The Darjeeling Limited
Yes, the past happened, but it’s over, isn’t it?
This week is my second attempt at covering a Wes Anderson film on Movie Mondays. When I covered The Grand Budapest Hotel, I admitted I didn't really understand it, and there weren't any messages that really stood out to me, which was disappointing since the main purpose of my newsletter is to analyze films. I thought maybe that was just Anderson's thing. The Grand Budapest Hotel was fun, and as I mentioned in that newsletter, his work feels like a world of his own, which makes his fans want to live within his stories. Wes Anderson's movies clearly are set in a heightened reality.
However, I was pleased that The Darjeeling Limited touched me a lot more than other films of his. What I liked is that, while it still felt like an altered reality, and it still had his signature yellow hue, it felt real. I think the point of most of Anderson's films is that they don't feel real. Sometimes, watching his movies feels like watching little dolls move around in one of those old wooden dollhouses (I'm specifically thinking of the opening sequence in Moonrise Kingdom.)
However, something about The Darjeeling Limited's authenticity touched me more than his other work. While watching, there were times I craved more from the story. I want to know more about the brother's history and upbringing, but I can understand that this may have taken away from the lightheartedness and comedy of the film. Regardless of all the Wes Anderson films I've seen, this is my favorite so far.
The Wes Anderson Aesthetic
I can't begin this newsletter without talking about the director's aesthetic and why it makes his movies so appealing. When Greta Gerwig was making the Barbie movie, the set design team used so much of the color pink that the paint company they were ordering from ran out of that color. That's what I imagine could happen to Wes Anderson, but with the color yellow. According to a post on Eagle's Scream by Sophie Seifert, "Yellow connotes joy and insanity," which could be why he likes it so much.
However, Anderson doesn't only use yellow. The Darjeeling Limited heavily uses yellow, and the short film Hotel Chevalier, a prologue to The Darjeeling Limited, also utilizes the bright color, especially when Jack's girlfriend is wearing a yellow robe, lying in a yellow bed in a yellow room. However, films like The Grand Budapest Hotel focus on other pastels, like pink and blue, while Asteroid City combines yellow and teal to create an eerie setting.
In the same way Bazz Luhrmann has his very distinct chaotic style of directing, Wes Anderson uses colors to set his films apart and make them instantly recognizable. In The Darjeeling Limited, while more toned down than some of his other films, introduces us to the movie with a bright yellow title card that also acts as the name of the train the brothers are on. While Anderson took his aesthetic to the next level in his later films, he still added his yellow hue to the movie from start to finish.
The Journey & Relationship of Three Brothers
Part of what made The Darjeeling Limited feel real is it followed a dysfunctional family. We all love seeing messed up families on television and in movies because it makes it easier for us to accept our own dysfunctional families. There's a lot of tension between Francis, Jack, and Peter Whitman at the start of the film. They haven't seen each other since their father's funeral, and it's clear they do not have a close relationship at all. They keep secrets from each other–Peter's wife is pregnant, and Francis is taking his brothers to reunite with their mother–and they have a lot of built-up resentment.
This comes out in a physical fight between Francis and Peter, which starts when Francis gets mad at Peter for using their father's razor, and Peter tells his brother that he is his father's favorite. As they're still healing from their father's death, they seem to have some resentment toward their mother. Here's where I wish the film would have gone deeper. We never really learn what went on in the brothers' childhoods. We don't really know who their father was or what happened that created the distance between them and their mother, other than her not attending their father's funeral.
I know this was intentional. It allows the movie to feel quirky and light-hearted when there are clearly some darker things going on, like the death of the young Indian boy. However for me, I feel like I would have felt a deeper connection to the main characters if I could understand them more and learn more about their upbringing. While it was a devastating moment for the brothers, the moment when the young boy died in the river was actually my favorite part. This is the first time we see the brothers put their differences aside and work together to do something good for others.
“Maybe this is where the spiritual journey ends,”-Francis, The Darjeeling Limited.
It's heartbreaking to see that Peter wasn't able to save one of the children. Since there's a lot of tension between the brothers and there's an underlying competitiveness between them, we see how badly this hurts Peter. Not only does he feel guilty for letting a young boy die, but he has to watch as his brothers heroically save the lives of the other boys while he's failed to do his part. However, the situation also brings the brothers closer together, and while they disrespected each other earlier in the film, no one blames Peter for his inability to save the boy.
They all attend the funeral of the boy, and as a group of young boys have lost their brother, it makes Francis, Jack, and Peter value each other and their family more, even if they are dysfunctional. While the purpose of their trip was to go on a spiritual journey, they found the moments of spiritual growth came in unexpected ways, like simply spending time with each other and going through things they never planned to experience. It's clear that by the end of the film, they have a much stronger bond.
For me, the most significant moment of The Darjeeling Limited comes at the end. After the brothers visit their mother and are ready to return home, they run after the train, which is leaving without them. As they chase after the train, they drop their luggage in order to get aboard. In this scene, it feels like they are quite literally letting go of their baggage and leaving the past behind. Since their luggage belonged to their father, they were leaving the pain of his death behind and moving forward. They've also decided to sacrifice everything they have to get on the train together, showcasing that they now value each other over all else, which was not the case at the beginning of the film.
The Significance Of The Feather Ritual
Part of the brothers' spiritual journey is that they partake in a feather ritual. I interpreted this similar to how I saw the ending of the film. Though he wasn't supposed to let his feather blow away, Jack allows the wind to take his, signifying he is letting go of his past. I also believe this showcases that it was easier for him to let go of the past than it was for his brothers. Francis then places his feather under a pile of rocks, like he's burying the past. However, Peter, who seems to be carrying the heaviest weight on his shoulders, holds onto his feather. He isn't yet ready to let go.
I do appreciate the messages in The Darjeeling Limited, and I'm finally starting to understand the appeal of Anderson's use of colors and how they add something to his stories. I also think that maybe, unlike some of the other movies I've dived into, his movies just aren't that serious, which is okay. He likes satire and quirkiness, and I have to respect that. I appreciate his satire and the way he contrasts heavy themes like death and murder with bright colors, and I believe taking everything too seriously and always trying to find some deeper meaning sometimes causes us to overlook the messages that are very clearly placed in front of us in films like the ones Wes Anderson makes.
YESSSSS! My fav wes movie