The Darjeeling Limited

The movie Darjeeling Limited is about the three brothers reunited in India for a spiritual journey after their father died. The three brothers are played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman. It is directed by Wes Anderson, who also directed Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaum. The movie is very stylized in the way that the Westerners see the mystique of the Eastern world. India is portrayed by its faded colonialism and crowdedness. How does this play into the relationship of the brothers I am not sure.

There is a short film before The Darjeeling Limited, called Hotel Chevalier. It is like a prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, with Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman. In a way, it solidified Jason Schwartzman's character, but throughout the actual film, Natalie Portman's character became like a whiff of smoke, neither here nor there.

I like how Owen Wilson's big brother character kept on making "agreements" to control his little brothers, only to have them break the agreement almost immediately. Also how Anjelica Huston turned out to be the mother who ran away from everything (no wonder the boys were confused). It's a film about family, I think, more than about brotherhood. Sure, they reached an understanding at the end of their spiritual journey, but that seemed really slapped on at the end for effects.

Generally speaking I did not dislike the movie, but it was hard for me to get through, that's for sure. I liked The Royal Tenenbaums better.