The Darjeeling Limited (DVD)

...
Having been to the cinema to see this just yesterday afternoon (November 24th 07), I decided this morning that I wanted to type up a review of the movie now as/while I remember it pretty vividly. Obviously the DVD isn't out yet as its only just come out on general release in cinemas but this review can help people decide if they'd like to see it at the cinemas and/or on DVD when that is released.

- Main Credits (non-actors, ...
...Story -

The Darjeeling Limited is a Wes Anderson movie (his 5th movie, his earlier movies being Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, ive submitted reviews on all these movies except the Royal Tenenbaums so far, feel free to check them out if that interests you) and its all about three brothers - Francis (the eldest, played by Owen Wilson), who has an injured and bandaged face throughout ... more

- Introduction -

Having been to the cinema to see this just yesterday afternoon (November 24th 07), I decided this morning that I wanted to type up a review of the movie now as/while I remember it pretty vividly. Obviously the DVD isn't out yet as its only just come out on general release in cinemas but this review can help people decide if they'd like to see it at the cinemas and/or on DVD when that is released.

- Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) -

Source:- IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838221/fullcredits)

Director - Wes Anderson
Writers - Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman
Producers - Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Scott Rudin
Co-Producers - Alice Bamford, Jeremy Dawson, Anadil Hossain
Associate Producer - Molly Cooper
Cinematography - Robert D. Yeoman

- Background & Story -

The Darjeeling Limited is a Wes Anderson movie (his 5th movie, his earlier movies being Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, ive submitted reviews on all these movies except the Royal Tenenbaums so far, feel free to check them out if that interests you) and its all about three brothers - Francis (the eldest, played by Owen Wilson), who has an injured and bandaged face throughout the movie as a result of a motorbike accident, Peter (played by Adrian Brody) and Jack (played by Jason Schwartzman) Whitman, who meet up together to spend some time with each other on a spiritual journey in India, travelling in a train called The Darjeeling Limited (no its nothing to do with tea).

As the movie goes on, we learn more and more about these three rather quirky characters, such as the fact that they hadn't talked to each other in a year before they met up for this holiday/journey and that the last time they were together was for their fathers funeral. Its pretty clear that there are issues within the family, each having their own problems or issues and that the brothers, particularly Francis, wanted them to have this journey to try and find themselves again and to re-connect as brothers. Francis is particularly bossy, being the 'leader of the group' so to speak, it appears that he planned the whole trip and has everything sorted for them. He often says 'lets make an agreement' and tries to control the other brothers by taking their passports and so on and because of his facial injuries, from the motorbike accident, he walks with a cane and appears like a father figure, as the eldest brother.

Peters character is shown as being someone who was close to his father when he died and he finds it hard to let go, as it becomes clear that he kept and still uses, some of his dads items.

Jack indulges himself in a quicky affair with one of the staff on the train, an Indian girl called Rita, seemingly behind the backs of the other two brothers. They all tell each other the others secrets behind their back but they probably know more than each other thinks, which is kind of funny in a way.

Unfortunately, things don't go entirely to plan on this trip, even though Francis went to the bother to hire somebody (Brendan) to create itineraries for them, which he puts under their compartments door every morning. Francis had come up with these itineraries, to be sure that they get the most of this trip entering and seeing all the Shrines and sights and doing various things to bring the three of them together. As I say, though, things don't go to plan and after an unfortunate situation with a snake and some brotherly fighting where Jack ends up apologising for having to mace the other two, they get thrown off the train, with their luggage (which is often mentioned in reviews, as the luggage is matching Louis Vuitton type suitcases with animal drawings/motifs on them), the laminating machine and printer that Francis had given Brendan to make the itineraries, all that their left with.

Where will they go? what will they see? will they be safe, left somewhere in India, will they manage to re-connect as brothers or will they end up wanting to get as far away from each as they can? also, what of their mother, who they hadn't seen in an even longer time... you'll have to see the movie to find out.

During the movie, there is an attempt of a spiritual ceremony in the semi wilderness involving peacock feathers but at first this is botched, where Francis, being as he is, is dismayed to find that the other two had lied when they said that they had read the instructions on how the ceremony works. This is a bit of a laugh, in a quirky way I guess.

- Themes Present/About Director -

The comedy in this movie is much the same and the movie is much what you would expect, from a Wes Anderson movie. There were some moments that were quite amusing, you can definately walk away from this movie with a wry smile I feel, its in the small details that you find the humour, again its pretty dry stuff but it is still there and in my opinion, its good. I have read many reviews where people seem to be quite in contempt of this movie, saying its boring, lacking in plot, its a smug movie and its even been accused of racism but I have to disagree with that. I suppose its like I've read a few people say (and I agree), either you 'get' Wes' movies or you don't, its a bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it lol and I happen to love his movies.

Its hard to quite put your finger on exactly what it is about his movies that so, I suppose enchants his fans, that may be a good way to put it, but there is definately something there, that isn't found in many, if any, other movies. All his movies feature flawed characters that are seeking something, some kind of personal enlightenment and its all in the smallest of details, that the humour comes from and that the distinctiveness of his movies arises too, I think. I like the details, the matching luggage, the small items shown at the start of the movie during Hotel Chevalier, plus his movies always seem to feature good cast, with the three main actors all giving good, solid performances in this and the ever present (in his movies) Bill Murray also appears again, if only for a very short lived appearance at the start (he runs to try and catch the train but doesn't make it) and briefly at another point, during a dream sequence.

