Went to see Darjeeling Limited tonight. I had the good fortune of going alone. Then I had the double good fortune of having an empty theater. It was well worth it – because given life as it is – this was a good movie to see in solitude.
Three brothers meet up a year after their father’s death on a train somewhere in India. The goal – apparently a spiritual journey. What it amounts to? A look at how we often try to itemize the mad rush of life into moments of meaning instead of taking the whole as it comes in its plenitude.
The Wes Anderson experience is present throughout – with swiveling cameras and the continuous colorful backgrounds – but the underlying theme manifests itself through periods of grief and the characters’ attempts to manage the pain of daily existence by itemizing life either through directions & orders, a carefully and meticulously composed itinerary, drugs or spirituality. It is an all too common approach at capturing the unending stream of life and death and trying to embody it into a capsule of meaning.
It was a poignant and timely movie – recommended.
Where did you see it that you got to have the theater to yourself?! I’m all geeked to see it (LOVE Wes Anderson’s flicks)!
It was Novi Town Center – and it was at 7:20pm. I’ve been meaning to see it for weeks – now it’s on to the Coen Brother’s new flick…