mentioning his mid-life crisis. He goes into her bathroom and takes off his shirt to turn it inside out. Charlotte looks away, a bit embarrassed by this quick show of intimacy. The party with Charlotte’s Japanese friend, nicknamed Charlie Brown (Fumihiro Hayashi), has all young people there. Despite the age difference and even though there is still the language barrier, Bob has fun because he is with a kindred soul. When Charlotte sings her song, Bob repeats the word “special” as he looks at her. When he sings, he turns to her, as if dedicating his song to her. (When Murray sings karaoke, it brings up memories of his singing on Saturday Night Live). When she goes outside the room for a smoke break, Bob joins her and again they communicate without talking as he takes a drag from her cigarette and she leans her head on his shoulder showing how comfortable they have become with each other. When they get back to the hotel Charlotte is asleep and Bob carries her to her room. He tucks her in and there is a conflicting look on his face as she closes her eyes to go to sleep, which may be part lustful and part parental.

Bob seeks an affectionate connection with his wife on the phone as he shares what happened during the evening. She sent him carpet samples earlier and he says he thinks her choice was the best, but he doesn’t care about something so mundane. He just wants to attempt to reconnect with her. She hangs up before she can hear him say, “I love you.” They are out of sync in their time zones (she is getting up to take the kids to school and it’s the middle of the night for him) and in their feelings.

More great dialogue ensues when they go to a sushi restaurant. Bob again notes the culture clash when he says his shiatsu massage replaced his muscle tightness with “unbelievable pain.” She stubbed her toe, and he looks at it, saying it appears “dead” and he can’t allow her to put it “back in the shoe.” He says either she goes to a doctor or she must leave the toe there. He calls it “black toe,” and suggests they might serve it at the restaurant, exaggerating the type of food the Japanese eat. He employs fractured English and calls it “brack toe.” (There is a lapse in political correctness in the film since he uses the difference in cultures to elicit humor. However, there are beautiful scenes involving religious, social and marriage rituals).

Bob takes Charlotte to a hospital and again there is no understanding what the information clerk says so they must wing it even when it comes to a health issue. There was a good deal of improvisation in the film, because, after all, you have Murray to work with. As he waits for Charlotte to be seen, Bob tries to imitate Japanese with a patient speaking to him in his native language. Bob’s responses are so off the mark that there are two ladies in the background getting hysterical as they listen to Bob’s fractured Japanese. One of my favorite playful lines in the film occurs after Charlotte gets an x-ray of her toe (where, of course, she has no idea what the doctor is saying). Bob is waiting for her with a huge stuffed penguin doll. She asks if it’s for her and he says, “Yeah, it can be for you,” acting as if he bought it for himself.

Despite their bonding, there are several scenes still where Bob and Charlotte are by themselves, looking for diversion from their loneliness. Bob plays golf by himself, and Charlotte looks at pictures of herself and John, which suggests that she only has memories of how nice it once was between her and her husband. It could be that she sees Bob’s failing marriage as a foreshadowing of her own marital collapse.

Charlotte calls Bob and says he can meet her and Charlie and his friends at a club. It turns out to be a strip club and there is an almost naked woman contorting her body to the sounds of a sexually explicit song. When Charlotte arrives she asks where Charlie is. Bob hysterically says he is taking “dance lessons,” as she sees Charlie ogling the woman dancer. She wants to leave and again Bob is on the same page as her even if their surroundings are not.

Both still have insomnia, and given how long this inability to sleep has been going on it indicates the depth of their alienation. They spend time in Bob’s room. He notes her sadness since he has hardly seen her smile. Charlotte demonstrates her perplexity with the Japanese language, and Bob jokes that the locals switch the r’s and the l’s for “yuks” since the natives are not amused by the foreigners. When in doubt, he goes for the laughs to make it easier to deal with unknowable stuff. She says, “Let’s never come here again because it would never be as much fun.” Her line says so much. It shows how she is enjoying his company. It also indicates that she sees them as not ending their relationship because it points to future experiences together. However, it also shows how some joy is fleeting, and can never be recaptured.

