quick thought arised while rewatching the movie

[Lucypha]

Hi guys (and girls ) - 1st of all, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes you might be able to find in my posting - I'm german.
Right now one of the greatest movies of all time (guess which ) is being played by my media player (shame on me, haven't ordered the dc-dvd yet).
After approx. 15 minutes Donnie gets to see the turbine which crashed into his house - the camera zooms into it, showing a little red spiral. Some 'lets-call-it-dramatic' music is playing.
Does anybody have a clue why this is? I'd like to hear your ideas

I watched the movie yesterday (no, actually today, 2am), and I already have to rewatch it, after having read nearly all the threads in this forum.

[gretchen]

what exactly is your question?

why there is a spiral painted on the engine?

or why there is creepy music playing?

perhaps you should do a search before posting a new thread.

if you had read nearly all the threads you would have come across TWO separate discussions on the spiral.

and i do apologize in advance if this comes off hostile or inconsiderate.

[josh]

Ich meine Director Kelly sagte, es (das Spiral) ist gleich dasselbe wie ein das auf ein Engine spater in Honolulu gefunden ist. (Telefon konversation bei das Donnie Darko offizial website) Dieses detail kann man nicht erklaren, weil es nicht sein kann. Serial nummern kann man gleich nur weider schreiben. Kein Spiral kann man zweimal genau wiedermachen.

Kelly nannte es ein "Fibonacci Spiral."

Fehler, ja. Es ist lange seit ich mein deutsch geubt habe, aber hoffentlich sind die Ideen klar. #nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys#nosmileys

[gretchen]

while the spiral may have matched the honolulu plane, that isn't really the complete answer.

ProvidencePortal said:

Nope, that's exactly right. Here's a bit from an interview with Kelly; he's asked about the details in his movies, and how important he believes they are to the story:

"... like Al Hammond coming up with the Fibonacci spiral in the center of the jet engine. I’m like, “What is that? How did you come up with that?” He’s like, “They do that. They put that in the center of jet engines because sometimes you can’t tell when it’s spinning or not when you have the headsets on.” The Fibonacci spiral ended up being the visual metaphor for the design of the film. The Fibonacci spiral was actually derived from the mating practices of rabbits."


The spiral is derived from the Fibonacci series, which is simply a list of numbers where each is the sum of the previous two. This is one of those math theorums that people feel is somewhat mystical. Here's a very accessible site on the series and the spiral: library.thinkquest.org/27890/theSeries6.html.

[josh]

No, not the full answer. Your reference to those additional details helps. Thanks #nosmileys#nosmileys

[gretchen]

well it really depends on what lucypha was asking ha... if that even answered the question being posed.

[Lucypha]

Hi.
I'm fully satisfied with that answer - now it just came into my head that it seems as if no one hasn't had any thoughts yet about the origin of Gretchen's name (I searched the forums for 'Goethe' and got no results).
It is the girl who thinks the name sounds cool, but anyone having read 'Goethe's Faust' should be able to transfer the role Gretchen takes in the movie into the book. (And if you do that, it get's really interesting - Donnie could be some modified Faust, while Frank could be Mephisto.)
I wished I had more time to explain the reference that could be made to the now about 300 years old book, but a) I'm unsure whether I'm the first one in the forums to talk about this and if I would not simply repeat an issue already made and b) I don't have enough time - let me know if you're interested, than you'll have a more detailed answer on tuesday.

[gretchen]

this has not been brought up elsewhere so you are free to elaborate.

please do

[lucypha]

Ok, I'll give it a try.
As far as I know, the name 'Gretchen' became popular because Goethe used this name for one of his characters in the famous play Faust.
To summarize, this play is about a bet between the devil (Mephistopheles) and the lord himself.
Mephisto has to pick any human being and bets that he'll manage to show him what 'real life' is - bringing him away from the path of God.
Faust, who is going to be influenced by the devil, is a wise doctor with great knowledge. He has become very old and desperate, because he has realised that he has spent his entire life not 'living' but only dealing with grey theory.
He meets Mephisto who convinces him to come along with him. They go to a witch and Faust regains his youth by drinking a special potion.
Mephisto's 1st attempt is to take Faust to a 'bar' and show him the joys of alcohol (which doesn't work).
Then the Gretchen-Tragedy starts:
Gretchen is a young girl (~ 14 years old) and Faust falls in love with her.
I'm gonna cut most of the story out, just want to highlight that in the end Gretchen dies (just like in the movie - though reason for that is slightly different).
That's the end of Faust I. (There is a part II, too )
At the end of the play Faust dies (saying 'Make this moment last forever, it's so beautiful') and is rescued by the 'good forces', he therefore reaches heaven.

Now, I just noticed the similiarities - someone taking Faust (Donnie?) away from his usual life and confronting him with real life. This part is done by Mephisto in the play and by Frank in the movie.
In both play and movie Gretchen plays an extremely important role for the protagonist.
Also the endings seem kinda similar - Faust dies seing the beauty of life after being taken on a 'tour' by the devil himself and Donnie dies, after Frank giving him the extra days of his life.

K, this theory does not take into account at all the PU/TU, but I think, one could work it in.