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Hay algo que acosa a Wes Anderson. No sólo lo acosa, lo obsesiona. Todos los trabajos del director tienen un común denominador, los problemas de familia. Viaje a Darjeeling (The Darjeeling Limited, 2007) no podría ser la excepción a esa constante.

Tres hermanos se reúnen a mitad de la India. Desde el primer encuadre es notoria la familiaridad que tiene el uno con los otros, al mismo tiempo se hace patente que el estar juntos les resulta insoportable. Francis (Owen Wilson), le anuncia a sus consanguíneos que estuvo a punto de morir y el hecho de haberlos citado ahí obedece a su intención de embarcar al trío en una experiencia espiritual que le de sentido a sus vidas.

Wes Anderson ha desarrollado un estilo personalísimo en la forma de narrar sus historias, el cual ha ido refinando con cada cinta que estrena. El sello que le imprime a cada uno de sus trabajos deja ver a un cineasta sensible, simultáneamente es un realizador atascado en un tema. Anderson sufre del mismo mal que aqueja a Woody Allen: lo suyo es hablar de problemas de gente acomodada, sino es que adinerada. Es el síndrome Sofia Coppola, dice JJ Negrete.

Recordemos sus trabajos anteriores y posteriores a The Darjeeling Limited, en ninguno el dinero es un problema, sus conflictos vienen de la soledad que viven a pesar de estar rodeados de gente. La única excepción sería Bottle Rocket, pero ésa es una película sobre gente estúpida comportándose de manera aún más estúpida.

Contar una historia una y otra vez dirían algunos es señal de estar ante un autor, lo cual es parcialmente cierto ya que inclusive Woody Allen ha tomado sus riesgos al hora de filmar las disputas de pareja que tanto le gustan, recuerden Zelig (1983), La Rosa Púrpura del Cairo (The Purple Rose of Cairo, 1985) o Melinda y Melinda (Melinda and Melinda, 2004).

Lo que distingue a Wes Anderson de sus contemporáneos es que en sus largometrajes hay fondo y forma, no sólo forma como le pasa a Michael Bay. Anderson hace que simpaticemos con sus personajes, mientras nos sirve todo en un bonito empaque acompañado de buena música.

The Darjeeling Limited es sobre la necesidad de perderse para encontrarse, en ocasiones perder el itinerario es lo mejor que podría suceder. Para Francis, Peter (Adrien Brody) y Jack (Jason Schwartzman) es preciso dejar su pasado, en esta ocasión reflejado por las maletas de su difunto padre, para poder avanzar con sus vidas.

Es la imposibilidad de crecer como personas lo que hace que Francis patológicamente decida por sus hermanos o que Peter sea un cleptómano sin remedio o Jack tenga una relación destructiva que no le permite continuar su carrera de novelista –y un bigote de pornstar–.

El resto del reparto se desempeña de manera solvente, incluso aquellos que aparecen un corto tiempo como Bill Murray, cada uno comprende su papel y lo desempeña. Podemos decir que el casting nunca es un problema para Anderson. En ese sentido la elección de los tres protagonistas no podría ser más acertada, tienen la palabra melancolía tatuada en la frente.

Una frase pronunciada por Owen Wilson captura el espíritu del largometraje: “Me pregunto si nosotros tres hubiéramos sido amigos en la vida real. No como hermanos, sino como personas”.

A veces perderse es encontrarse.

His most colorful, maybe. His most musical, yes. Along with every emotion there’s a balance of sound; for example, when there is death, there is silence & when there is motion there is music. Secondly, there’s nothing unnecessary in this film, perhaps its fate or maybe luck, how can a film be so great that it picks us up like a wrestler lifts a feather… If all movies were this genuine then it wouldn’t be so special. Wes Anderson with friends have mastered the art of the controlled avalanche. We are never asking questions during this Cassavetes-esque adventure. The film never says it takes place in India until Peter calls his worried wife in the latter part of the film, It is quite clear by the first scene, so the film is clear, intriguing but never alienating despite the freedom with money every character has. As you see, The Darjeeling Limited breaks barriers. At the very least we should watch this four times. Once to watch Jack, second time for Peter, third time for Francis, and fourth to watch the wonderful background. The Darjeeling Limited is an escape, a poem, and it’s comfortable too.