They lie in bed next to each other and have a serious conversation. She says she is “stuck,” not knowing what she wants to be. She tried writing and photography, and felt she wasn’t measuring up. She wants to know if finding yourself gets easier. He reassures her that once she matures she will be more self-assured. She appreciates his honesty about how “hard” marriage can be since his wife used to need him around and now she doesn’t. He frankly admits that having kids is scary, but eventually is very rewarding. They are emotionally intimate, and the only physical contact occurs when he touches her foot, and this act is sweet and tender.

Originally, Bob wanted to get out of the country as soon as possible and that is why he didn’t want to do a talk show in Tokyo. But he now says he will extend his stay and do the show since he doesn’t want to leave Charlotte any sooner than he must. The talk show host is very over-the-top, wearing clothes that look like he stole the material from an awning. He does a strange welcoming dance and Bob, as usual, looks like he walked through the looking glass into a strange new world.

Bob receives a call from his wife while he is in a tile tub filled with water. She says the burgundy carpet he liked is not in stock and he should pick out another color. He says she should pick it out because, “I’m completely lost.” When she implies that he is making a big deal over a carpet color he says, “That’s not what I’m talking about.” We know he’s talking about his whole life. He says he wants to eat healthier the way the Japanese do. She snidely says he could stay in Japan and eat like that all the time. When he asks about the children, she again is on the offensive, saying they are getting used to not having their father around. After they hang up Bob sinks below the water, symbolically showing his marriage is also in jeopardy of going under water.

In the bar, the lounge singer sits next to Bob, smiles at him and says “Hi.” The next scene is Bob in bed and the singer is in his room, showing that they spent the night together. Bob does not look happy about what he has done, implying it was not the answer to his feeling of loneliness. Charlotte surprises Bob at his door asking if he wants to go to a restaurant. She hears the woman singing to herself in the background, and this discovery leads to Bob and Charlotte’s first “accident,” as Bob would say, on their relationship road. At the restaurant they are both sullen. She is sarcastic when she says it makes sense that he slept with the singer since, “she is closer” in age to him (than Charlotte, is the implication). She is jealous, and says, “Maybe she liked the movies you were making in the ‘70’s, when you were still making movies.” Her comment takes a shot at how old he is and suggests that he is a has-been. He retaliates by suggesting she is showing immature narcissism when he says, “Wasn’t there anyone else there to lavish you with attention?” Charlotte’s feeling “lost” is signified by her not being able to tell the difference between the offerings on the menu. Their very brief estrangement is seen in the fact that they are now silent.

A fire alarm wakes them up and while waiting outside Bob’s comic stance as he wears his kimono brings a smile to Charlotte’s face. They again bond as they criticize having to cook their own food at the restaurant. He’s leaving the next day and she says that she will miss him. At the bar, he admits he doesn’t want to leave. She says, “So don’t. Stay here with me. We’ll start a jazz band.” They are revealing their feelings for each other more openly now. The “jazz band” reference could show how they are in rebellion against what is around them, including the mediocre music that has been playing in the bar. They exchange a slightly off the lips kiss goodnight.

Charlotte says goodbye to him in the lobby unable to show a public display of affection despite Bob’s extended longing stare at her since there are a bunch of local people present who were attached to Bob’s visit. As he is driven away, he sees Charlotte walking in the street. He stops the car, and they share an extended hug and a long kiss. He whispers to her, and she says, “Okay.” There has been debate about what he says. But that isn’t the point. It is between them, a final act of connection in a disconnected world. The last shots are from the inside of the car, and we get Bob’s perspective as he now wishes he didn’t have to leave a city he first didn’t want to visit.

The next film is The Big Lebowski.

Donnie Darko

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed!

