THE DARJEELING LIMITED

Wes Anderson Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman Starring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman,Anjelica Huston, Natalie Portman, Bill Murray Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures Film will be released in the U.K. on 23rd November 2007. Review by Michael Edwards

rating: 3.5

Wes Anderson is back, and he brings with him the usual rag-tag of dysfunctional relations played by his favoured actors, in the usual kooky colour schemes and with familiar visual stylings. This time three brothers (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman - who actually co-wrote the film, and Adrien Brody) who haven't spoken since the funeral of their father meet up on a train, the eponymous Darjeeling Limited, and travel on a journey across India and through their various psychological issues. If repetition and recurrence seemed a theme in my opening paragraph, it's because this is Wes Anderson's third film that uses more or less the same cast, style, themes and plot. The journey may have been transposed from a cityscape or a boat to a train, but the tale essentially retains the same focus on overcoming the past and, in particular, the legacy left behind by family issues. The Freudian angle to The Darjeeling Limited extends as far as to have Adrien Brody adopt the personal belongings of his father, Owen Wilson adopting the mannerisms of his mother, and the three of them symbolically shedding the baggage of their father towards the end of the film. Perhaps the most interesting thing however is that despite the flagrant repetition and the brazen psychoanalytic elements of the film, I really enjoyed it! It all boils down to the fact that Wes Anderson just has a talent for the medium and a joy in what he depicts that oozes from the screen in so many ways. Perhaps the most revealing moment in the film is when the estranged mother of the boys suggests that they communicate without speaking because it can be more effective that way - this is surely as close as Anderson has come to announcing his own motto. The film displays his usual talent at using dialogue only sparingly, and revealing crucial snippets of information about his characters in sudden outbursts of honesty punctuated by an abrupt change of scenery which leaves the audience little time to absorb the significance of what has been uttered before they are reabsorbed into the dazzling world of symmetry, symbol and elaborate colour schemes. Similarly much dialogue is absorbed into the surroundings, the best example being when the brothers are set to make a crucial decision, but their debate over the right course of action is entirely drowned out by the engine noise of a nearby plane. His use of music is again stunningly effective, deploying a devilishly cool soundtrack at the most opportune moments - with non-diegetic sound punctuating only the most emotional of scenes, leaving the more ponderous pace of the meandering plot untouched. Such tactics can be grossly misused by directors, but not Wes Anderson whose feeling for film remains at the peak of its powers. My main critique is that this film lacked some of the quirks of its two most obvious predecessors. The Royal Tenenbaums had the house, the dalmatian mice, and the shabby taxi firm as quirky leitmotifs, not to mention some gloriously ridiculous hidden pasts with which to toy, The Life Aquatic had an imagined back-catalogue of retro documentaries and some weird marine life brightening up the screen, but The Darjeeling Limited, at least on first viewing, revealed no such surprises to me. The backstories of the brothers was also less richly treated, with the exception of a great short film played prior to the feature. It's difficult to know what else to comment on. The plot being as character-driven as it is, revealing too many events of the film would spoil the fun, and the acting talents of the cast have been analysed to death in his other films, as well as in similar Indie flics. Though in this vain it is worth noting that Bill Murray only appears in a minor cameo role, which is a welcome self-conscious nod by Anderson to his critics over his reliance on the same posse of actors time and again and a decent metaphor with which to summarise. Wes Anderson may be continuing to address the same themes in the same style which he honed in the Royal Tenenbaums, but he knows it, and he knows we know. So perhaps in this instance we should just put aside whatever mild disappointment we may harbour at the lack of freshness and just allow his elaborate and welcoming visual style wash over us and brighten up our day. Once the warm fuzzy feeling his films inspire has worn of, then we can begin to secretly hope that he will turn his ample talents in a new direction for his next offering...