This film looks how a sitar sounds like.
After an evening if reckless drinking, I’ve awoken in the tight nauseating grip of a horripilating hangover. This blanket is my sanctuary and I refuse to leave this bed. The only cure that comes to mind is a bowl of ramen and some films. A very particular kind of film shall be my tonic; something calming, with a pleasant aesthetic that’s not too heavy on the eyes and a subject matter that’s not too heavy on the mind. My consciousness is burdening on the last few brain cells I have left, I don’t have the mental capacity to think today, so give me something simple.
Wrapped up in my blanket after a heavenly bowl of noodles, I watched The Darjeeling Limited (2007). Wes Anderson is among one of those directors whose films are a sight for sore eyes. Every frame is a painting and I’m completely captured by everything that goes on within the frame. Everything is staged so carefully, each little movement of the camera is precise yet not robotic, it’s lucid and curious. The colour palette makes the eyes roll around in supernal ecstasy and everything has his quirky fingerprints all over it. His films have a simplicity to them that’s subtle, where witty and snappy dialogue carries the weightlessness of a simple subject matter that’s easy to follow and doesn’t require much mental gymnastics to make sense of it. Need I say more about Wes Anderson’s films being among some of the most effective hangover cures out there? Administer one dose through eyes and ears, sit back for about an hour and a half until the course of the medication is completed and you’ll feel as good as new.
Anyway, this particular offering follows three brothers as they take a spiritual trip across India, a year after their father’s death, with a lot of emotional and literal baggage in tow. Through the journey, as they begin to get on each other’s nerves, they realise why it is they hadn’t spoken to each other for a year. They go from hating one another to indifference to loving each other. We see them get over their own personal problems and reconcile as brothers and friends. It’s a classic story of stressful siblings framed in such a beautiful manner.
Cinematography in all of Wes Anderson’s films is magical, every little detail is so personal where the frame acts as a window into his mind. Just as in all his other features, everything from camera movement to composition and blocking as well as the tiny little subtle details in the background, especially all the scenes in the train, make it seems like we’re looking into a dollhouse train set. Characters will appear into frame from weird spots, a flurry of fluid pans and zooms augments these movements and make us float into them like the smell of food makes a starving man float towards it. Symmetry which is such a stamp of his cinematography, although still present in this film, is quite sparse compared to his later work. With brothers Jack, Peter and Francis confined within the tight cabin of the train, the air becomes claustrophobic with tension and restlessness and I don’t think something as clean as constant symmetry would’ve been compatible with this emotional disorder between them so I like this decision for asymmetry, intended or not.
India is portrayed as such a charming and lovely country where the squalor and rural setting is teeming with personality and peace.
I adore the acting from the most minor of characters that we see for a grand total of a few seconds, to every major character. Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody, three regular collaborators of Anderson, carry their parts with such ease and fun despite the turmoil that besets their characters. The stilted manner in which they deliver their dialogue feels odd and almost childlike, which is fitting for the way they lash out at one another through the course of their journey.
Music is always such a personal part in Wes Anderson’s films, feeling as if he’s needle dropping from his own record collection. I often associate Lola Vs Powerman from The Kinks to this film and for good reason. But what really sets the aural setting for India are the scores from Satyajit Ray’s films which make up most of the soundtrack. It’s blissful and spiritual, the soundtrack often reflecting the purpose which drags the brothers out here.
If it isn’t apparent yet, I’m a massive Wes Anderson fan and at one point he was my favourite director until I realised that the spheres of filmmaking are far too nebulous (for me at least) to pick a favourite. But he will always have a special place in my heart. This film will resonate with you in particular if you have siblings you can’t stand, so go watch it and have yourself a great hangover cure if you’re in the same physical state as me.
Comments