Donnie Darko (2001) has the theme of sacrifice to save others, but the demonic rabbit costume in this cult favorite has become iconic, so the movie also has an anti-Easter feel to it, too.

The film starts ominously in a dark outdoor setting with thunder in the background. The name of Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) fits the setting. He has been lying on a mountain road in his pajamas next to his bicycle. It’s an odd place to have bedded down for the night. He appears to be waking up from a strange dream. His smile seems to contrast with the threatening situation, which points to the opposing forces in the film.

The contrasts continue as what follows is a sunny day with the title of the film then shown, the character’s name offset by the brightness of the image. Donnie rides his bike past a sign announcing a Halloween event, a fitting notice for this spooky tale. The soundtrack song is sung by Echo and the Bunnymen. Rabbits are important to this story, and give a decidedly anti sweet, Easter feel to the tale. Here a rabbit may suggest the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland and the idea of going down the nightmarish rabbit hole. (In Celtic folklore, there is the character of a pooka, a kind of ghost, that sometimes manifests itself as a hare, and can bring about good or bad occurrences, which fits in with the contrasting theme of the film). If you want to see all the times that a rabbit appears, go to IMDb.

On a supposedly proper suburban lawn Donnie’s father, Eddie Darko (Holmes Osbourne) uses a leaf blower, but abruptly points it jokingly at his teenage daughter, Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal) as she strolls by. The phallic-shaped tool adds a twisted incestual suggestion to the scene, sort of like the garden hose at the beginning of Blue Velvet, implying something dark below the tranquil suburban setting. Donnie’s mother, Rose (Mary McDonnell) is outside at the back of the house reading the Stephen King book It, another creepy image undermining the possibility of safety. (IMDb notes that this novel’s nemesis is dressed like a clown, and much later there is a clown in Frank’s car that is dressed likewise. It adds to the Halloween motif). Donnie walks past his mother weirdly not saying a word considering a note is written on a piece of paper on the refrigerator which says, “Where is Donnie?” (Who would post such a message about a missing family member this way? It adds to the surreal nature of the movie).

At the dinner table Donnie is sarcastic and combative with his sister, Elizabeth, who reveals that Donnie has not been taking his medication. We discover he has a history of schizophrenia accompanied by violence and is prone to sleepwalking, which explains why he woke up on a country road. After dinner, Rose confronts her son about where he goes off at night. He is very hostile telling her to get out of his room, and he calls her a “bitch.” She says she doesn’t recognize him anymore, and that may exhort him to later take some of his medication.

Later in the night we hear a distorted, deep voice telling Donnie to wake up. Donnie sleepwalks again, following the voice to the hedges at the back of the house. He sees the image of a man wearing a grotesque rabbit costume with long upright ears. The rabbit, who is called Frank (James Duval), says he has been watching Donnie and announces, “twenty-eight days, six hours, forty-two minutes, twelve seconds … That is when the world will end.” Donnie took his meds. Is he seeing clearly, and this apocalyptic vision is real, or is his mental illness defying treatment?

The night scene cuts to a TV displaying static in front of the sleeping Eddie, an image representing a lack of communication and comprehension (and possibly a reference to the TV in the ghostly film Poltergeist). Elizabeth comes in the door and immediately thereafter the house shakes as a loud noise sounds. Eddie awakes and runs in slow motion adding to the unreal happening. The film abruptly shifts to the daytime and Donnie is asleep on a golf course, another contrasting image of oddness appearing amid suburban tranquility. That same unnerving jolt out of the ordinary occurs when Donnie gets home and finds a jet engine being hoisted off his house. His family is outside and his younger sister, Samantha (Daveigh Chase) tells Donnie that the large piece of debris fell in his room. If it wasn’t for his sleepwalking, his dive into the surreal, his real world would have ended, but in a bizarre way. Elizabeth tells Donnie about the airplane engine, “They don’t know where it came from.” Now that’s very weird, because there is usually a plane around when one of its engines gets detached.

