Review of The Darjeeling Limited (2007) by Ivan D — 27 Sep 2016

I liked "The Darjeeling Limited" mainly because of the fact that it never did flirt with the idea of it being a semi-conscious travelogue about India. Wes Anderson has able to focus the whole film to the three brothers and their emotionally eccentric journey into the meditative heart of the Indian landscapes, to reclaim the bond they've lost, and to break the barriers of their estrangement with each other.

Do not expect the much revered Taj Mahal to appear here, as this film wasn't going for specific Indian itineraries, but a colorful generalization of India as a whole, rendered in dream-like hues. Expected from the three main actors and from director Wes Anderson himself, deadpan humor is littered throughout, but all put together not just for the sake of random laughs, but each one a step further towards the slow but believable cycle of the triumvirate's relational development.

It's an intended comic touch how the film assumed that the characters can be changed by the enchanting meditations and rituals India has to offer and actually showed very little of it. Instead, it's the simple fact of their natural brotherhood that has made the difference, and the peacock feathers and "Kumkum" marks merely as symbolic flares to rekindle the bond.

Cameo by Bill Murray(sort of like his "Lost in Translation" character relocated in India) and Natalie Portman.