Warning: This film has snakes on a train, but contrary to rumors is not a sequel to Snakes on a Plane and I will ruin this film for you with indulgent interpretation.
The sporadic rhapsody that is Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited, begins with a time warped moment initiating what seems to be plot. Bill Murry ensues on a white rabbit dash to meet his train, but falls short as Adrien Brody outruns him with a sprawling hop onboard. The moment holds cinematic significance, but takes some serious plot derailment to reveal its meaning. That train is the Darjeeling Limited, an imaginary line that crosses India and is host to the spiritual journey of three brothers. The brothers: a triumvirate of tragic-comic minds including Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman.
Trains are always dependable for plot progress. Yet, in true Anderson fashion the story in motion gets derailed by characters that are too playful for the constraints of plot. Anderson’s trademark symmetry of tones; both of color and sound, mystify our conscious awareness of this shift. We willing tumble along a plot that has gone off course into the psyche of enigmatic characters. This is definitely not a flaw of the director, but one used as symbolism in the manipulation of plot by impulsive characters.
In the case of TheDarjeeling Limited this symbolism is the excessive baggage that three brothers carry on a train, one derailed on the track to spiritual sanctuary. Not to mention, after which, the symbolism of also trying to save three young Indian brothers drowning in a river. The “X” on their map of sanctuary is their M.I.A mother, a born again nun played by Anjelica Huston. In an emotional sense she is holding the missing closure they yearn for in their father’s death; a catalyst of their family’s splintering.
One boards this story knowing it will be powered by the dysfunctional, yet adored characters of Anderson’s imagination. It also comes as collaboration with Jason Schwartzman’s debut as a writer and cinematic progeny, Roman Coppola. Anderson, Schwartzman and Coppola actually traveled to India to absorb the sights, smells and tastes, as well as to scout locations. It’s tempting to speculate how the three writers channeled this experience into the characters of three brothers.
Perhaps Owen Wilson’s controlling ways, ruled by itinerary and dependent on assistants, is Anderson the director. Then there is the mysterious presence of Adrien Brody’s character, whose motivations are as “behind the scenes” as Roman Coppola’s diverse career in film. More obvious perhaps is Jason Schwartzman, who plays a writer that desires, but is not desperate for his brothers’ approval. Or course this is pure speculation and only Barbara Walters’s or James Lipton’s prying ways could land this bait in hidden pools of inspiration.
The strongest element exuding from The Darjeeling Limited is the Bollywood-esque Mise-en-scène. One can almost smell the spices and feel the vivid colors of Indian cloth basking in the warm sun. The rhythm of the plot plays much like Indian Tabla drumming; deep patterns of repetition forming an illusion of melody. In the end, at risk of ruining the ending, the brothers do find a kind of closure, but it’s more of an acceptance. The kind of aural acceptance you give Tabla drumming, in allowing its beautification of repetition to consume you. Once these three brothers allow the repetition of emotional inevitability, meaning some things never change, they are freed from their baggage.
As if to comment on the film’s own use of obvious symbolism, Owen Wilson’s character is captivated by something his assistant says. The train gets lost taking a wrong track and he says “We haven’t located us yet.” Wilson translates this synchronicity as a motto for their own spiritual journey; the brothers haven’t located their true selves yet. It’s like Vedic philosophy from an Indian fortune cookie; life’s spiritual destination is in the journey itself.
Enter here, Bill Murry’s father figure character; another Wes Anderson trademark. While the end credits imply Murry’s character is simply “Business Man”, past experience (Rushmore, Life Aquatic) assumes he is their father. The brothers’ journey comes full circle back to the time warped moment of Adrien Brody and Bill Murry rushing to make the Darjeeling Limited. At the film’s start we see Murry missing the train in his 1960s attire, as Brody surpasses him to board, baggage in hand. The Station and the Train are a timeless loop of existence, where a father’s short comings are fulfilled by his sons. Thus when Brody, Wilson and Schwartzman almost miss the Darjeeling Limited in the end, they shed their baggage to make the train.
It may seem that the act of shedding emotional baggage was the key ingredient to the brothers’ closure. Yet, that Brody’s character made the train at the film’s start and his brothers were already on it shows that the journey was already fulfilled. The only missing piece was in the awareness that time (trains) and space (the station) are sometimes irrelevant infinities (loops) and the essence is in the journey. The brothers are constantly trying to awaken themselves to this, even if in self-destructive ways. The life-affirming acts of tobacco smoke, Schwartzman’s sex on a train and indulgent pain-killer doses. It’s all about numbing the body to cleanse the mind of the desire to be numb; how’s that for a paradox?
The Darjeeling Limited is not so much a paradox as it is the irrational transcendentalism of a perfect circle. In another fitting synchronicity as I sit and finish this review, taking the last sip from my Starbucks, I glance at the cup’s “The Way I See It” message. It reads, “I used to think that going to the jungle made my life an adventure. However, after years of unusual work in exotic places, I realize that it is not how far off I go or how deep into the forest I walk that gives my life meaning. I see that living life fully is what makes life – anyone’s life, no matter where they do or do not go -an adventure”, (Maria Fadiman). There’s that fortune cookie philosophy again, starring at me from a coffee cup label. Life is the journey, not the destination. The last montage of The Darjeeling Limited resonates here that we must embrace this or be imprisoned by our own compartmentalized sleeping cars on the tracks of life.
Besides the act of broadening your consciousness, prior to seeing The Darjeeling Limited it was recommended that audiences see the short film, Hotel Chevalier. The short was directed by Wes Anderson and starring Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman, without the intention of becoming a feature. Portman has a cameo in The Darjeeling Limited, but it holds little meaning without having seen Hotel Chevalier. The short film was available for free download on iTunes, but it is now being released theatrically with the feature. While the filmmakers assured audiences they must see the short to fully grasp the feature, the opposite seems truer, or is that just another paradox?
