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Angelica Houston as the brothers' long-lost mother

Not everything works as well. Death is a recurring motif in Anderson's films, and while it was harrowing in The Royal Tenenbaums, a funeral scene here feels stuffy, forced, too intent on being clever to be really moving. Much better is an illuminating flashback to the day of an earlier funeral, which provides some much-needed pathos. But quibbling with one or two clunky moments almost seems unfair; this is an ambitious film that finds Anderson more confident and less self-conscious than ever. Never before has he seemed so indifferent toward how the film will be perceived, and, consequently, it moves as gracefully and as organically as anything he's done.

At this point his unique cinematic vocabulary—equal parts J.D. Salinger, French New Wave, and children's storybook—feels lived in, less like a stylistic experiment and more like a real, self-contained world. There's always been a sharp-edged potency to his mixture of fable-like simplicity and grown-up emotional complexity, and here it feels natural, unpretentious, with nothing to prove. With Anderson, it's always the little details that give the most away—stray glances, scattered lines of dialogue, minor features of the immaculate wardrobe and set design, even the feelings conjured by his typically delightful British Invasion soundtrack. The Darjeeling Limited is by no means a broad comedy; it's a farce about family, for viewers who are willing to look closely and pay attention.

Director and co-writer Wes Anderson and his star players

That seeps into the performances, as well, which are all models of subtlety, playing sadness and comedy alike with the same heartbreaking earnestness. Brody does some of his finest work, digging beneath his character's gruff exterior to find wrenching gloom and insecurity. Schwartzman is just as compelling, just as beautifully fragile—check out the scene where he wonders if the three Whitmans would still be friends were they not brothers. And Wilson, hiding beneath bandages for most of the film, brings a sad humor and gravity to his character that is made all the harder to ignore by recent, real-life news.

Some critics will reprimand Anderson for repeating so many of the same themes in all of his movies, and indeed, anyone who has seen an Anderson film is already familiar with the emotional ground covered here. But that doesn't mean he's redundant; it means he's forging a legacy, developing a thematic voice every bit as distinctive as his vibrant visual style. He's coming back to familial need and broken dreams from a slightly different angle each time, and, over the whole body of his work, he's giving us a rich cinematic language with which we can explore these feelings and concepts in our own hearts and minds.

Talk About It

1. What exactly are each of the brothers looking for on their "spiritual journey"?
2. Why have the brothers become estranged? What are the things that divide them from one another? From their mother?
3. How does the train work as a symbol or metaphor?
4. What does the film say about the importance of family? About the nature of brotherhood? About dealing with loss?

The Family Corner

The Darjeeling Limited is rated R for language—a few f-words and other assorted profanities occur, making the film unsuitable for children, but, for R-rated standards, this one is relatively tame. There is implied sex between two characters, but nothing explicit is seen.

Photos © Copyright American Empirical Pictures

© Josh Hurst subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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