The Darjeeling Limited

I was reading some reviews of Wes Anderson’s new film The Darjeeling Limited, and someone had the balls to say that it was too much like Anderson’s previous efforts. We should be so lucky. Wes Anderson is truly gifted when it comes to filmmaking. His stories have meaning, his visuals are playful and engaging, his points of view are outstanding and his characters are quirky, and not just for quirky sake as many copycats have done. In Royal Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic and even Rushmore, Anderson dealt with a large cast of characters that beautifully demonstrated the many different strands of human nature. With The Darjeeling Limited, like Bottle Rocket, Anderson focuses on less people to really explore human emotion fully.

Before watching The Darjeeling Limited, the audience is treated to Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier starring Jason Schwartzman and the amazing Natalie Portman. The thirteen minute scene beautifully shows the end of love in both its quiet moments and its sharp dialogue. Not only is this film great on its own, but it wonderfully sets up Shwartzman’s Jack character in The Darjeeling Limited. I almost wish that Anderson made two more short films to set up the other brothers.

The actors in this film are phenomenal. Owen Wilson plays the controlling oldest brother, Francis. With lists, questions and promises, Wilson hilariously takes on a fatherly role despite his brothers’ objections. While his head bandages were distracting at times, they served the film as a metaphor of his injured spirit. Justified quirkiness at its best. Jason Schwartzman quietly and strangely plays the youngest brother, Jack, who is drawn to love to fill his void. Not your typical romantic lead, Schwartzman’s ‘smooth’ moves reminded me of his Rushmore days hitting on Rosemary. Rounding out the trio of brothers is Wes Anderson newcomer, Adrien Brody (The Pianist, King Kong, The Village). Brody perfectly plays the middle child, Peter, with his contempt for his older brother and his condescension for his younger brother. His selfish nature is wonderfully shown through his kleptomania and a wonderfully told flashback sequence. These three actors are amazing and fun to watch as they go on their spiritual and emotional journey.

Like all Wes Anderson films (this one also written by Roman Coppola and Schwartzman), The Darjeeling Limited uses metaphor, quirks, clever one-liners and fascinating characters to tell his story. I do find it interesting how most of his stories deal with rich individuals who have a hard time expressing themselves. While the spiritual journey begins on the train, it doesn’t truly get started until long afterwards. Even when you think they have learned all there is to know, Anderson takes you even further. Sure, you may see through the symbolism behind the large amount of baggage that gets carried around throughout the film, but there are plenty of subtle symbolic details also thrown into the storyline.

Along with great acting and a compelling story, The Darjeeling Limited is wonderfully filmed. Anderson has a unique point of view when it comes to his camera work. His close-ups, slow-motion and tracking shots are par for the course, but in this film he also excelled at panning. Each pan of the camera is for a specific purpose. Sometimes it’s played for laughs but many times it shows growth with each movement of the camera. Of course, it helps the film to be shot using the brilliantly colourful setting of India. The landscapes, the building and even the people bring a heightened sense of beauty to this film.

I love Wes Anderson pictures, so I obviously think everyone should see his next chapter of great filmmaking. Granted, The Darjeeling Limited is hard to find, since it’s not playing at every big theatre, but I feel it is definitely worth your time. With great acting, great cinematography and great storytelling, how could you go wrong? And if that’s not enough for you, Bill Murray is in it.