I saw this movie (finally) last week.
I’m not sure what to say about it, but for some reason I want to write about it.
I’m a huge Wes Anderson fan, The Royal Tenebaums is one of my favorite movies, and I also love Rushmore and Bottle Rocket. For some reason I haven’t ever managed to see The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, although it remains a constant fixture of my Netflix queue.
The Darjeeling is no Royal Tenebaums, but it is still a beautiful and excellent film, and the more I think about it, the more I love it. Officially I gave it 4 stars, instead of the 5 that comes with the words “I love it”, and I guess I have to admit there is something missing somewhere in the film that is preventing me from taking it to the 5 star rating, but the more I think about the characters the more I love them, and the more I realize how quickly I accepted the well known stars as the characters they were playing.
THE GOOD: I quickly forgot to see Own Wilson and instead saw Francis, the same was true for Schwartzman’s Jack and Brody’s Peter (it may have been most true for Brody’s Peter) and in an age of movie stars just being movie stars that happen to be saying lines that belong to characters, this is no small feat. I was overcome with a desire to take care of them, even though they were simultaneously driving me nuts (they are as frustratingly quirky as any of Anderson’s charcters). They read perfectly as brothers, both the love and the hate evident in every frame. I applauded their quest for spiritual enlightenment and reconnection to each other. Anjelica Huston as their mother was pitch perfect as usual and really cemented the relationship between the brothers, explaining so much about the who and why of Francis, Peter, and Jack.
There was also a pretty amazing (very short) sex scene between Jack and the train ‘stewardess’, Rita, which was incredible. So realistic and true to life I had trouble thinking of a more realistic sexual encounter on film. I’m sure they’re out there, but I couldn’t think of one, and it took me by surprise as Anderson’s films are generally pretty non-sexual, at least not in an overt way, I had no idea he had it in him. Rita, played by Amara Karan was stunning, I predict incredible fame coming her way as she gave a heartbreaking performance.
On top of all that the film overall was just gorgeous, as all Anderson’s film tapestries are, rich and filled with incredible moments…is there anything more romatic than a train ride cross country? Yes, and that is a slow motion shot of three brothers trying to catch a train that is going to take them somewhere, anywhere.
THE BAD: Nothing really, except to say that I did feel something was missing. Something I could not quite put my finger on. Like all of Anderson’s films this movie felt like real life. Like there is no “real” arc to a character, because nothing in life is that straight forward, and I love that, but there was something missing here…I just don’t know what.
THE UGLY: Not an ugly frame to be seen.
Jack, Peter, and Francis.