The Darjeeling Limited

MOVIE #1,280 •🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿• 12.14.23 WES ANDERSON: DIRECTOR FOCUS Along with Rushmore, this is one that I rewatched just last year (some extremely rare comfort viewing that I did without having to write a review in mind). Every time I see this (it was probably my fifth time this go-round) I'm struck by its tone and just how fucked up these characters are. One of the most common complaints levied against Wes Anderson is that he's too cutesy. But there's nothing cute about this (outside of maybe the graphic design on the products, packages and signage). The little perfume bottle looks cute but when Jason Schwartzman (a co-writer here) smashes it with a flashlight, the violence is striking and you can smell the aroma in the air. This is Anderson at his best: transcending the wonderful aesthetics with raw humanity.

Another reason this works so well is that these three actors are all pitch-perfect. As his films progressed and the casts ballooned, it was more of a mixed bag in terms of the performances, but Schwartzman, Wilson and Brody are Anderson all-stars. They expertly deploy the deadpan humor while keeping things emotionally grounded. It's a hard line to walk and maybe only Bill Murray — who fittingly plays the three brothers’ father in a brief, wordless flashback/dream — is as good as this trio.

I love this movie completely but something about the final act leaves me just a little cold. It loses a little steam after they are kicked off the train and save two of the three little local boys. I always find myself wanting more from the scenes with Anjelica Huston. Luckily, he wraps things up impeccably. The baggage metaphor is maybe too much even for Wes Anderson, but the closing bit with the passports is so sweet and the perfect conclusion. Up next is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, a movie I have not revisited in some time and perhaps the entry I'm most unsure about in terms of how it stacks up in the canon.

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The Darjeeling Limited is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, which he co-produced with Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, and Lydia Dean Pilcher, and co-wrote with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman. The film stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Schwartzman as three estranged brothers who agree to meet in India a year after their father's funeral for a "spiritual journey" aboard a luxury train. The cast also includes Waris Ahluwalia, Amara Karan, Barbet Schroeder, and Anjelica Huston, with Natalie Portman, Camilla Rutherford, Irrfan Khan, and Bill Murray in cameo roles. It was released on September 3, 2007.