Through a Glass Darkly

When I first saw the James Stewart vehicle Harvey, and later was part of a theatre production of the stage play that the film was adapted from, I was struck by the single character quirk requiring that a person must have some other person to open up to, to share feelings and thoughts. As Stewart walks through the film and confides with Harvey, a tall rabbit that only he can see, my mind goes through all the permutations of how this man relates to his inner psyche and why he needs a make-believe friend. When others in the film begin to see the large rabbit, the film moves from a comedy of manners into fable, the life of a rabbit that was always there but now can be seen by those who understand its value to society. In 1950 when the film was released it stood as a positive prediction of what the world would do in the aftermath of World War Two.

Donnie Darko is the perfect inversion of Harvey and in its own dark vision of the despair of teens growing up in the early 80s and the Reagan years, it utilizes a number of styles and techniques to present the point of view of lead character Donnie, a young man suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and medicated by his therapist.

In a world of little hope and anesthetized senses, any feeling is better than no feeling at all. Donnie Darko offers no hope nor any constructive measures to convert the dark world of these teens. We’re left with the vapid philosophy of Fear versus Love as post-modern social dichotomy.

At a portentous moment in the film Donnie rises and walks the night in some sleep state while hearing the voice of school mate Frank (dressed in a bunny costume with an evil grinmacing mask). While his father Eddie Darko (Holmes Osborne) watches the Dukakis and George Bush debate on TV a large turbine from a jet plane comes crashing through the roof above Donnie’s bedroom. This moment holds an important moment for the director because of the political message he sends out. The film at one point allows the lead character Donnie to return to this moment as if this were the defining moment in the rest of the film for the welfare of those he loves.

The film has more than a few ironic humorous moments. The sign on the refrigerator door first reads “Where is Donnie” when we are introduced to the lead character as he comes in from a night of sleepwalking. Later the writing on the sign reads “Vote Dukakis” as Donnie’s Dad opens it for a beer to watch the Dukakis / Bush debate on TV. Then the sign reads “Frank was here went to get beer” during the Halloween party as the mystery of the film unfolds. What’s also interesting is that the handwriting is the same in very instance, as if Frank was coming into the house to write the words himself.

The literary references are layered in the film too. Donnie reads “Watership Down” in his English class and when asked to discuss the events takes the attitude that the Rabbits in the story are alive and horny and so everything is okay, further establishing that the pure act of existing in this post-modern world seems enough for this teen. The script works this into the presence of Donnie’s friend Frank that appears and instructs him to commit terrorist acts on the school and neighborhood.

Capping off the scene where Donnie takes Gretchen to a movie theater advertising a Halloween Fest line up is Frank’s appearance and the cinematic references to how these teenage characters are being influenced by their culture. This is the first time we see the character wearing the rabbit costume, and during this encounter additional development of the themes are put forth. When Donnie leaves the theater we can see that the movies in the double-header are “The Evil Dead” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”. This is one of the best statements of the intertwining themes of Divine Intervention and Teen Nihilism that make up the tone of the movie.

In this world there are two competing beliefs that of the feel-good new age philosophy Cunning Visions and the Philosophy of Time Travel. Cunning Visions is a philosophy of people, a formula of categorizing emotions into either areas of love or fear. The Philosophy of Time Travel is a theory by a former Nun who becomes a teacher and writer.

At one point in the film when Donnie discusses time travel with the Science Teacher, he asks about divine presence in regard to Stephen Hawking’s book on space A Brief History of Time. When Donnie begins to argue that God can create a worm hole through which time travel can occur the teacher refuse to continue for fear of losing his job. It is the sense that something outside of our bodies can control our destinies, and one of the great mysteries of the film that the filmmaker dissects for us. An irony that the film points to the laws of man built to prevent discussion of it in public education environment.

Great lines:
Donnie: How’s it feel to have a whacko for a son?
Mom: It feels wonderful.

No matter how you slice it the film is about outsiders and their choice of madness to rely on in a world of little hope for the future, ultimately stating that a man’s madness is his own choice.

The unexplained events that take place in the film are designed excellently by the director Richard Kelly to draw the viewer into the film more dynamically to apply our own reasoning to what it all means.

It is this type of intelligent filmmaking that, regardless of its dark themes, brings us back for repeated viewing as the imagery and themes remain long after the last scene fades to black.

I found a great new copy at Amazon.com for $13.99 Dollars. Great movie for endless discussions about the meaning of life and comparing high school war stories.