The FAA arranges for the Darko family to stay at a hotel. Eddie remembers about a young man who died on his way to his high school prom, and says people said the boy was “doomed.” Eddie wonders if that could be Donnie’s case. But his son escaped his fate. Or did he?

Back at school Donnie is sort of famous for escaping death. Teacher Karen Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore) is the defiant teacher who worries about losing children to “apathy,” and the principal later fires her for her counter-culture ways. Here she discusses “The Destructors” by Graham Greene. (October 2 is the day on which Frank tells Donny the world will end. That is Greene’s birthday, according to IMDb. It is thus fitting that the man who wrote about destruction is tied to demise here. In the fiction piece, children break into a house not to steal money but to burn it. Donnie comments that it is an act of rebellion to change things. His comments fit with his antisocial, hostile attitude toward the world as it is.

Another strange incident occurs when Eddie drives Donnie to his therapist, Dr. Lillian Thurman (Katherine Ross). A disheveled old lady with fly-away gray hair stops in the middle of the road and checks her mailbox, which she does every day, and there is never any mail. It’s sort of like a Waiting for Godot scenario, where meaningless action perpetuates. Her name is Roberta Sparrow (Patience Cleveland), also known as Grandma Death. Her appearance fits that nickname. When Donnie gets out of the car to see what’s going on, she whispers something to him, which Donnie does not divulge at this time. We later learn that she pessimistically stresses how every living creature dies alone. Since dire events center around Donnie, it makes sense that a reaper-like person should be contacting him.

Donnie tells Thurman that his new imaginary friend, Frank (the guy in the weird rabbit costume), told Donnie to follow him “into the future.” Donnie says that Frank telling him that the world would end soon was “stupid.” Yet, he calls Frank a “friend,” which sounds as if he is conflicted about Frank’s presence.

In a class, the health teacher, Kitty Farmer, an uptight person, doesn’t teach but plays videos featuring Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze) which focus on overcoming fear. There is an atmosphere of foreboding in this film right from the opening scene, followed by Donnie’s personality, the scary rabbit, and the airplane engine accident. (By the way, the movie Harvey deals with James Stewart’s character talking to a human-sized rabbit that is invisible to everyone else. This film is a dark version of that scenario).

Spooky Frank wakes up Donnie again and Donnie appears to be sleepwalking (sleepwalking is a kind of twilight area between waking and sleeping). This time he is carrying an axe. Later, the school’s mascot, which is represented by a large statue of a bulldog, has the axe buried in its head. And the words. “They made me do it,” are written in paint on the sidewalk. Since Donnie committed the vandalism, his free will seems to merge with the dictates of the supernatural that charts the destiny for everyone. However, his words also sound like what a schizophrenic would say. The danger surrounding his personality permeates the movie. He also uses the axe to flood the school by breaking a water main. Donnie fits in with the Greene short story since he is a destructor forcing change to occur.

Donnie gets to know the new girl at the school, Gretchen Ross (Jenna Malone). Since she has just arrived, she is an outsider, like Donnie. Her past adds to her lack of normalcy. Her father is at-large for having stabbed her mother and she and her mother changed their names and are in hiding. Donnie says he was once in jail for accidentally burning down a house, which shows his antisocial past, and a foreshadowing (there is a fire in the Greene short story, remember). She comments that his name sounds like a comic book hero. He responds by saying, “What makes you think I’m not?” He is being funny, but the dialogue adds to the unreal nature of the story, and points to Donnie maybe having special abilities. (If you have watched “the Big Bang Theory,” you know the talk about how comic book characters have alliterative names: Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Clark Kent, etc. As IMDb points out there are many alliterative names in the film and references to comics, which contribute to the film’s imaginary worldly nature). Donnie shows his intelligence by helping her with an assignment. She comments that he is “weird,” and Donnie has heard this before and feels he is being dismissed; but, she tells him it was a compliment. This story inverts what most consider to be positive and negative. He says that if the school hadn’t closed their moment together here would not have happened. His comment suggests the idea of various timelines. The two quickly decide to be a couple since they are compatible in their nonconformity.

