cartesianthought

Minimalism can be an eye-opening message for anyone who hasn't been exposed to it, but for most, it's too little too late. Documentaries like Food Inc and An Inconvenient Truth were ahead of their time, coming out before the zenith of the information age. But minimalism has pervaded through blogs, books, Youtube, college lectures and TED already, and making this documentary at this time was a very safe choice.

It has a little bit of everything, some dialogue from semi-famous bloggers (and Sam Harris), a few anecdotes, pictures, data, some shots of Americans being iphone-addicted slobs. It has a lot of good one liners but doesn't particularly go into any one thing in depth. I don't think I walked away from it knowing anything I didn't already know.

Every now and then, I do need a little reminder to cut back on my excess and focus on quality rather than quantity, and this movie does that. It's useful for that.But this joins a long line of works with the cliché message of "avoid consumerism, find fulfilment in your life and live in the woods maybe".

It starts out as a rather standard American Beauty type of movie about conservative versus liberal values and teen angst. But Donnie Darko is no typical movie. It quickly escalates into hallucinations, supernatural events and even the law of the universe's timetravel.

Some moments are profoundly scary, such as the rabbit costume. The directing is superb. Yes, there's some plot holes, contrivances, time paradoxes and inconsistent stances on determinism, but the lore is pretty complex, and unless you want to read it somewhere online, you're best off with just your own unadultered interpretation of the film's events. Good luck figuring everything out. Its very complex and there's so many things I could say. I don't think I'll ever get what happens, but the pieces are certainly there for anyone fascinated enough to arrange them.

From the beginning, I was allured into it. The plot of this movie is more supernatural and magical than some of his others. It's largely a mystery and psychological thriller, but it has elements of numerous genres as well.

It's full of different plot twists, and while some things one can figure out well in advance, others completely took me off guard. Almost every moment gave me a feeling of apprehension and excitement. Everything in the film feels uncanny and too good to be true, yet so convincingly done. The evolution of the protagonist from a do-gooder, to a heartbroken lover to a total wreck is done swiftly though impactfully.

I love Hitchcock. There's a certain feeling you get when you watch a movie that's more than just a movie. It's something special.