very difficult to understand ... but I love it

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2003)

Donnie Darko is one of the most confusing film I've ever seen. It is difficult to understand because it is based on the fictitious theory of time travel invented by Roberta Sparrow (Grandma Death), one character in the movie. The theory is elaborated in her book "Philosophy of Time Travel". The book appears in the movie but unfortunately the audience never get the chance to know the detailed contents of the book, and without knowing the details of the theory many things happened in the movie become unexplainable and misterious.
I saw the movie twice but it was still a riddel to me, but even I could not fully understand it it still attracted me a lot, which I think it was mainly due to the performance, cinematography, sound effect and music. It has an enchanting dark atmosphere which I like. Then I searched the website and found the book "philosophy of time travel" and understood the movie.
I think the plot still has some flaws, although it may be my misunderstanding. One thing, if my understanding is correct, at the end of the movie Donnie sent the engine of the airplane from the tangent universe back to the primary universe to eliminate the tangent universe because otherwise the tangent universe will collapse into a black hole which will devour everything. But the problem is where the engine at the beginning of the movie come from. Because at that time Frank already guided Donnie away from his house it should be happened in the tangent universe.
Any way, this movie makes me think. And after seeing it I see the world with different eyes. What if I am actually living in a tangent universe and the world will end in a month? Is it possible? Such questions may pop up in my mind, and also the emotions which have been experienced by Donnie Darko.