To be fair, the world really wasn't in balance, and I like Never Tear Us Apart song by INXS better. The Director's Cut contains nothing offensive, just more scenes to help express the narrative. It's clear from many of the futuristic abstract, or even animated, shots during the pivotal moments of the film (either version) that the whole universe is caught in a sort of paradoxical loop or glitch centered on this one town where a plane engine falls from the future. The humans are then repeatedly herded like sheep to compel Donnie (the sole individual most affected) to use gifted powers to restore the balance—essentially, to give a reason for the plane engine to fall. This fits in line with his own knowledge of himself as a hero or savior, and the legacy he wants to leave upon his sacrifice.
The one thing most people often miss about Donnie Darko is that the protagonist in the film, Donnie, is not a narrator. He knows more than we as the audience know, and it's a mystery story for us to work out the details of events. Of course, there are others who just bask in the surreal, and that's great too. To be analytical, though, Donnie communicates with "Frank" more than we're shown or privy to and he's been given info which he just hints at being "the end of the world." He knows that something special is needed from him from Deus Ex Machina. He knows that he, his friends and family, are basically like lower-beings, like the rabbits in Watership Down. If he's the key to restore balance, it's probably not gonna be good for him. I mean the plane engine fell in his room after all. So yeah, he dies in the end and eliminates the glitch. Then, we hear Mad World by Tears For Fears with a corrected universe moving forward. Nice song choice here too. Gretchen Ross, Donnie's girlfriend whose life he saved, doesn't even remember him. Very chill ending. Solid flick. Two great Tears for Fears tracks, as it uses Head Over Heels too, to introduce many of the characters.
The Killing Moon sucks. Absolute trash.
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