The Darjeeling Limited

[pete]

AVC: India tends to evoke chaos

WTF?

[ElPandaRoyal]

AVC: India tends to evoke chaos

That's why it should be invaded.

[Stefen]

The AV club has been all over Wes's jock the last month. They had some features about what movies wouldn't be here without Wes Anderson, and then another about how Wes Anderson wouldn't be here without some movies. It's what started my Wes backlash.

The guy used to just be a film nerd, with coke bottle glasses, and a film fan mentality. Now he's just a pretentious wannabe auteur (in appearance) who cites french coffee and scones as insipiration for his films instead of other movies.

What a jerkoff. Wes Anderson? More like Wes FADerson. (I reached harder on that one than Sparrow did with his new username. GADS.)

[AntiDumbFrogQuestion]

"The guy used to just be a film nerd, with coke bottle glasses, and a film fan mentality. Now he's just a pretentious wannabe auteur (in appearance) who cites french coffee and scones as insipiration for his films instead of other movies. "

Hey man, nothing wrong with changing your style

my guess is he'll keep this same style until the next movie, and then go onto something completely different.
Maybe he won't look so much like Beck?

Perhaps he'll shave his head and wear a bowler hat and a checkered suit, playing trumpet between takes on the set.
Maybe he'll grow a Moustache and a Mowhawk, creating a contradiction in styles.

or maybe he'll grow a beard and wear cop glasses and a headband?
hm.

[Stefen]

Instead of changing his "personal" style, maybe he should change his film making style and do something different for a change.

This year is going so great. I had to pick my entertainment whipping boy or else this year wouldn't be very realistic. Wes FADerson is it.

[Sleepless]

I just saw this movie last night, and wanted to share my thoughts. Appologies if some of this has been said before but I have been trying to avoid reading other people's comments until I posted my own.

SPOILERS

I absolutely loved this movie. Right now I think that it is probably my favourite of Wes Anderson's films, and probably within my top few films of this year (so far, of course). First, let me just say that I felt this was a very different film to the "typical" Wes Anderson film, although it still contained many of Wes' tradmark quirks. Therefore, I could watch the film just as a standalone piece, without comparing it to any of his other films. Likewise, I also recommend not watching the short film 'Hotel Chevalier' with this. I hadn't seen it before I saw the movie, they didn't show it in the cinema, I came home and downloaded it afterwards. 'The Darjeeling Limited' is a film which stands best alone, and so it should.

The beginning of the film, imo, was perfect. It wasn't a total surprise to see Bill Murray (unfortunately I found out earlier in the same day he was in the film), but the way he was introduced was great. He seemed tired, worn-down etc, but totally different to how he normally seems in Wes Anderson's films, and I could tell right then that this was going to be something different than I'd seen from this director before. That's not to say of course, that there are some similiarities to Wes' other films, but the tine in particulal was more mature, more restrained. Stylistically there are quite a few of his trademark camera moves and set-ups, but through much of the film they are compromised by a need to be more "on the fly", and it suits this film well. The walking-in slow-mo looks great, but it is overdone as the film wares on.

So anyways, the opening ends with Bill Murray as a businessman running to catch the eponymous train. He's not going to make it. Then, running past him comes Adrian Brody who does manage to catch the train. Once he does, he looks back down the platform at Bill Murray, still running in vain, with no hope of catching up. That's the whole film right there. To me it was all about the sense of detatchment - the brothers are detatched from the world emotionally, they're detatched from the significant people in their lives, they're detached from each other. Likewise, their story is detatched from Bill Murray's, even though their characters are in the some place at the same time. But different stories are always going on around us. It reminded me of the moment in PTA's 'Sydney' when there is that argument in the background at the diner. Maybe that's why India plays such an important role in this movie. Such a vast country with so many people, it is easy to connect with the idea of how disconnected an individual can become.

That's my interpretation of the film anyway, especially seeing as how towards the end of the film we revisit some of the other characters we passed by earlier in the film. And yes, Bill Murray finally catches his train. Of course, throughout the movie we gradully get to see the brothers begin to connect with each other, and their lives as a whole. Adrian Brody's character, for example, makes peace with the idea he's going to be a father, and in his own way even gets excited that he's soon to have a son. I liked the way Anderson mentioned in an interview about the laminated itineraries for the brothers' spiritual journey - like it's even possibly to schedule something like someone's spiritual development or whatever.