In another session with Dr. Thurman, Donnie repeats how he looks in many of his scenes. His head is bent forward and he looks up, unblinking. Jake Gyllenhaal said, according to IMDb, that he used this look to appear more psychotic. Thurman hypnotizes him, but even his subconscious is rebellious as he refuses to answer her questions, dwells on sexual topics, and is about to masturbate when she terminates the session.

At a PTA meeting, Kitty Farmer rants about the teaching of “The Destructors” because the young people in that book break a water main and flood a house. Since the police suspect that students may have been involved with the vandalism that included flooding the school, Kitty is connecting the dots. Teacher Karen Pomeroy defends her selection by saying the story is “ironic,” suggesting the tale is not a “how to” act piece. Rose questions if Kitty even knows who Graham Greene is, and Kitty reveals her ignorance by citing the TV show “Bonanza,” whose star was Lorne Greene. While the PTA meeting takes place, Frank again visits Donnie, telling the youth he got away with his axe-wielding actions. Donnie continues to take his medication which implies Frank’s appearance is real. Frank says he can do anything, and so can Donnie. The will of the one merges with that of the other. When Donnie asks where Frank came from, the crazy rabbit asks Donnie if he believes in “time travel,” which becomes what the movie revolves around.

Kitty is again teaching her class based on Cunningham’s videos. Donnie has a card that notes a hypothetical character finding a wallet. He is supposed to fit her actions onto the evaluation line that stretches between fear and love. Donnie complains how the whole exercise is meaningless because everything cannot be reduced to these two emotions. Later, in the principal’s office, where we learn Donnie’s test scores show him to be brilliant, Kitty reveals that Donnie, basically, told her to shove her exercise card up her ass. Donnie continues to be the defier of social convention.

Donnie asks science teacher Mr. Monnitoff (Noah Wylie) about time travel. He talks about wormholes, and then gives Donnie a book entitled The Philosophy of Time Travel, which was written by Roberta Sparrow, the strange mailbox lady, who once was a nun, and then a schoolteacher where Donnie attends. Her character is a merging of science and spirituality. Donnie relates to Thurman that Frank mentioned time travel and now he finds out about Roberta, so he concludes the linking of the two is not a coincidence. Donnie takes the “alone” part of the message Roberta whispered to him as meaning that it is absurd, given life’s inevitable solitude in death, to search for the existence of God, and thus, the general meaning of life.

Donnie is waking up from a nap in a chair in his house while his father and pals watch a football game. Donnie seems to be between the awake world and the sleep world most of this movie, and just like Edward Norton’s character in Fight Club, it’s difficult to tell whether or not he is in a dream state. He sees fluid-filled tubes coming out of Eddie’s chest, and also out of Elizabeth and himself. They point to where a person is going. In a way they are predictors. IMDb notes that director/ writer Richard Kelly got this idea from watching John Madden make illustrations of where players will go in a play. So, it’s appropriate that Donnie sees this effect while a football game is playing. Donnie follows his tube and it takes him to his father’s closet where he finds a handgun. As Anton Chekhov said, once you introduce a gun the writer better fire it later.

Donnie would like to kiss Gretchen since they have been going out for two weeks, but she wants it to be at a time that the world shows its beauty. She coincidentally mentions time travel now, stating her wish to be able to go back and replace troubling images with lovely ones. Even though they are in a beautiful park there is a “fat guy” as she puts it, watching them while smoking a cigarette. In this place, it is difficult to maintain the beauty Gretchen seeks. Donnie does not share Gretchen’s hope for that wonderful moment. The next scene is that of Dr. Thurman telling Donnie’s parents that their son is becoming more detached from reality because he finds life increasingly “threatening.” She recommends more therapy and medication for his schizophrenia. This scene is intercut with shots of Donnie using a knife to stab at Frank’s eye across an invisible force field that he seems to be penetrating. Is he trying to destroy his hallucination? Or, is he trying to cut across the barrier between the world we know and the one beyond?

