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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #577 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Family tension again provides dramatic comedy in Wes Anderson's new film, The Darjeeling Limited, about three American brothers travelling by train to find their reclusive mother in rural India. Like The Royal Tenenbaums, this film succeeds because of its smart, funny script in addition to the visual beauty of India and its luxurious locomotive transportation. In Darjeeling, the oldest brother, Francis (Owen Wilson), blackmails his two younger siblings, Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), into travelling to a monastery where their mother, Patricia (Anjelica Huston), has been in hiding as a nun. Supposedly embarking on a spiritual quest, the three men reminisce about the recent death of their father, and the family's irreconcilable problems previous to their reunification. Though they do find Patricia, Francis, Peter, and Jack grow immensely from another brush with death, this time an Indian boy they try to rescue, giving the film an added conceptual depth that Anderson's previous films have been accused of lacking.

Co-written by Roman Coppola, The Darjeeling Limited is a finely-tuned critique of American materialism, emotional vacuity, and lack of spiritualism, presented in ironic twists and gorgeous cinematography and lighting recalling Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller. A lovely, poignant sequence occurs while the three brothers attend a traditional Indian funeral, and flash back to their father's one year prior. Moreover, the film's soundtrack culled from Satyajit Ray's films and vintage Kinks gives the film a timeless feel, removing it from the predictable indie rock scoring of independent releases. By far Anderson's best film thus far, The Darjeeling Limited offers a much-needed dose of cultural self-reflection, pillared against India's ever-evolving yet ancient religious backbone. --Trinie Dalton, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Wes Anderson, the creator of RUSHMORE and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, offers another quirky, melancholic riff on familial ties and father issues in THE DARJEELING LIMITED. Francis (Owen Wilson) has invited his brothers, Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and Peter (Adrien Brody), to join him on a train trip for a spiritual quest through India. The brothers have been estranged since their father's sudden death, and each is now embroiled in his own personal drama. Jack is being toyed with by his two-timing girlfriend, Peter's wife is about to give birth, and Francis recently survived a car crash that nearly killed him. As the train chugs its way across India, the brothers try to reconnect, but mainly end up arguing and sharing pharmaceuticals. Francis admits that the real reason he lured them there is because he wants them to visit their mother (Anjelica Huston), who is living in a convent in the Himalayas. Peter and Jack are none too pleased with this plan, and immediately want to go home. The trip hits another snag when they are kicked off the train for a series of offences. Stranded with their mountain of matching luggage, Peter and Jack are now insistent upon leaving. However, they suddenly find themselves brought together by a deadly accident involving some Indian children.
The film bears all of Anderson's trademark touches--stilted comedic dialogue, blunted emotions, and bizarre set pieces that pay subtle homage to the 1970s. Though the film is a bit quieter and less madcap than his previous work, it is still sure to delight his many fans.

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Customer Reviews

Familiar style
If you've seen Wes Anderson's previous two films (The Life Aquatic and Royal Tennenbaums) then you will be very familiar with his style of movie making. I certainly enjoyed this film. For me it doesn't quite match the wit, charm and humanity of Royal Tennenbaums, but it's very close. The use of visual metaphors and the skilled use of music to heighten key points of the story, is very effective in Darjeeling Limited. I really like the characters of the three brothers and was very moved by the section of the film when they stay in the village (I won't say too much because I want to avoid spoilers). The acting is superb and natural throughout, by all the cast.

Anderson can probably make films, he can't write scripts
I keep getting caught out. I like the sound of a film. I get it. Then I realise it's Wes Anderson and I think, this one's got to be good. And then the boredom sets in. No hook, no jokes, no action, no sympathetic characters and no story - just pretty pictures and a very distinctive style. Owen Wilson has a great presence and whatever he says should be funny, but in this film he's going nowhere. The train is cool, the brothers look as if they could be intriguing, but they just are. The rhythm of the film is all wrong.

I didn't know what Hotel Chevalier was all about - and having watched it, I think it belonged with Paris Je t'aime.

Aware of the sunk-cost trap when my DVD stalled about 2/3rds of the way through, I started looking it up on Wikipedia and IMDB and realised it wasn't worth finishing. Somebody please tell me why people like Wes Anderson films...

Magically Compelling
"Precious, in any case, is a word with two meanings, which both might apply to "The Darjeeling Limited." This shaggy-dog road trip, in which three semi-estranged brothers travel by rail across India, is unstintingly fussy, vain and self-regarding. But it is also a treasure: an odd, flawed, but nonetheless beautifully handmade object as apt to win affection as to provoke annoyance. You might say that it has sentimental value." AO Scott

Surrounded by the vision of India, we find two brothers joining the third on a voyage across India. Frank, played by Owen Wilson, has convened the group to bond, as they once did. Frank has his head and face swathed in bandages, after he tried to "off" himself by running his motorcycle into a tree. Their father died a year ago, their mother left then to join a convent, and we are left to wonder 'what is this all about'? Adrian Brody plays Peter, and he wears his father's sunglasses, and tells his brothers that their father loved him best. Jason Schwartman plays Jack, the youngest and the one who loves the sweet lime and the sweet women.

So, here they are, each of them with several pairs of Louis Vuitton baggage left by their father, traipsing across India trying to loosen and leave their virtual baggage behind. They travel by train until they so annoy the Indian conductor he throws them off. Then by foot and taxi, off they go. We learn a little bit about each of them. They meet up with their mother who has become a nun in a monastery, and there they try to unload their emotions. She listens but apparently it doesn' take. Frank tries to let go of his scars. Peter tells them his girlfriend is about to deliver a son, and he is confused about it all. Jack breaks into his ex-girlfriends voice mail and relishes what he learns. All in all a melancholy trip, a humorous trip and a compelling trip. I found the films a little on the weird side, but I could not stop watching. What was going to occur next? We never know what is around the corner- it keeps us off-guard. Did the brothers achieve their goal? The layers of emotion come undone in a way when they confront their mother, the nun, played by Angelica Houston, in a role like none other.

"The movie meanders. It will therefore inspire reviews complaining that it doesn't fly straight as an arrow at its target. But it doesn't have a target, either. Why do we have to be the cops and enforce a narrow range of movie requirements? Anderson is like Dave Brubeck, who I'm listening to right now. He knows every note of the original song, but the fun and genius come in the way he noodles around. And in his movie's cast, especially with Owen Wilson, Anderson takes advantage of champion noodlers." Roger Ebert

Jack, the youngest listens on his IPod to a song that will stay with you throughout the movie and swirl around your head. The song by Peter Sarstedt 'Where Do You Go To My Lovely?" It is a lilting, catchy song that resonates with me.

'But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head'

Highly Recommended. prisrob 05-13-08

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