11/7/07

The Darjeeling Limited

"I love how mean you are."

4.5 Stars

I love love Wes Anderson! This is definitely a film I need to see again, and is quickly becoming very special to me. I rarely get to go to the movies with either of my brothers, and I was able to see this one with my eldest. I think the last movie we went to was End of Days! We need to improve that M & G.

Three brothers take what is originally thought to be a "spiritual journey" through India. Set up by Francis (Owen Wilson), brother of Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) in attempt to become brothers again.

The more I think about this film I find different meanings, and am struck with different feelings. The most recent being the observation that this movie deals a great deal about grieving. Not only the poignant funeral scene of a young boy, but the loss of their own father that all of them loved dearly in their own way.
A scene in particular keeps coming to mind, of the brothers on the way to their father's funeral. Peter becomes very persistent that he needs to pick up his father's Porsche from the repair shop right now.
I totally understood the need to hold on to anything that a deceased loved one has left behind. And in a way, by picking up the car so soon, he may feel as if his father is still alive to see it delivered. You act strange, and irrational when grieving.
But the part that really got me... The sons all had to be at the funeral right now. Peter was not going to be swayed that this matter could wait, and with a quick glance to one another, each brother was in agreement and they did it together. Although it became a very comical scene, it was really sad and painful.
Just a great example of the talent Wes Anderson has to articulate the bitter and sweet of life.
I love that scene.

Also, I've noticed that most Wes Anderson movies deal greatly with family estrangement. In this case the brothers with one another, and their mother.
Relationships are complicated. Families are complicated. And some relationships, family or otherwise, just won't change. And that's okay. I respect Wes for showcasing such a scenario.

This movie also comes in two parts. The first is a short film titled Hotel Chevalier which acts as the prologue to the feature. For a couple days after seeing the movie, I could not stop thinking of this 13 minute short.
Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman share some very awkward and strangely intimate time together in a hotel room in Paris. Nothing too exciting or important to report, but there's just something so delicate about the whole thing. Everything placed in that room has such thought and purpose behind it. As does the actions and words of each actor.
I am simply in love with those 13 minutes.

Maybe I should schedule an Indian train ride of my own with my brothers this year.
We're not estranged in the like, but it may bring us to watch some more movies together some how.
Do trains have theater cars?

0 comments: