On the occasion of the release of Isle of Dogs, back on one of Wes Anderson's most colorful films: The Darjeeling Limited. An initiatory journey to the heart of India, this film paints the story of three brothers in barely believable adventures and sumptuous sets, all punctuated by a superb soundtrack. To see and to review.
A burlesque and touching initiatory journey
First images of the film: Bill Murray runs after the train named "The Darjeeling Limited", and magnifying it. Already quite a symbol for the director, who separates from his favorite actor (Bill Murray had played in his three previous films, Rushmore, The Tenenbaum Family and Life Below Water). Instead, Peter (Adrien Brody) boards the train to join his two brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). Then begins a journey through India during which the three brothers will get to know each other through multiple trials.
We can already note the excellent casting, the acting and the dialogues, which allow the spectator, from the first twenty minutes of the film, to identify the characters and understand them. The three brothers seem at first glance different in every way: they never eat the same thing, do prayers differently, are unable to trust each other. Then as the journey progresses, their common past is revealed, with its pains and wounds. Hence all the symbolism of flight, shown in an obvious way by this train that stops only when it is lost and behind which the protagonists will not stop running, and in a less obvious way by the flight into religion, the past, love or death.
The death of the father is the central element of this journey. Francis, Peter and Jack can't grow up without him, overcome this fear of living without the loved one and loneliness. Anderson represents this past through an element present throughout the film, visually and symbolically very striking: the father's suitcases. They are used to store, hide, place souvenirs, and end up leaving them on the dock, like ashes thrown into Indian waters.
Wes Anderson, talented painter of moving images
Wes Anderson's filmography is marked by his very personal visual identity, which constantly plays with colors and geometry. The Darjeeling Limited is one step closer to this "Andersonian" aesthetic. Robert D. Yeoman, his cinematographer, draws beautifully colored and illuminated friezes throughout the film, like endless paintings. Everything is accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack, which the show Blow Up d'Arte honors here.
How to evoke the image of this film without talking about the colors? Yellow, blue and red intertwine and overlap in virtually every image, and give an inescapable gaiety to Wes Anderson's photography. The long lateral travellings, like so many paintings that seem infinite, as well as the many slow motions, tell this wonderful initiatory journey; Twilight lights and dark nights poetically run through these fabulous geometric settings.
We could find in each of the colors a meaning, and give them a meaning; But why not be satisfied with the feeling they provide, and the beauty of the image? Let's just dwell a little on the use of the color red; This color seems to be a spiritual representation of the Father, a presence that accompanies the brothers on this journey. She is first associated with the father during the flashback, with this red car that Peter absolutely wants to recover; then she follows each of the characters in turn, with the flower necklaces, the tilak, Jack's notebook or even the blood of the young Indian. Finally, the film concludes when the brothers board the train named "Bengal Lancer", a train adorned in red and orange. The father is thus everywhere, as a helper towards emancipation and freedom.
With The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson takes us once again into his incredibly colorful and wonderful universe, accompanied by sincere and touching characters. Do not hesitate, and embark on this fantastic journey.
