My favourite film

Film Review: The Darjeeling Limited

Year: 2007

Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures & Collage and American Empirical Pictures

Director: Wes Anderson

Cast: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray

Plot synopsis: In an attempt to help them recuperate after their father’s death, Francis Whitman (Owen Wilson) takes his brothers: Peter Whitman (Adrien Brody) and Jack Whitman (Jason Schwartzman), on trip through Northern India on a Train called The Darjeeling Limited. As the movie progresses We find out that Francis had tried to commit suicide, Jack had been living unemployed, in a hotel in Paris for a year in an abusive relationship, and Peter wants to leave his 8-month pregnant wife. After taking a lot of drugs, buying a snake and getting kicked off the train, they end up saving two drowning Indian boys, but couldn’t rescue one of them. They then attend his funeral which sparks their decision to go see their mother (Anjelica Huston) who was living in a Catholic convent in the foothills of the Himalayas. Finally, after their mother runs away the morning after their arrival, they decide to board another train, The Bengal Lancer, symbolically throwing away their luggage as they try to chase the train. 

The main reason why ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ is my favourite film is mostly due to the fact that my favourite director is Wes Anderson. All of his films, and this one in particular, are incredibly different and original. All of his films are incredibly wholesome, but have extremely heavy motifs such as suicide, addiction and crime. Additionally, each of his characters in his film are unique. He never repeats a character, and they are all extremely well developed. This talent for creating such unique characters is further enforced by the fact that he typically uses the same actors in all of his movies (excluding a few ‘big-name,’ actors, like Bruce Willis or Gwyneth Paltrow). For example, Owen Wilson is in all but one (Moonrise Kingdom) of Wes Anderson’s eight feature films.

What made this film especially special to me was, its limited cast and powerful storyline. Without divulging to much into it, the three brothers dynamic and death motif were especially engaging and interesting. In addition to this, the cinematography in the film is phenomenal throughout. Wes Anderson does beautiful establishing shots of both the barren northern India landscape and of marketplaces, funerals and temples. Finally, almost all of Wes Anderson’s films end well, and this is certainly the case with the ending of The Darjeeling Limited, which gives you a happy and wholesome feeling.