The Darjeeling Limited is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, which he co-produced with Scott Rudin, Roman Coppola, and Lydia Dean Pilcher, and co-wrote with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman. The film stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Schwartzman as three estranged brothers who agree to meet in India a year after their father's funeral for a "spiritual journey" aboard a luxury train. The cast also includes Waris Ahluwalia, Amara Karan, Barbet Schroeder, and Anjelica Huston, with Natalie Portman, Camilla Rutherford, Irrfan Khan, and Bill Murray in cameo roles.
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The film was released on October 26, 2007 by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics and earned $35 million on a $17.5 million budget.[1] The film premiered at the 64th Venice International Film Festival in competition for the Golden Lion and was named among the Top Films of the Year at the 2007 NYFCO Awards.
Much of the film was shot in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The Himalaya scenes were shot in Udaipur, and the opening scene of the film was also shot on the streets of Jodhpur. The International Airport shown near the end is the old terminal building of Udaipur Airport. The hill featured at the end of the movie is Elephant Hill, Narlai. The scenes set in New York were filmed in Long Island City.
The soundtrack features three songs by The Kinks, "Powerman", "Strangers", and "This Time Tomorrow", all from the 1970 album, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, as well as "Play With Fire" by The Rolling Stones. "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt is prominently featured as well, being played within the film more than once. Most of the album, however, features film score music composed by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Merchant Ivory films, and other artists from Indian cinema. Director Wes Anderson has said that it was Satyajit Ray's movies that made him want to come to India.[2] The works include "Charu's Theme", from Ray's 1964 film Charulata, film-score cues by Shankar Jaikishan and classic works by Debussy and Beethoven. The film ends with the 1969 song "Les Champs-Élysées" by French singer Joe Dassin, who was the son of blacklisted American director Jules Dassin.
The Darjeeling Limited made its world premiere on 3 September 2007 at the Venice Film Festival, where it was in competition for the Golden Lion and won the Little Golden Lion. The film's North American premiere was on 28 September 2007 at the 45th annual New York Film Festival, where it was the opening film.[3] It then opened in a limited commercial release in North America on 5 October 2007.[4][5]The film opened across North America on 26 October 2007 and in the UK on 23 November 2007, in both territories preceded in showings by Hotel Chevalier. The film grossed $134,938 in two theaters in its opening weekend, for an average of $67,469 for each theater.[6]
The film (widescreen edition) was released on DVD 26 February 2008 on Fox Searchlight, with features limited to a behind-the-scenes documentary, theatrical trailer, and the inclusion of Hotel Chevalier. The film was re-released by the Criterion Collection on 12 October 2010 on both DVD and Blu-ray, the latter being the film's first release on the format.
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of September 2021[update], on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 69% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 193 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.70/10. The site's consensus reads: "With the requisite combination of humor, sorrow, and outstanding visuals, The Darjeeling Limited will satisfy Wes Anderson fans."[7] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 35 reviews.[8] The film has a rating of 7.2 out of 10 on the Internet Movie Database.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave 3.5 out of 4, calling the film's Indian context as one of its main highlights. Ebert singled out Anderson's script, which, according to Ebert, "uses India not in a touristy way, but as a backdrop that is very, very there."[9] Chris Cabin of Filmcritic.com gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and described Anderson's film as "the auteur's best work to date."[10] Entertainment Weekly film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film a "B+" and said "This is psychological as well as stylistic familiar territory for Anderson after Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. But there's a startling new maturity in Darjeeling, a compassion for the larger world that busts the confines of the filmmaker's miniaturist instincts."[11] A.O. Scott of The New York Times said that the film "is unstintingly fussy, vain and self-regarding. But it is also a treasure: an odd, flawed, but nonetheless beautifully handmade object as apt to win affection as to provoke annoyance. You might say that it has sentimental value."[12]
Following a troika of greats with "Rushmore", "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", Wes Anderson extended it with "The Darjeeling Limited". This one has brothers Peter (Adrien Brody), Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and Francis (Owen Wilson) traveling together on a train through India for a "spiritual journey". The dysfunctional family is clearly Wes Anderson's specialty, and he doesn't disappoint. Especially impressive is the scene showing the brothers before the trip to India (I liked how the scene throws the audience off).Are dysfunctional families becoming a cliché in Anderson's movies? Well, suspense was a cliché in Alfred Hitchcock's films, and Hitch made great use of it. Wes Anderson has made another good film here, and I recommend it. Part of the point is that, despite these people's problems, they're well-meaning. I can see the brothers as a branch of the brood in "The Royal Tenenbaums", with the luggage representing the emotional baggage with which the father left them (and then what they do to the luggage at the end).Anyway, a really good one. Anderson so far hasn't made a bad movie, and so I hope that he doesn't disappoint with "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (currently in production). Also starring Waris Ahluwalia, Amara Karan, Barbet Schroeder, Wallace Wolodarsky, Anjelica Huston, Natalie Portman, Irfan Khan and Bill Murray.
One year after their father's funeral, three brothers travel across India by train in an attempt to bond with one another.I am sure I am in the minority, but this is my least favorite Wes Anderson film. As much as I loved "Rushmore" and his other projects, this one just did not do it for me. There were enjoyable moments, but the overall feel was not there.I appreciate Bill Murray's role and find that it probably has some deep significance that I missed. And I guess I should not complain about Natalie Portman, though I cannot say she is a flawless actress either... and for every good Jason Schwartzman moment, there was an anti-moment with Owen Wilson. And Adrien Brody is far too good of an actor to play the minor role he was given here.
Three brothers (Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson) are on a LONG trip through India, though for about half the film you have no idea why they are there. In fact, they spend their time snipping at each other and seem to have nothing in common. They seem disconnected and rather self-absorbed. Only late in the film do you learn that they have come to the country to search for their mother--a mother who abandoned the family some time ago to 'serve God' and help others. Along the journey, they mostly reveal that they are rather soulless jerks--though there are some positive aspects to the journey (such as when one nearly dies trying to save a child). My assumption about the men is that are supposed to be soulless, mixed up and disconnected as a result of their mother abandoning them....or not.Like most Wes Anderson films I have seen, this one does NOT appear to have been written with any intention of making any money at all. Instead, his quirky films seem designed to please Anderson and his friends (who appear in his films again and again) as well as to impress many of the critics and lovers of artsy films. However, I can guarantee that the average person would NOT like "The Darjeeling Limited", as it seems to meander too much, has little in the way of conventional plot AND because it seems like a comedy with no punchlines. In recent years, Anderson as well as Sophia Coppola ("Lost in Translation") and Jim Jarmusch ("Broken Flowers") have produced very similar films (ones, incidentally that have Bill Murray in them)--films that have practically no commercial appeal and which seem to just meander. Some adore these films and some hate them (read through the reader reviews--you'll rarely see such divergent reviews on a film than these). Me, I like SOME (such as Anderson's recent "Moonrise Kingdom"), but can't see the point to many of them. And, as for "The Darjeeling Limited", I see glimpses of something I like but that is all--such as a scene here or a scene there. In fact, the film is super-frustrating as just when I think I'm starting to like it I realize, no, I do NOT!
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