Staying with the idea of disconnectedness in the movie, I also liked how there would often be mention of some person or event from the past, and yet no energy was spent trying to clarify or explain it for the benefit of the audience. There is no need. We're disconnected with that, that isn't our story, our story is what's happening on screen right now. That's why I think this movie is better viewed without 'Hotel Chevalier'. We don't need to know what happened there.

Of course people are going to say they don't like this film. Of course there's some bits that aren't so great. Of course there's some bits of typical Wes-mayhem which don't sit as well in 'Darjeeling' as they do in other films. That would probably be my only critisicm, and it is slight. I really loved this film, and cannot wait to own it. When Owen Wilson first appeared, I felt he was being typical "Owen Wilson-in-a-Wes Anderson film", but he seemed to settled down fairly quickly, and when the moment came where he took off his bandages it was great. Maybe that was his own was of showing change, and mirroring Wes' gradual evolution as a film-maker.

One last note, I thought Angelica Huston was great. I know she only had a really small part, but I'd like to see her get some sort of recognition for this role.

So yes, I really liked this film. Sure, it's not going to be to everyone's tastes, especially not on this site. But I really loved it. It was nice to see a tender film which entertained and yet made you think.

[Pubrick]

It was nice to see a tender film which entertained and yet made you think.

http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=9886.0

[Kal]

Well, I'm very happy that I had the lowest possible expectations for this film, cause I loved it. From the opening scene to the end I was smiling (even in the sad parts) and enjoying it. I dont know how to compare it to his other films yet, but at least I'm happy it wasnt 'the same thing'. I'm very happy I liked this

[MacGuffin]

Anderson cited for visionary filmmaking

Wes Anderson will be awarded the Stockholm film festival's Visionary Award for his humane and humorous portrayals of lonely people.

Anderson — director of offbeat comedies "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" — has created "unique and stylized universes inhabited by characters searching for something to search for," the prize citation said.

"Through his visionary filmmaking, Anderson has given a modern face to the classic auteur," organizers also said Wednesday.

The award will be presented during the Nov. 15-25 Stockholm Film Festival.

Anderson, 38, grew up in Texas. He had his feature debut with the comedy "Bottle Rocket" in 1996.

"The Royal Tenenbaums," starring Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Stiller, earned Anderson an Oscar nomination for best screenplay together with Owen Wilson in 2002.

Anderson's latest film is "The Darjeeling Limited."

[w/o horse]

The only passing whim that can be permantently assigned to Wes Anderson is his detractor party labeling him a fad.  The irony is essential.

[idk]

Wes is scheduled to be on Charlie Rose tommorrow night (Friday the 26th)

[Ravi]

I liked this film a lot.  It doesn't take a straight path anywhere, but neither do the characters.  I liked the absurdity of a laminated itinerary for spiritual enlightenment.  Owen Wilson's character has good intentions but he misses the point of his own journey.  Traveling through India is a metaphor for the brothers traveling through unfamiliar emotional territory.

The use of Satyajit Ray music was distracting for me because I'd be watching a scene and then I'd think, "Hey, that's the music from Charulata!" so I was momentarily taken out of the film.  But there were moments in which the music worked very well.  I don't think it will be a problem on subsequent viewings.

Jason Schwartzman was at the screening I attended.  When people actually asked good questions he had thoughtful an interesting answers.  He was very funny and outgoing.  He autographed my DVD of Rushmore and took a photo with me, but the memory card in my camera got corrupted somehow, so the photo is lost to the ages.

[Gamblour.]

Ok so, dissent. I did not like this movie. It was boring, rehashed, lazy. It's as if Anderson watched his own films and realized what his style was this whole time. I was not engaged or surprised at all, it was just too goddamned much of the same thing from Anderson's universe.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Oh wow! Angelica Houston playing another mother figure. More slow motion. Another pointless overhead shot. My friend summed it up best, "Oh, I get it, their father's baggage was a metaphor." The film's depth was very superficial.

[AntiDumbFrogQuestion]

best movie I've seen all year.
minus "City of God" which is like 4 or 5 years old.

[Jannemanneman]

this is supposed to be wes anderson and owen wilson talking about lots of stuff. but i wouldn't know, 'cause my sound broke while updating my pc.