Mysterious, dark, tangable, multilinear film.

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2004)

The opening scene, straight away struck me to be intriguing. The music is eerie, it's a local neighbourhood, yet it's desolate, except for one teenage and his bike next to him. The use of this green grassy sub-urban area would normally represent happiness and security but for this character it shows desolation, my road in particular has neatly cut grass and due to speed bumps isn't that busy either. Whilst sitting down it is almost as if he has sub-consciously creates this disaster and that he has created Frank to sort out the problem as well I found the use of the bicycle to symbolise deformation of this boy's psychology. The fact that originally he is on terra-ferma and is in a solid' place confirmed his sanity is there. However once on the bike that represents an imbalance, for when he stops, he was fall off or have to dismount. I myself cycle a great deal, particularly at that age and particularly down hills (because unlike walking, downhill is basically a free ride). If Donnie was walking a greater stability can be perceived, however the use of the bike going down the hill shows a lack of control and an irregular velocity as he speeds up and slows down. Jake plays an adolescent and it is his expressions that capture Donnie's appearance and bewilderment surrounding the events that unfold around him. Richard's use of a teenager going through puberty illustrated the kind of viewpoints and distorted images that a person of that age can experience; they have a lot of hormones in their body and a lot of pressure from many directions being placed on them, all of which can negatively effect the psychosis of that individual. This altered vision and paranoia that Donnie is experiencing has led to the creation of a wormhole; a paradox with many subsequent turnouts that greatly affect the story and the flow of the plot. This is not a simple storyline from A to B, but once the jet engine is seen falling from the plane, we see that an extra tangent of this story has been created and this now has to be transposed into this once linear plot by the viewer. Once the timer to `the end of the world' is announced, we the spectators sit back and relax, simply awaiting the tale to unravel it self with the gradual countdown to the end of the film. Yet the time travel twist alters this experience and obviously involves the viewer more deeply; it adds a greater mystery element, as to what other surprises we should be expecting. The obscurity of the accidental' turbine also leaves the observer to consider how this came about, long after watching the film. It instils a sense of doubt as to how could this event come about, yet being a paradox the scenario is impossible, but it's the underlining fantasy element in an otherwise drama and thriller that adds to the greatness in this film. This leads us to the character of Frank the rabbit. Firstly it's a strange name for what would be classes as a pet, yet it's clear this is an independently wild strange creature. It's a human name, if it was someone's pet a more suitable name for him would be Fluffy' however it is clear that he is anything but that. The use of Frank as his name is appropriate because it is giving us the first hint that this is a human after all. Secondly, I saw frank as a scary character. His alien looking being literally adds an extra dimension' to the storyline. He is represented as a hard shiny metallic beast and I perceive the multi-reflecting surface of Frank illustrated the point that he had many personas, duties and represented numerous abilities (most obviously that it was just a costume with someone else inside). I to am like a chameleon, occasionally wearing more creased clothes and responding differently to different people.
Throughout the film Frank has had different personalities. He has represented the hero and the key to knowing when the world will end, yet he brings with it death and anger, which is shown when he is confronted by Donnie in an automobile and Donnie realising he wanted a greater uninhibited independence. Its interesting that this occurs at night where, despite being able to see superficially further at night, the real world is in darkness. I had a rabbit called Rifkin; it was grey and died on my birthday. I to can familiarise myself with the character of Donnie.
I liked the symbolism used in the film, I have already mentioned some references but the use of sleep to show which individuals Donnie had touched was a lot of fun to work out where his influence had been centred. This has had an affect on my particular sleep pattern and wonder if there's someone I have or haven't interacted with that day, and whether that's affected my natural order of things to get to sleep.
The costumes used by April Ferry were really well inspired. The use of grey for Donnie showed a dull, neutral repression. It showed his generally lack of enthusiasm and absence of creativity. From this I've taken some initiative to wearing the hooded bit more of my tops (like right now) and experimenting with different hood colours so you see the world blinkered but with a different hue or tone making up the edges of your peripheral view (greater for females, because they have a wider angle of vision).

I look a lot like Donnie, tall, slim, with short dark brown hair, this is probably the most obvious influence this has had on me, as for the use of the bicycle, I have got ridden of my car and now cycle to work. I don't have a skeleton costume but I have been seen about in a homemade dolphin costume (pictures available).