The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

As a fan of Wes Anderson's work, I decided to watch The Darjeeling Limited. I was not disappointed as it certainly met my expectations. The movie centers around three brothers who, after the death of their father, travel to India together for a spiritual journey to find themselves and their estranged mother.

Just like all of Anderson's other work, the movie is visually stunning with a vibrant and bright use of color. The usage of almost the entire color wheel creates a beautiful feeling throughout this movie. Wes Anderson has a very unique style of filming where everything is placed meticulously. People are aligned perfectly and shots and quick transitioning from subject to subject. This matches very well with the dialogue that is fast and witty. 

The humor is subtle with little jokes that will make viewers smirk for catching it. This might be Owen Wilson's best performance or at least one of them but I only heard him say his iconic "Wow" once which is very surprising. The Darjeeling Limited enjoys its usage of symbols as the bags the brothers carry throughout to represent the literal emotional baggage they carry from the death of their father. There's a strange theory that I find interesting where the three men are all stuck in purgatory after death. This would explain why the brothers stay in India indefinitely, why their mother is lost for so long and her constant disappearances and their father is not dead but left behind in reality. The final red train they board could be their acceptance of the penance around them. Although an interesting theory, I do not believe this was the intention of Anderson I could be wrong. 

Despite some good performances and great cinematography, The Darjeeling Limited suffers from major pacing and thematic issues. Tonally this movie is all over the place with themes of misery and humor wrapped in a way that doesn't blend as well as hoped. The plot meanders a bit too much sometimes getting so far off from the main point that entire scenes feel totally irrelevant. This movie is very much a mixed bag but its problem is not from a bad director but from a badly paced script. Although not Wes Anderson's best work, it is definitely not his worst. I give this movie a 7 out of 10. 
- GL

7 / 10


(Above) My favourite shot:

(Below) Runner-ups:







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Midsommar (2019)

Image
Ari Aster's 2019 Swedish cult movie started with a bang, drawing me in immediately. The first scene is gripping and haunting, as the camera slowly pans up and enters the carbon monoxide filled house. In an effort to dart around spoilers, I'll stop here and encourage readers to first watch the movie but needless to say Midsommar begins perfectly, setting the tone and theme that will dictate what the rest of the movie will be like. But then, the movie slowly falls from its interesting premise and into its surrealist abyss. The plot runs as follows: Dani (Pugh) and Christian (Reynor) are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite t...
Read More >>

If.... (1968)

Image
Lindsay Anderson's 1968 counter-culture movie, If.... ,  is best described as messy and angry. Anderson's critique of British culture is incredibly clear. The movie's plot runs as follows: Teenage rebel Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) returns to his upper-crust English public school, caught between the sadistic older boys known as the Whips and the first-year students, known as Scum, who are forced to do their bidding. The petty thefts and anti-social behavior of Travis and his two henchmen, Johnny (David Wood) and Wallace (Richard Warwick), soon attract the attention of both the Whips and the school's out-of-touch administration and lead to an unexpected showdown. There's a lot to like and dislike about If...., so I'll start with what I thought was executed perfectly. McDowell's debut performance as Mick Travis is perfect, from the minute we meet Mick we see the mischieve behind his eyes. Dressed in all black, a whip calls him Guy Fawkes. McDowell helpe...
Read More >>

Good Time (2017)

Image
I love this movie, not only is this neon-drenched movie a masterclass in the crime thriller genre, but it's certainly a testament to Robert Pattinson's versatile acting. Brilliantly directed by the Safdie Brother, the movie not only immerses the audience but also poses some thought-provoking questions regarding the United States' judicial system and the white privilege that comes with it. The plot runs as follows: A bank robber, Connie, (Pattinson) stops at nothing to free his mentally ill brother, Nick, (Ben Safdie) from prison after a bank job goes wrong. Connie launches himself into a nightlong odyssey through New York's dark and dangerous criminal underworld. For starters, Robert Pattinson is amazing. First time I watched this movie I barely recognized him. He captures the role fully, his eyes constantly darting and his body rigid and tense at all times. He brings the character of Connie to full front, embodying this antihero to the fullest. Not at one moment d...
Read More >>