Not as good as The Royal Tenenbaums or The Life Aquatic, but still an enjoyable film. Perhaps the main problem with the movie in contrast with two aformentioned, was that it lacked a stronger, older actor to balance things out and keep the movie rolling. Royal Tenenbaums had Gene Hackman, and Life Aquatic had Bill Murray. Whatever the case, this one seemed to stutter in places. All the same, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it someone who has already seen the other two movies. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first Wes Anderson movie because the cameo appearances of certain people would lose the appeal.

Wes Anderson é um autor. Ele produz, escreve e realiza os seus filmes e isso nota-se em cada frame de uma obra sua. Existem certos elementos que usa normalmente, elementos esses que funcionam como uma assinatura. Para começar tem um grupo de actores que costuma escolher, como Owen Wilson, Bill Murray e Anjelica Huston. Os temas que apresenta também costumam ser os mesmos, tais como famílias conflituosas e personagens disfuncionais que não se enquadram nos padrões da normalidade. A fotografia dos seus filmes é cheia de cores vivas e utiliza um “mis-en-scene” muito pouco convencional, com cenários extravagantes, dando sempre bastante atenção a pequenos objectos pessoais. Juntando tudo isto a uma mistura de comédia com drama e temos Wes Anderson em todo o seu esplendor. Em “The Darjeeling Limited” Anderson não foge ao seu estilo. Tudo o que o caracteriza continua lá. O que muda agora é o local onde o filme decorre. Os seus filmes anteriores passavam-se todos nos EUA, agora o cenário é a Índia, logo é tudo ainda mais exótico e singular.

“The Darjeeling Limitet” é a história de três irmãos que viajam pela Índia numa jornada espiritual que tem como objectivo reuni-los, fazer com que se conheçam melhor e reencontrar a mãe, que se encontra num convento no sopé dos Himalaias. Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) e Jack (Jason Schwartzman) não se vêem há um ano, desde a morte do seu pai. Estes três irmãos não poderiam ser mais diferentes uns dos outros. Francis, o mais velho, é egocêntrico e autoritário, tentando sempre dizer aos irmãos o que fazer. Anda todo o filme com ligaduras na cabeça, devido a um acidente de moto. Peter é inseguro e apenas concordou com a viagem pois a sua mulher está grávida e ele não sabe o que fazer. Jack é o irmão mais novo e um romântico depressivo. Wes Anderson realizou a curta-metragem “Hotel Chevalier” só com esta personagem. Esta curta-metragem é uma introdução ao filme e passou antes deste na sessão a que assisti. Decorre num hotel em França, onde Jack se encontra com uma mulher (Natalie Portman). Aparentemente esta mulher é a razão pela qual Jack anda sempre depressivo pois partiu-lhe o coração e ele não a consegue esquecer.

Um conjunto de situações peculiares, como o facto de andarem constantemente a tomar drogas indianas, de Jack se envolver com uma empregada e de levarem uma cobra venenosa a bordo, faz com os irmãos sejam expulsos do comboio e desistam do seu objectivo. Mas no caminho de volta para o avião existe uma sucessão de acontecimentos que lhes volta a dar animo para continuar a sua jornada e reencontrar a mãe.

Tecnicamente, este é um filme excelente. Como disse anteriormente, Anderson tem um conjunto de elementos que usa frequentemente e domina, não sendo este filme excepção. A fotografia é bastante estilizada e faz com que as paisagens da Índia e os seus habitantes se tornem quase personagens principais do filme. O uso que faz do “slow-motion” (mais um habitué), nas entradas a correr no comboio, é genial, principalmente o último, em que os três irmãos deixam as malas do pai (que andavam constantemente com eles) para trás, simbolizando um passo em frente para o futuro, deixando o passado para trás.

A banda sonora é excelente e encaixa-se no filme como uma luva. A música é parte integrante do filme, sem ela certas imagens não teriam o impacto pretendido. Os géneros são variados e passam pela música étnica, que se enquadra ao local onde a viagem decorre, ou músicas antigas como a “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)” de Peter Sarstedt (que Jack parece bastante apreciar quando se sente mais romântico) e várias da banda de rock dos anos 60 – The Kinks.

