The Darjeeling Limited 2007 Movie Review

After sharing my opinion with a fellow movie lover, she conveyed the following wisdom: If you didn't like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Rushmore (1998) then you won't like this film. it is all about appreciating the work of director Wes Anderson."

The Darjeeling Limited 2007 Movie Review

My immediate after the movie review: Bad writing. Plot Boring. Mishaps that become 4. not so much predictable as unsurprising. Exceptional cast - Angela Houston the stand out performance. A lot of time building up characters that never brings any value to the whole. Exemplifies the stupid rich on a spiritual quest and mocks those who see themselves as spiritual & Indians in general. Movie is quite literally, about letting go of your baggage. Pretty good music at beginning and end. Quirky to the point of being funny at times but at other times the `love-me-I'm-so-quirkily-vulnerable' is unapealing. Could be considered a extra-dry exposition in humor.

Basic plot: Comedy about three brothers (Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody) who, to gain emotional healing and closure after the death of their dad, travel across India to find their mother who is living in a monastery.

A few additional notes on this movie.

First I did not see the pre-movie. In Venice, the movie screened with a 13-minute short, "Hotel Chevalier," identified in the end credits as "Part 1 of 'The Darjeeling Limited.' " Completed in 2005, this short shows the character Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and his ex-girlfriend (Natalie Portman) iat a Parisian hotel.

Supposedly, the short provides a potent prologue that further serves to make Jack the most sympathetic of the brothers and adds resonance to visual motifs that recur in the feature. Per Anderson, "Hotel Chevalier" will not be shown in theaters, but rather on the Internet (Itunes), at festivals and on DVD.

(I will watch the short and update this review after.)

2. I went back and watched this movie because of Owen Wilson's recent suicide attempt. I have enjoyed Wilson in movies, and it has been his lightheartedness that has been so appealing to me.

I wondered about the serious nature of this film (Boys who loose thier father, feel the need for a spiritual quest - seeking a mother who has run away to live in a remote monastery)- and the fact that Wislson's face is completely badaged.

If Wilson had died after this movie, perhaps more could be read into it. Wilson's characters injuries come from a motorcycle accident, that the script seems to allude to as a possible suicide.

Maybe when I was watching the film I was hoping to gleam some sort of clues to Wilson's sadness. The closest I got was the scene when Wilson removes his bandages, giving us a glimpse at the hidden injuries. In the next scene the bandages are back on. Message being - his injuries are covered by his outward persona.

3. Other critics have said tha this is a companion pice to the Tenenbaums which I have not seen in some time. Maybe having that movie fresh in ones mind would make the experience a little better.

4. Other critics feel that this was a masterpiece (Roger Ebert liked it). For example Bill Gibron in PopMatters writes:

"The Darjeeling Limited is a classic curry covered confection. It seems superficially sublime, only to underscore its surface with deep, philosophical power. It’s about never wanting to grow up, and discovering that responsibility ain’t so bad. It’s like listening to a beautiful song and then realizing the lyrics describe a particularly disturbing issue. Anderson may be continuously labeled as strange and unconventional, but there is something most critics can’t deny. He is a master of the medium he is so frequently called out over, and The Darjeeling Limited is both a wonderful rebuttal, and recognizable explanation, for such fractured feelings.


A telling quote from the Director Wes Anderson:

I want to try not to repeat myself. But then I seem to do it continuously in my films. It's not something I make any effort to do. I just want to make films that are personal, but interesting to an audience. I feel I get criticized for style over substance, and for details that get in the way of the characters. But every decision I make is how to bring those characters forward.-Review by Pul Grant (follower of Basho) 12/2007