Jim Cunningham presents his personal growth spiel to the high school students. He talks about a struggling individual named “Frank.” Could this reference point to Donnie’s own struggle? Cunningham says that fear is intertwined with premarital sex, smoking, and drinking alcohol. IMDb notes Donnie engages in all three in the movie, showing that he defies the restrictions on these temptations. Donnie gets to the microphone and admits to feeling lost and afraid (probably because of his loneliness), but he says Cunningham is “the antichrist,” a guy who is profiteering on the anguish of others, and not offering any real solutions.

Donnie tells Gretchen that what he has been seeing is described in Roberta Sparrow’s book, so he says what is happening to him is not random. He discusses his theory with Mr. Monnitoff that these tube-like projections show one’s destiny, and that are a way of seeing the predetermined future. The teacher says if someone could see his or her destiny, a person could then change it, negating predetermination. But Donnie sees, or wants to see that we are not alone, and that the future paths can’t be altered by individuals since they are part of God’s cosmic plan. Monnitoff wants to stick to science and not religious matters, implying he could lose his job if it appears that he is influencing a child’s faith.

Donnie now finds Cunningham’s wallet and knows where he lives. So, he is in the position of how to act that duplicated the exercise in Kitty’s class that was based on Cunningham’s teachings. Gretchen and Donnie do a presentation to the science class with illustrations about getting parents to put these glasses on their kids when they sleep. They call them IMG’s which are infant memory generators. Gretchen argues that pleasant images will be shown to instill positive memories in the children. Two guys say the nightmare of this dream proposal could occur if parents might show satanic visions, and they mention Gretchen’s violent father. It’s as if Gretchen wants to create a parental experience that would counter her own life events. Gretchen runs out of the school and Donnie follows her, apologizing for the boys’ statements. She then kisses him, maybe because she is realizing she shouldn’t wait any longer for a perfect moment to happen, since it probably never will.

Again, keeping with the Halloween holiday, Donnie and Gretchen go to the movies to see a horror film, The Evil Dead. But that movie is shown in conjunction with The Last Temptation of Christ. It is a foreshadowing since that movie deals with sacrifice to save others. Gretchen falls asleep. It appears Donnie may be nodding off also, and then Frank appears. Dream or reality? Donnie asks Frank, “Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?” To which, Franks says, “Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?” What is really below the surface? Is it man or beast? The lighter and darker sides of reality join here as Frank takes off his headpiece and reveals the eye injury that Danny inflicted upon him. Frank apologizes because he knows what’s coming. A portal opens and Cunningham’s house appears. Frank tells Donnie to burn it down.

Even the dance presentations of children for a Star Search competition show contrasting images. One girl awkwardly dances to an angelic soundtrack and then the performance of the young girls called Sparkle Motion (which includes Samantha Darko) is more rock and roll. Cunningham hosts the event, which we find adds a creepy element. The fire reveals a secret room, a “kiddie porn dungeon” in the house. The police arrest Cunningham. The fire, a destructive act, brings to light a horrible crime. The scene reminds us of the opposing movie titles on the marquee and suggests that there must be sacrifice to set things right. It also reflects what Donnie said about how the Greene story shows that “destruction” is a form of “creation.”

Kitty is not willing to see the facts and remains loyal to Cunningham (does his name show he is a cunning fellow, fooling others, another example of false appearances?), thinks there is a conspiracy to frame her beloved idol (the film showing relevance to current events). She will work to defend Cunningham, and, despite Rose’s animosity toward her, she asks the other woman to fly with Sparkle Motion for a competition. This request brings up the airplane aspect of the story.

