Having a holiday to India planned, I was very keen to see The Darjeeling Limited when it was released in cinemas. The film stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers Francis, Peter and Jack Whitman respectively.
The film is directed by Wes Anderson and in fact is two films, there is a short ten minute feature shown prior to the main film staring Schwartzman as Jack and Natalie Portman as his estranged girlfriend and set in a hotel in Paris. It seems a bit out of context but does explain why Jack likes to wear the hotel bath robe and listen to strange French songs when trying to seduce people when in India.
The main feature is a beautifully shot film, opening with chaotic scenes of a Western businessman in a taxi fighting his way through the streets of an Indian town to the station and running for the train. He is then overtaken by Peter who makes the train as the businessman watches it pull away. This is a journey that Peter is taking with his brothers - bossy Francis, the eldest and organiser of the trip, and troubled Jack. In fact they are all slightly troubled in their own way, not least Francis and his injuries from a motorcycle accident. We discover fairly soon in that the brothers are not as close as they once were since the death of their father a year ago, nor have any of them spoken to their mother who did not come to their dad's funeral.
The film is named because of the train they are travelling on, and the brothers are following a (laminated) itinerary set up by Francis and his assistant Brendan (who stays in another part for the train). After various amusing incidents involving poisonous snakes, pepper spray, dodgy non-prescription medicines and a pretty girl (in no particular order) the brothers find themselves having to make alternative travel arrangements with there somewhat extensive luggage. This leads to them becoming involved in a tragic event concerning three young Indian brothers and the revelation of what Francis really had planned on the trip.
The film is all about the journey rather than the destination, and at times I found it rather slow going. It is a drama with very little drama and some comedy moments; it is certainly not an out and out comedy. Sometimes I found the comedy a bit strained, as if they thought they ought to make it a bit funny at certain points, where in fact it worked more for me in the unexpected places rather than the contrived ones. The journey at times is slow, the destination a bit vague (brotherly harmony I am guessing, is at least, the metaphorical destination if not the physical one).
I cannot fault the acting in this film. Adrien Brody as been one of my favourite actors since his Oscar winning role in The Pianist, and it is good to see Owen Wilson in a less of a slapstick/out and out comedy role, and being a bit more subtle. From the leads to the support, there were some excellent performances. I also have to mention the cinematography, as when you are filming in a location like India you have an array of beautiful images and colours to work with, and Anderson and cinematographer Robert Yeoman, took advantage of these. There is also an interesting mock train scene showing a variety of supporting characters going about their lives which was very good.
Overall I would recommend this to fans of the cast or director and those who like to see images of India. Journey (again physical and metaphorical) films are not to everyone's taste, and if that is not your thing then I don't think you will enjoy this. It is not the most exciting or dramatic film you will ever see, and whilst I enjoyed many aspects of the film I am not inclined to watch it again.
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Dec 16th, 2007
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