Robeco Filmdag: The Darjeeling Limited

With only a handful of films, Wes Anderson is already one of the uncrowned kings of American pop culture. In The Darjeeling Limited we follow three brothers who undertake a train journey through India in order to find spiritual satisfaction after the fatal car crash of their father and to be reunited with their mother, who has become a nun in the Himalaya. It is the eldest brother, Francis (Owen Wilson), who is instigator and leader of the trip despite the after-effects of a motorbike accident; the middle brother, Peter (Adrien Brody), doesn't know how to cope with the pregnancy of his wife and the youngest, Jack (Jason Schwartzman), is a ladykiller who is continually obsessed with his ex.
In this delightful film the typical combination of fraternal love and sibling rivalry fits perfectly with these three star actors. The Darjeeling Limited is a film, which, like the eponymous train, doesn't rest before it reaches the meaningful end. The story is beautifully photographed, including subtle slow-motion scenes, is filled with metaphors (the journey, the baggage) and it is beautiful to see that the brothers, who move around the refined, age-old India like a bunch of slightly ignorant buffoons, seem to find the enlightenment they so desperately need by spontaneously performing a good deed. Bill Murray plays the cameo of his life. The film is preceded by Wes Anderson's equally catchy Hotel Chevalier. (EH)