The Darjeeling Limited
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman
Staring: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman

It took some time, but I did eventually warm up to Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. I still think it’s somewhat dominated — and restricted — by his obsessive sense of style, but the film holds some genuinely humorous moments that ultimately won me over in the end. Now, three years after it’s theatrical release, Criterion has released a fully loaded special collector’s edition of the film on blu ray, making up for the lame DVD release that came before it. If you’ve ever had the urge to revisit Darjeeling Limited, this is definitely the way to do it.

I would imagine that most people have seen the film by now so I’ll keep the synopsis short. Basically, three estranged brothers plan a trip across India to mark the one year anniversary of the death of their father. It’s a road trip film that takes place almost entirely on a train, with the occasional off-the-tracks adventure. The film is a comedy, but like most of Anderson’s work, the humour can be pretty buried at times. This was actually one of my initial complaints; Anderson seems to have gotten away from the fun, traditional comedic elements that made me fall in love with him in the first place. Bottle Rocket and Rushmore didn’t feel such a need to wear their cleverness on their sleeve, resulting in a much more sincere experience. Maybe Owen Wilson — co-writer of Anderson’s first three films — might have played a key role in grounding those earlier films (since the release of Darjeeling, I do think Anderson had a fine return to form with the hilarious and fun Fantastic Mr.Fox). That said, it was great to see Wilson in one of the lead roles — sans annoying Kentucky accent — as Francis, a character reminiscent of Dignan, the loveably delusional lead of Bottle Rocket. On the surface, it might be tough to buy Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman as blood related brothers, but their chemistry works quite well despite their physical differences.

I have to admit that some of Anderson’s stylistic flourishes still seem out of place in this film. The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic took place in a fantastic, fable-like universe; the perfect match for Anderson’s self-indulgent, artificial aesthetics. Darjeeling seems to be grounded in a reality that occasionally contradicts the presentation. Many of the visual quirks that made his previous films so charming are misplaced this time around, almost as though they’re the result of a lack of will power rather than clear, creative decision making. Also, I do find some of the tonal shifts in the film a bit jarring. The moment in which the brothers save the boys from the river seems melodramatic and out of place; an abrupt turning point for the characters. Still, the film does grow on you and the humour does eventually work its way through the tangled bits. I had always rolled my eyes at the final shot of the film which finds the three brothers running to catch a train, ceremoniously tossing their father’s luggage in the process. It was clumsily heavy handed and cliched; the boys have finally gotten rid of their emotional baggage. Funnily enough, Anderson actually comments on this shot on the commentary track, wishing he could change it, claiming the metaphor wasn’t intentional. PHEW!

Like the previous standard definition DVD, this blu ray also includes Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier, a piece that was meant to play as an epilogue before the feature (a viewing option that’s included on the blu ray). I will say that I still really dislike this short. It’s so intentionally ambiguous and overconfident that Anderson seems to think his characters are interesting enough to hold our attention with a few enigmatic lines dialogue. There’s nothing fun, or funny, about the short and it adds very little to the overall story. It depends on unearned, melodramatic flourishes that feel completely lifeless. The only thing keeping this short afloat is Anderson’s trademark aesthetics, which again, are slightly out of place and tiresome in this setting. While I applaud the concept, I think Hotel Chevalier adds absolutely nothing to the overall experience of the full film.

The Darjeeling Limited is presented in a vibrant, 1080p transfer that is certainly a huge improvement over the original DVD release. Picture and audio aside, the thing that most people are probably excited about are the bonus features. Back when 20th Century Fox originally released the film on DVD, fans were disappointed to find a practically bare bones edition that paled in comparison to Anderson’s previous Criterion editions. It was clear that there would be a re-release at some point and I’m happy to say this blu ray doesn’t disappoint. The disc contains a casual but entertaining commentary track with Anders and co-writers Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman (Anderson also provides commentary on the Hotel Chevalier short). There’s also a great short documentary directed by Barry Braverman that highlights some of the challenges of shooting on location on a moving train in India. We also get some deleted scenes, on set footage shot by Coppola and actor Waris Ahluwalia, a discussion with James Ivory about the music used in the film, and Anderson’s awesome American Express commercial. It’s a great package that’s sure to please fans of Anderson’s under-appreciated film. — Jay C.

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