Camden New Journal - Movies: The Darjeeling Limited

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published:22 November 2007

Jason Schwartzman, Adrian Brody and Owen Wilson rekindle their relationship on an Indian journey

An Indian bruv story

THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Directed by Wes Anderson
Certificate 15

THE Darjeeling Limited is the name of a train chundering across the plains of India with its chimney belching smoke and the carriages rattling like an old man’s bones.
We’re somewhere in the 1950s time-zone, in the days when a train journey really was an adventure. This is the carrot that tempts three American brothers who haven’t spoken to each other in years to make one last effort to get together again.
They board the train at Jodphur for the 1,000-mile journey, three separate individuals with seemingly nothing in common, but each weighed down with his own problems.
Francis (Owen Wilson), his face swathed in bandages and limping with a cane after a motorcycle accident, is the eldest brother who, despite his affliction, has mapped out the itinerary for all of them. He runs up against the simmering intensity of Peter (Adrian Brody) and with Jack (Jason Schwartzman), the “baby brother” trying to get over a broken love affair.
“We’re going to have a life-changing experience,” Francis assures them – and he isn’t kidding, as their journey skids off the rails from the first signal. At one point the trio get stranded in the desert after being ejected from the train for bad behaviour, and from then on their misadventures are both boisterous and heart-warming to behold.
The film was actually shot aboard a train (no studio sets here), with incredible scenery adding its own realism to the adventure, while the acting is superbly underplayed for maximum effect.
I treasured one scene in particular – the trio sprinting along a platform in the wake of the departing carriages, discarding their expensive luggage as they shrug off their own emotional baggage to face life afresh.
Buy your ticket for a delightfully uplifting journey which makes us all companions from first stop to last.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:

» Film Times
» Film Reviews
» Buy DVDs
» Rent DVDs