The Darjeeling Limited,
a Wes Anderson dramedy from 2007, has an all-star cast, and takes place in
India. Three brothers reunite to take a trip across India on the Darjeeling
Limited, a train perhaps more fantasy than truth. It is rated R for language.
Francis (Owen Wilson) has organized the trip following the
death of their father. He is a controlling and meticulous man, much to the
chagrin of brothers Peter (Adrien Brody), and the youngest, Jack (Jason
Schwartzman). All have skeletons in the closet, secrets they have kept from one
another for years. The alliances among the three of them alternate between two
confiding in each other, and then the other telling the secrets he’s just heard
to the other one. Typical sibling dysfunction.
I had hoped to see more of India’s countryside during the
film, but the action mainly takes place on the train. Jack has an eccentric
ex-girlfriend (Natalie Portman) whom we first learn about while watching the
short film Hotel Chevalier, a sort of
prologue to The Darjeeling Limited.
Lasting only 13 minutes, it was offered on the DVD I had of the film, and I’m
glad I watched it first, as references to the relationship between Jack and his
ex-girlfriend are made during the main film.
Their mother Patricia (Angelica Huston) has run off to a
convent in India, and Francis reveals that the trip is really about going to
find her and have a sort of family reunion. During the train ride and stops in
towns, the three brothers have, shall we say, adventures. Very unexpected events
that serve to bring them closer together, and in effect deal with the loss of
their father.
This is not Wes Anderson’s best film. (Read my early review
of Wes Anderson’s film The Royal
Tenenbaums on this site, and definitely see The Grand Budapest Hotel.) My favorite so far of the works I have
seen by Wes is Moonrise Kingdom.
Today I will also be posting my review of that delightful story, a kind of
double feature for you. Instead of watching The
Darjeeling Limited, instead I recommend you view a brief video on YouTube of an ad that Wes Anderson made
for H&M. The setting takes place
on a train and features the Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody.
An aside here is that Adrien Brody first came to my
attention in the Spike Lee film, Summer
of Sam, playing a disturbed young man so brilliantly, it took his
Best Actor role in The Pianist for me
to forget that persona. He is a gifted actor, and films I have enjoyed him in
include King Kong, where he played
Jack Driscoll, and a small turn as Salvador Dali in Midnight in Paris, where Owen Wilson had the starring role. Those
two films are well worth watching.
This short ad has a delightful ending that I really loved.
Give it a watch and may your holidays be filled with peace: Come Together-H&M directed by Wes Anderson
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