“The Darjeeling Limited” é mais uma pérola de Anderson. Um “Feel-good movie” que nos leva pela Índia com três irmãos que vamos conhecendo e gostando cada vez mais. É um filme sobre auto-descoberta e respeito mútuo. Uma obra que certamente será apreciada por aqueles que gostaram deste realizador.

(Originally written October 26, 2007)

Wes Anderson still has it. I was scared that his style would have grown tired by his fifth film, scared that the offbeat use of music, eccentric characters, and signature use of slow motion would no longer have effect. Although there are moments where I feel Anderson’s characteristic trademarks have become gimmicky, The Darjeeling Limited is still a satisfying film, although Anderson’s weakest effort thus far.

The experience begins with a short film entitled Hotel Chevalier, featuring two characters from the main feature. This short by itself does not work particularly well, and it should be seen, instead, as an essential complement to the film. It gives us essential insight into Jason Schwartzman’s character Jack while the content would have detracted had it been included in the context of the actual film.

Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson play three brothers who journey to India in an overly structured attempt to bond and meet with their mother whom they haven’t seen in over a year. India is beautifully used in the film, and its presence is handled more delicately than the use of Japan in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. While Coppola did not capture the essence of Japan and merely used its culture for comedic purposes, Anderson better connected the setting to the atmosphere and the story itself. Although the connection between the journey of the character and the spiritual setting sometimes feel forced, it never feels inappropriate or insensitive to its setting.

Wes Anderson’s films can often be best defined by the individual moments, and the film has some of his most powerfully directed scenes. The three brothers help to try and save three Indian children whose lives are in danger. The use of silence and sound is reminiscent of the horrific crash sequence in Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Both of these scenes are turning points in their respective films, helping to illustrate the tragic unpredictability of life. Anderson allows these scenes to stand out in the film and in the minds of the viewer.

This film doesn’t work best as a comedy, however, because it’s not nearly as funny as any of Wes Anderson’s other films. There are a few hilarious sequences including Schwartzman running into a glass door after spraying pepper spray into his brother’s eyes. However, I’m glad Anderson didn’t feature more laughs because it would have comprised the emotional power of this film. As I look back on the film, what I most fondly remember are not the jokes or the visual quirks as much as the powerful moments when the brothers interact with each other. What allows this film to work on a level that Little Miss Sunshine was that this film is not scared of genuine emotion. The Darjeeling Limited didn’t shy away from its emotion with cheap jokes, not having the corpses of characters being thrown into the back of a car.

The film has a rough start, but it develops into a well-written story in which the details matter—the use of familiar music, the repetition of lines from earlier on in the film, and, of course, the integration of aspects of Indian culture into the story. The Darjeeling Limited is by no means a great film, but Anderson has made a film that is perhaps his most emotionally charged.

Fans of Wes Anderson’s precious directing style, filled with cheeky whip pans and a liberal moving camera, will appreciate this eccentric comedy about three estranged brothers enjoying a spiritual train journey across India, others will find its blend of deadpan slapstick comedy and sentiment a bit uneven. I’m of the former, Anderson’s characters are often smug in their smartness, but they have a heart, especially Adrian Brody here as the middle brother feeling grief over his father’s death and a stagnant marriage, and as quirky as Anderson’s camerawork and art design can be, it’s not to say that he doesn’t have a good control of color and pacing. To help, Anderson employs authentic Indian sitar and tabla music, some lovingly adapted right from old Satyjit Ray masterpieces, giving the setting a proper soundtrack, while paying homage to India’s most revered auteur.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is not my favorite Wes Anderson movie by any means. I had such high hopes for it after viewing his previous three films as a crescendo of precision and quality. Zissou ended up being more pretension and aimless drivel then something worth writing home about. Now, I didn’t hate the film, there is a lot to applaud him for, however, it slightly tarnished his do-no-wrong clout with me. In the years between then and now, though, we were given a highly entertaining American Express commercial and the short film Hotel Chevalier. The latter ends up becoming a prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, his fifth feature length work and film that was never really thought of until after that short was created. Anderson was to segue directly into The Fantastic Mr. Fox with Henry Selick. I’m not sure if doing an animated movie directly after what to me was his first failure would have been a smart move. Thankfully we are allowed to view Darjeeling, which while not quite back to form, is a fantastic first step in getting back to where he left off with The Royal Tenenbaums.