Rose sees a calendar with an illustration of the scary bunny on it. The days are crossed off, which we know is the countdown to Frank’s “end of the world” prediction. Rose is concerned about Donnie and wants him to be okay. He asks what it’s like to have a “wacko” for a son. She says it feels “wonderful.” Her allegiance reminds us of how Gretchen feels about Donnie’s questioning mind.

In a session with Thurman, the hypnotized Donnie confesses to his crimes and says he must do what Frank says so he can figure out what is happening. He sees Frank (again as he crosses into dreamland) looking upward. Donnie says he must build a time machine. He says, “the sky’s gonna open up.” Here is another reference to the airplane and its missing engine.

There is one day left until Frank’s predicted day of death. Eddie is away on business and Rose is with Sparkle Motion. Donnie and Elizabeth decide to throw a Halloween party with their parents gone. Everyone is wearing a costume except Donnie, whose “man suit” is a costume hiding his nightmarish self. Gretchen arrives distraught because her mother took off. She says, “I guess some people are born with tragedy in their blood.” Obviously, she is a perfect match for Donnie. They make love while Rose does not receive Dr. Thurman’s phone warning about Donnie since the mother is away. There is also a call from Rose saying that she and the girls will be returning on a late flight. Later, Donnie has on a skeleton outfit, which shows the tragedy intertwined with his life.

Donnie sees those fluid tunnels again, which point to what will happen, and he knows that time is running out since it is one hour to Frank’s deadline. He and Gretchen go to Grandma Death’s place. He knows that time travel connects Grandma Death to Frank. Karen Pomeroy wrote on the board before leaving the school the words “cellar door,” which someone said were the best combination of words in English. There is a cellar door at the house. We are going below the surface again to reveal what hides in the shadows. The school bullies are there, with stockings over their faces trying to hide the nastiness underneath. They drag Donnie and Gretchen outside. One puts a knife to Donnie’s throat and Donnie utters, “Deus ex machina.” In Greek theater, the gods were supposed to reside above the stage and when the playwright wanted to resolve conflicts the “god” would be lowered in a box to dispense supernatural abilities. It has come to be a negative term to show resolution by contrived means. Here the film is playing with the idea, since time travel is the story’s “deus ex machina,” and that is why Donnie calls it the “savior,” which also recalls “Christ” mentioned in the film title on the marquee.

A car approaches at a high speed. Grandma Death is in the road, presiding over the events. Gretchen is thrown into the road and the car strikes and kills her. The car stops and turns around. The driver is Frank. He is wearing the scary bunny outfit. He takes his headpiece off. Donnie has his dad’s gun and shoots and kills Frank. Again, the site of the wound is the eye, a frequent symbol in films (Blade Runner, Chinatown, Bonnie and Clyde). Here, it can refer to the terrible visions that Donnie has been seeing. It’s as if the dead Frank came back through time to inform Donnie of the horrors that would occur.

Donnie takes Gretchen’s body with him to his house and kisses his sister goodbye. Donnie envisions dark clouds forming a time tunnel in the sky. He drives to where the film began on a hillside road. We hear Monnitoff’s words about all you need for time travel is a wormhole and a metal craft entering it. Donnie also remembers Gretchen saying that it would be nice to go back in time to make things better. The plane that Rose is on hits the turbulence of the time tunnel, and we see the engine going into the tunnel. Donnie also goes into the tunnel. He comes out laughing in his bed. He is not out of the house as before when the engine hits. He is killed this time.

Donnie wrote a letter to Grandma Death, saying that he hopes the answers to his questions “will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.” He does get his information while asleep, and it is his world that comes to an end. Perhaps he is now at peace, and he may feel that he will survive in some spiritual form, and that those alive will lead good lives.

The camera glides over all the characters in the story, as the song “Mad World plays with the fitting lyric, “The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I ever had.” Those words could fit what happens to Donnie. Gretchen, who in this corrected timeline didn’t meet Donnie, is alive. She rides by on her bike, and exchanges a sad look with Rose, and a wave. It was a worthy sacrifice.

The next film is Lost in Translation.