The Darjeeling Limited

My history with Wes Anderson movies is interesting in that until tonight I had only seen one of them - The Life Aquatic - and yet I still consider myself to have a history with Wes Anderson movies. Last summer, I kept meaning to see Moonrise Kingdom in theaters, but never got around to it. The Royal Tenenbaums is something I've been interested in seeing for close to a decade. And Fantastic Mr. Fox was a rented movie I started watching at my parents' house a few years ago, only to fall fast asleep after fifteen minutes. I've had so much interest both past and present in Wes Anderson, but until now I'd only seen the film of his that consensus critical opinion had dubbed the worst. Well, time to fix that. About a week ago I blew a sizable Amazon gift card on tons of cheap DVDs. (Terrible for the backlog, but better DVDs than 20-hour video games, I guess.) This was one of them.

I have no idea how I feel about The Darjeeling Limited. There've been plenty of movies before that have left me feeling apathetic toward them, but this isn't one of those. I'm still actively struggling to figure out if I liked this movie or disliked it. More specifically, there were aspects that I liked and aspects that I disliked, and I can't even figure out which were which. I've been charmed, I've been vexed, and more than anything I'm just confused. Not by the movie itself; the plot was relatively simple. Actually, that might be part of my mutual appeasement and annoyedness. Three brothers are passengers on a train in India, headed to see their mother. After a few small misadventures, they arrive. And that's it. That's all there is. But it isn't a boring movie at all. It's just funny enough, mostly in an odd way, and short enough, at ninety minutes total, that there was never a dull moment. But in a movie with such a barebones plot that isn't a straight-up comedy, you expect some sort of drama, for lack of a better word. Tension, maybe. There's almost none of that to be found here. The few times the film ventures into emotional territory, it feels insincere. But that's not to say it's a cynical movie at all, either. Nor even a satire. Again, I have no idea how I feel about The Darjeeling Limited.

Wes Anderson has a very distinct style that I've picked up on after seeing just two of his movies, and the best and most consistent example I can think of is the fun he has with camera pans. A character will walk out of a static shot, for instance, and several seconds later the camera will pan over to him doing something that catches you off guard. The characters in the shot, however, have been keeping track of the off-screen character all along, so it doesn't phase them at all. This is quirky and funny, but it also serves to alienate the viewer. Where most movies try to invite the viewer in, so to speak, this one (along with The Life Aquatic and presumably every Wes Anderson movie) keeps reminding you that you are not part of the on-screen proceedings. At its worst it feels like an inside joke you aren't a part of. At its best, it's a very effective way to set up and execute some quick visual humor.

There's a melancholy veneer that hangs over The Darjeeling Limited, and even though there are some moments of honest introspection and an emotional climax, the movie doesn't let any of it resonate. It's weird, because I really liked The Life Aquatic for pulling the exact same tonal hijinks. Maybe I just expected that in a movie about an eccentric oceanographer and wanted something a little different in a movie about family ties and a spiritual journey through a foreign land.

I think I've spent the last few paragraphs convincing you readers, along with myself, that I disliked more about The Darjeeling Limited than I liked, but I don't think that's the case. Criticism just makes for a more interesting discussion than praise, maybe? I don't know. There was plenty to love about The Darjeeling Limited, though, and if you're looking for a good Wes Anderson movie you should make sure to give it your own shot.