Many themes from his oeuvre are prevalent here as assumed. Our three lead brothers are very affluent and with that is the baggage of delicate psyches and daddy issues. Said father has died the year before and ever since an incident that stays fresh in their minds on the way to the funeral, namely their mother’s absence from it, seems to have fractured their relationship with each other. Having not been in contact for that year, older brother Francis, acting as a mother figure for the others, much to their dislike, has taken it upon himself to orchestrate a spiritual journey through India to heal their bond together as well as the personal troubles haunting them all. As much for a catharsis after his attempted suicide by motorcycle, Francis is unaware of his brother Peter’s impending fatherhood and fears of it as well as brother Jack’s need to be loved, even if that lover is the one that scorned him. Sharing a predilection for drugs to numb their suffering, as you can see stereotypical spoiled rich kids doing, they set off on their trek complete with trust issues and brotherly quarrels based upon the smallest infractions.

Where Darjeeling truly succeeds for me is the way it has pared down the tale to include just these three characters. As far as Anderson’s canon goes, his character base has increased exponentially with each inclusion. Here, though, while we do get a few periphery roles, (with effective cameos by Bill Murray, Amara Karan, a great turn from Waris Ahluwalia, director Barbet Schroeder, and of course Kumar Pallana—whose absence from Zissou could possibly be its kiss of death), this story only works as far as Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman as Francis, Peter, and Jack respectively take it. Unsurprisingly, these three are at the top of their game.

Wilson, bandaged for the duration is at his finest as an actor. He must show nuance here and a buried streak of depression with the need for love by his brothers. I guess I couldn’t go this entire review without mention of his recent real-life suicide attempt. While the comparison is an easy one, I believe it might also be true. No, he did not help write this one with friend Anderson, but either way, his mentality in life, I’m sure, helped develop the realistic portrayal of those same feelings on screen. Brody does well as the more macho of the threesome. Usually playing the nice guy hero in his work, it was nice to see him take a role that is a bit of a prick. He is the least of the group to open up and his standoffishness works well to build on his eventual evolution following the Deus ex Machina. With Schwartzman, we are given greatness as usual. I really don’t think the guy can do wrong. Maybe the most pathetic of our leads, he is also the most realistic. With both his parents now absent from his life, he is in dire need for someone to care for him. Whether it the beautiful stewardess on the train, or his undying bond with his ex-girlfriend, he cannot be alone.

The script is smart and witty throughout, something that was missing for large chunks of Zissou. Our leads are charismatic and a good trio working off each other successfully. Unfortunately, Anderson needs an event to happen for these men to finally see the light on how they’ve been wasting their life. This moment left me distracted and confused. Not confused by what happened, but by how I felt about it. While on the one hand that event was crucial for everything that happens after it, on the other it is so random and profound that it jarred me from the world that had encompassed me so fully up until that point. I just felt it was lazy writing, not to mention a total waste of Irfan Khan’s many talents. Thankfully the sequence is followed by a wonderful flashback to that day of their father’s funeral. This is a moment that is truly wonderful and helps explain everyone’s motivations and how their love for their missing father has led them down the path they find themselves at present.

Aesthetically, Anderson has gone above and beyond once again. Each frame is jam-packed with detail and faux reality. I mean, to have every paper product from Wilson’s character include his business’ logo and letterhead shows the amount of time and precision Anderson takes to make his films complete worlds. His train cars viewable from the outside are wonderful as well; much like Zissou’s halved ship, we are able to see inside them seamlessly while it moves along its track. In what is almost a dream sequence showing all the characters that have touch our leads’ lives to that point and where they are right that moment, it is a nice bookmark on that chapter in their progression. It is the final sequence of the brothers racing to make their train that becomes the perfect conclusion. Finally able to let go of their emotional baggage, we wonder if they will be able to make it. It leaves us with hope for the future and not a shred of indifference, for we took the journey with them and hope all will be ok.