- Hotel Chevalier -

Just to mention, Hotel Chevalier is a short mini film (about 13 minutes long) shown before the main movie. Its shot in a hotel in Paris and stars Natalie Portman as Jacks ex-girlfriend (unnamed) and Jason Schwartzman obviously as Jack and it sets the scene for his character, showing him as a rather lost and somewhat sad man, who gets a phone call from his ex asking him which room he's in. He's reluctant to give his room number away but caves in and the two of them are shown together. It seems clear he doesn't know quite what to do with himself, which leads on to the main movie, where he's then on the train in India with the other two brothers. The Darjeeling Limited is Part 2, where Hotel Chevalier is Part 1, if that makes sense (both are played one after the other in the cinemas and Hotel Chevalier is to be included in the DVD release I believe).

- Other Elements Present in Main Feature -

Back to the main movie and there is at times some quirky camera shots, I remember at one point there's a sudden zooming in on one camera which sort of smacked of old 70s/80s TV show camerawork in a way, but thats just another quirk of Andersons I guess. I also thought that the setting was beautiful at times, with some very nice cinematography... India is somewhere that ive never been but like to get some kind of a feel for, through movies like this (it was shot mainly in Rajastan, I believe(?)). The train is very colourful, with lots of blues and yellows and of course being set in India there are alot of bright colours, its a very colourful setting.

- Certificate -

The Darjeeling Limited (including Hotel Chevalier) is rated 15. Thats for strong language and probably also because there is one scene where they talk about using drugs (though they are over the counter drugs). Also there are a couple of sexual scenes, though nothing over the top and there is no real violence or anything else too offensive, from what I recall.

- Other Thoughts -

This movie is very similar to Wes' other movies, with the same sort of strangely polar mix of tragedy and comedy and the comedy coming from the mundane. Its true that you could easily wonder why you should feel sorry for this people, when it does appear that their not exactly short of money but there is something about them that does make you want to root for them and in some of the things that are said, you get an insight into their upbringing and the problems they've had.

There is a fair amount of symbolism within this movie too, though it would probably spoil it if I were to go into too much detail or give an example, really. It can be pretty touching and the theme of redemption or wanting to change the past is also present, something that I feel in some ways I can relate to.

I guess this movie is about getting lost and then attempting to find yourself again and questioning can you forget the past and reconnect to those you used to be close to, in a sense.

I thought that the characters were very interesting, each with their own 'baggage'. As the movie went on, I became more curious to find out what would become of them and their relationship and where they would go. For some background, a flashback to when they had last seen and spoken to each other, a year ago back in the US, is shown, which was also interesting.

- Will I Enjoy This Movie? -

I guess whether you'd really enjoy this movie may depend on if you feel you could relate to the characters at all, there is maybe an element of mid life crisis there but also the usual themes of redemption and finding onself, as I keep saying, are the main themes and the comedy/trageic elements, that make up the movie, thats what its really about.

If you have enjoyed Wes' other movies (listed in the second paragraph at the start of this review), then I'd definately recommend this. If not and it sounds interesting to you, then I'd also recommend it, it has the distinctively Wes 'feel' to it and, though there are other movies with similar themes or stories, it didn't feel like it was a story that had been overdone, it felt fairly original and I never felt as if it was going on too long or was overly drawn out.

I know there will be others who will disagree with me and everyone is perfectly well entitled to their own opinions, some may well think this is a boring, self satisfying movie, it depends on what you think of the director and if you really 'get' his work I suppose but personally, I really quite enjoyed it and I thought I benefitted from seeing it on the big screen, there are some very pretty shots and you get perhaps a better 'feel' for it on the big screen too. Also don't expect everything to be cleared up at the end, some things are left unanswered.

Its quirky and it has its funny moments and its also touching too. Well worth a watch.

- Official UK Website -

Also it might be worth mentioning that the official UK site for the movie can be found here:- http://www.thedarjeelinglimited.co.uk/ where you can find information on the cast and crew and the film in general. The site also contains downloads (wallpapers and buddy icons), a photo gallery and the movie trailer. Be aware that its a flash based site with lots of graphics and clips, so it will take a fair while to load on a slow connection, not advisable for anyone still on dial up or anything slow like that.

- Conclusions -

To conclude, I think its a shame that some reviews of this movie have been so negative, I can understand that not everyone will necessarily 'understand' it or particularly like it, some might think the story is slow, if you don't really connect to the characters but I just don't think its as bad as some people make it out to be, it seems. Its hard to explain, as I say it seems to be that either you love or hate the directors movies and I happen to be in the love side of things... what can I say other than I believe its worth a watch, I knew what to expect of it and really quite enjoyed it for what it was and I certainly wouldn't call it a really smug or boring or even racist movie really, what it portrays seemed pretty realistic to me, yes the westerners may seem a bit bossy but there were Indian characters too and the brothers did some good to locals as well, I didn't see it as being a racist movie as such at all.

I hope you found my review useful in deciding whether to see this at the cinema or on DVD when its finally released, thanks for reading! 

...less