The Darjeeling Limited is a comedy drama film directed by Wes Anderson. It follows 3 three estranged brothers who come back together to discover themselves and each other on a train trip across India; they search for enlightenment and get hijinks and new perspectives.
I don’t know if I just haven’t seen the right films, but I have never seen the excitement around Wes Anderson and his films. However, that was before I saw this film, I get it now. I loved Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox but that was more because of my attachment to the source material. This was the film that finally got me on the bandwagon.
I really enjoyed this films’ sensibilities and style. I thought in terms of the way it was shot and put together it was a quirky masterclass. I think this film is dripping in style from start to finish and I have never really seen anything else like it. This is really helped out hugely by a killer soundtrack that matches the tone perfectly, drawing out all the eccentric little details.
The performances were all great, they were of course comedic, but they also had such layers to them that which are explored in depth throughout. Each character feels distinct and unique, but they’re also very believable as brothers. It is hard to pick a favourite or say who gave the best performance as I enjoyed them all thoroughly and for different reasons.
I also love the way the story is told, we the audience are drip-fed information in little chunks, never getting more than we need, which allows for a nice sense of vague ambiguity and mystery towards the proceedings without ever bordering on confusing.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this film, it made me a Wes Anderson believer and I will defiantly check out more of his films after this. A joy to watch!
Pros.
Style.
Story.
The performances.
The pitch perfect soundtrack.
Cons.
It might not hit everyone emotionally.
4.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 