Movie Review: Darjeeling, a Limited Success

By Chris Kornman, October 28, 2007

Over the past decade, Wes Anderson has cultivated a following that toes the line between chic hipster moviegoers and obsessive cult followers.  While his films are certainly viewed and enjoyed by many, the dedicated Anderson fan has much more to appreciate in each subsequent film in his canon.

The Darjeeling Limited arrived at the beginning of the fall season, an introduction into the serious Oscar-hunting films, and leaves less to be desired than many of its predecessors this year.  It is Anderson’s fifth, coming on the heels of The Life Aquatic, a movie that was met with little positive criticism.

Darjeeling, however, offers its viewers few of the broad strokes of humor, drama, or the magical twinkle present in Life Aquatic, focusing rather on the subtle growth and differences in its three main characters.  The film is essentially a study of the three Whitman brothers, separated since their father’s funeral and brought back together across the globe in India on a train named the Darjeeling Limited.

Francis Whitman, played by Anderson standard Owen Wilson, has organized the venture that purports to be a “spiritual journey” wherein the brothers will regain each other’s trust.  Francis, the eldest and clearly the leader of the pack, is also the most eccentric and the script lends itself easily to Wilson’s all-too-often typecast personality.

Peter Whitman, played by a somber Adrien Brody in one of his most believable roles, is the middle child and a collector of his Father’s trinkets.  He is the only brother with a family of his own, and he embodies the persona of his dead father while the anticipation of the birth of his own child builds through the film.

Rounding out the trio is Jack Whitman, portrayed by Jason Schwartzman, co-author (along with Anderson and Roman Coppola) of the screenplay, mustachioed and barefoot.  He is the youngest and most naïve of the three brothers; he is a writer who catalogues his “fictional” characters and acts as a semi-transparent homage to the screenplay’s authors.

The film’s subtle situational humor and off beat comic lines (like Francis’ ill-received query, “Did I raise us, sort of?” after a reference to the trio’s mother) pale in comparison to its dramatic value.  The film concerns itself with thematic elements involving the disparity between best intentions, fate, and spirituality.

As the train steams towards its final destination, the Whitman men find themselves relying upon heavy self-medication to cope with various ailments, not the least of which is each other’s company.  Attempts at visiting shrines, performing sacred rites, and experiencing the spiritual are often misadventurous, disingenuous, or simply not heartfelt.  At one shrine, Francis asks his brothers, “Do you think it’s working?” They respond: “I hope so, it’s got to.”  While these situations are humorous, they are more poignant when viewed ironically as a satire of the well-intentioned but misguided search for religion.

Eventually, Francis reveals that the purpose of the trip is to reunite with their estranged mother, played by Angelica Huston, who is living as a nun in a convent at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains.  This encounter proves anti-climactic.  After being ejected from the Darjeeling Limited, their destination (read: destiny) is altered, and the brothers find themselves in the midst of a small Indian village’s tragic funeral.  During this time, the details of the day of their father’s funeral are revealed, and the distrust and distance between the three is alleviated.  This occurs just a little over an hour into the ninety-minute film.

After this bittersweet moment of genuine human drama, the rest of the film feels like a tacked-on resolution.  Their mother, whom they eventually confront, is not so much a character as an amalgam of drummed-up conventional wisdom and clichés.  The moment intended as unifying in the film between the brothers and their mother is forced and uninspiring.

As the camera pans through cars of a train carrying businessmen, lost lovers, villagers, and an enigmatic tiger, Patricia Whitman says, “Lets express ourselves without words.”  As the four attempt spiritual transcendence with these minor characters, it becomes evident that the script has little more of substance to say.  Reconciliation with their mother is short-lived, as she disappears, leaving little besides feeble comic insight into the character flaws of her sons.

Full resolution isn’t achieved in the film until Francis removes his head bandages and reveals the scars of a self-inflicted motorcycle accident and says, “I guess I’ve still got some healing to do.”  But by this point, the viewer can’t help but feel the film has overstayed its welcome and driven home its uncharacteristically unsubtle intentions with less grace than Wes Anderson fans have become accustomed to enjoying.

While not a bad film, it is thinly scripted, and gimmicky cameos and an ironic lack of direction undermine Anderson’s stature as a quirkily brilliant auteur.  Certainly not the most powerful of his films or the most intricate, The Darjeeling Limited is at least a success as a “road film.” Its character drama successfully exists within the conventions of the travel genre while cautiously undermining it with subtle humor and delicate dramatic underpinnings.  Following the Andersen ideal, Darjeeling also succeeds in fusing laughter and tears, for both the film’s characters and the audience.

Comments

[Natasha]

I have to admit, I was less involved while watching Darjeeling than I was with any other Wes Anderson movie. I kept waiting for a point when I would really feel the impact of the dysfunction and how they would bond together to overcome it. Frankly, if it hadn't been for the illicit beer buzz I had worked up at RiverEast 21, I doubt I would even have been impacted enough to remember the scene where the three characters attend the funeral of a child who had died during one of their wanderings. It kills me that Wes Anderson made a hammy funeral.

But I agree - it was a good road film. I love movies shot on trains since they seem to be so suspended in time and place despite being in exotic locations. And I like Wes Anderson themes and actors in the Wes Anderson collective. Maybe it's a girl thing, but he always puts his actors in places in their lives where you just want to give them all a hug and brush the hair out of their eyes.

I guess it was a bit conventional, but it was pretty and it was tender. I expect generally more from Wes Anderson and his themes, but I've read that some people really HATED it and I just didn't think it was that bad.