After a little over two-and-half years since the release of “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” indie director Wes Anderson seems to have done it again.
Written by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, and Jason Schwartzman, the film follows three estranged brothers as they journey through India on a train called The Darjeeling Limited. The Whitman brothers, played by Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody, reunite for the first time in nearly a year since their father’s death.
Though Wilson is a regular in Anderson’s films and Schwartzman has starred in 1998’s “Rushmore” and 2007’s “Hotel Chevalier,” (a short film starring Natalie Portman that serves as an introduction to “The Darjeeling Limited” released Sept. 26) “The Darjeeling Limited” is Brody’s debut in one of Anderson’s films.
The film begins with a cameo by another Anderson film favorite, Bill Murray, racing through traffic in a taxi in hopes to make The Darjeeling Limited on time. Whilst the train leaves the station, Murray runs along the track, only to be passed up by Peter Whitman (Brody) who catches up with the train in time to make it. We later find out that Brody’s character, Peter, is the middle child of the three brothers and has embarked on the spiritual quest in order to escape the inevitable fate of fatherhood; a fate that lies inside of his pregnant wife’s stomach back in America. Jack Whitman (Schwartzman) is the youngest of the three brothers.
A quirky creature who writes short stories, Jack is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and frequently checks her answering machine.
The eldest of the three brothers, Francis Whitman (Wilson) is the one who not only arranged the voyage, but also, had his personal assistant map out the journey, going so far as making laminated itineraries for each of the brothers.
Notably controlling, we later find out that this is a trait Wilson’s character inherits from his mother, a nun residing in a convent in India, who the brothers “stumble” upon at a later point in the film.
The cinematography is exactly what you’d expect from Anderson which, depending on how you feel about his films, can be a good or bad thing. Anderson does an amazing job of showcasing the landscape of India in a fresh and invigorating way. Anderson is known for paying attention to every detail and in this film, it shows.
The film is magnificently scripted and his vivid use of color in every shot helps to make this film the masterpiece that it is. Every time I watch one of Anderson’s films, each shot looks like it could be a beautiful photograph just by itself and the case isn’t any different in this film.
This film echoes the sentiments you felt if you saw “The Royal Tenenbaums” but if you weren’t a fan of that film, then I doubt that Darjeeling will impress.
However, if you were moved by the acting in “Bottle Rocket,” impressed by the cinematography in “Rushmore,” and found “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” to be hilarious, “The Darjeeling Limited” is a must see.