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Blu-Ray : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
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Release Date: October 12th, 2010 Movie Release Year: 2007

The Darjeeling Limited

Overview -

Three American brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other - to become brothers again like they used to be. Their spiritual quest, however, veers rapidly off course (due to events involving over the counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray), and they eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert with eleven suitcases, a printer and a laminating machine, at this moment, a new, unplanned journey suddenly begins.

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
BD-50 Blu-ray Disc
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/TBA
Length:
91
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.40:1
Audio Formats:
TBA
Subtitles/Captions:
TBA
Special Features:
A booklet featuring an essay by critic Richard Brody and original illustrations by Eric Anderson
Release Date:
October 12th, 2010

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Wes Anderson's 'The Darjeeling Limited' is about three brothers obsessed with getting lost. It's an odd conceit and one that is typically Wes Anderson in its conception and execution: brothers Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) agree to take a train across India, in the hopes of spiritual discovery and, eventually, to meet up with their wayward mother (a brief performance by Anjelica Huston), who didn't even bother to show up at the boys' father's funeral. The movie is deeply indebted to the filmmaking team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory and the Indian director Satyajit Ray, but still, rigidly Andersonian. If Anderson was looking for a spiritual loosening up, he came up a bit short.

Which isn't to say that 'The Darjeeling Limited' is a complete dud, but there's a reason his brilliant stop-motion animated feature 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' was heralded as something of a "comeback."

The problem with the movie is that, like the neurotic protagonists of the film, Wes Anderson can't let go of his baggage (this is made very literal in the movie with the boys carrying loads of their dead father's bulky luggage, designed, of course, by Marc Jacobs for Louie Vuitton). The movie is a deviation in the Anderson oeuvre in some key ways: first off, it was the first movie he didn't write with his usual collaborators, either Owen Wilson (who co-wrote his first three films, arguably the peak period of Anderon's creative faculty) or Noah Baumbach ('The Life Aquatic,' 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'). The film was instead co-written by star Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, one of Francis' kids who wrote and directed the underrated and utterly brilliant movie-about-movies 'CQ.' It should also be noted that this is the first movie without Anderson's longtime musical collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh. I've been asking around as to what, exactly, happened with those two, and I've never gotten a straight answer. But Mothersbaugh didn't return for 'Fantastic Mr. Fox,' and Anderson chose to instead score 'Darjeeling Limited' with pop songs and music from other filmmakers' back catalogs instead.

So we can now think of 'The Darjeeling Limited' (the movie, not the titular train) as being a spiritual quest, just like the three brothers in the film, by the three filmmakers, who were trying to outdo themselves and push themselves further than they had previously. But just like the brothers in the film, they get bogged down in the specifics of the film, in the controlled rigidity that Anderson has brought to all of his previous films: the tightly snappy lateral pans, the insistence that every piece of lettering be in Futura bold, and the inclusion of one of his famous "dollhouse" shots – wherein the camera will take on a life of its own, panning through several rooms or compartments (the most memorable is probably the sequence in 'Life Aquatic'). In 'Darjeeling,' the dollhouse shot takes on a more metaphysical quality, as the camera passes through rooms on a train that show various characters around the world. It's a cool moment, but it's one that makes you feel as though Anderson tried to resist doing it, but just couldn't: he couldn't shake that baggage.

That's not to say that I hated 'The Darjeeling Limited.' I saw it twice during its initial theatrical run and found it to be compellingly watchable, if not exactly emotionally sound. There's a prolonged sequence towards the end of the film where the brothers take witness to a young child's drowning. It's a shocking moment, and one that resonates deeply. Or, it would have if Anderson hadn't felt the need to follow the moment with a show-off-y, 'hey look at me' slow motion sequence choreographed to a beloved pop ditty. There's a disingenuousness that always threatens to torpedo his work with a level of toxic smugness. It's moments like the child's death that could really have been special had Anderson followed the advice of his characters and just tried, for a moment, to let go.

'The Darjeeling Limited' is probably my least favorite live action Wes Anderson film (hey, 'The Life Aquatic' at least had that amusing Jeff Goldblum subplot), but it's still one that should be watch and talked about and digested. There are people (including a critic that does a video appreciation on this disc) who find it to be Wes Anderson's 'thesis film,' an encapsulation and expansion of all his thematic ground thus far, and a wild ride at that. Personally, though, I think he could have stopped the train at any point in the journey.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'The Darjeeling Limited' comes to high definition courtesy of the Criterion Collection, spine # 540. It comes on a single 50GB Blu-ray disc. It plays automatically but halts on the beautifully illustrated menu screen (the box art and menu art were designed by Anderson's brother). The disc is Region A locked.

Video Review

Ranking:

As far as video quality goes, 'The Darjeeling Limited's M1080p AVC MPEG-4 transfer (aspect ratio: 2.40:1) is more or less peerless. This is a beautiful presentation, through and through.

Even though the movie isn't that old (it was released in 2007 theatrically), the accompanying booklet, which unfolds in a typically Andersonian way (clever, bordering on precious), suggest some work still went into cleaning this puppy up. "Supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson, this new high-definition digital transfer was created from the digital intermediate 2K files, which were scanned from the original 35 mm negative on a Spirit 4K Datacine," the note reads. That means: they worked hard on it and it looks really pretty.

'The Darjeeling Limited' has a rich color palette that reflects the exoticism of India (to an almost fetishistic degree) and separates our characters further from their experiences, and here those colors pop to an absurd degree. It never overwhelms anything and heightens the viewing experience. It's just wonderful. The movie is eye-popping in a way that it never has been before.

Additionally, the fundamentals of a good transfer hold up well: skin tones look nice and realistic (and there are a whole bunch of different hues here); black levels are deep and inky and present one of the greatest "dark" scenes in a high-definition transfer, when a tiger growls in the gloom (look for it in the "dollhouse" sequence); there are no technical foibles to speak of or evidence of after-the-fact monkeying. Everything looks pristine and great.

The Blu-ray transfer on 'The Darjeeling Limited' has an unheard-of level of dimensionality that rounds out an unbelievable visual package. Even though I may feel wishy-washy about the movie itself, there's no denying what an accomplishment this transfer is.

Audio Review

Ranking:

Equally impressive is the audio mix, a hearty DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 affair that brings the lushness of India to life.

'The Darjeeling Limited' is a dialogue-heavy comedy, so most of the action takes place front and center, with every utterance rendered crisply and clearly, with things always well prioritized.

Given the often crazy locations and the amount of hustle and bustle that surrounds each scene, the movie does have some surround sound heft, with crowd scenes being given particular attention. The music, too, both the pop songs and the material from older movies, sound absolutely marvelous, particularly in the movie's frantic opening sequence.

There isn't much else to say about the audio mix, besides the fact that it doesn't contain any glitchy audio problems or technical issues, but is a clear, smooth, nicely atmospheric accompaniment to the film. It should also be noted that portions of the movie are spoken in Hindi, with English subtitles.

Otherwise, the only subtitles present are in English SDH. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is the disc's only audio option which if I could editorialize for a moment, seems kind of strange. I'm not sure if the original DVD release had other language options, but most movies released today have a multitude of language tracks. It's about the only letdown on the whole disc, but it's worth mentioning regardless.

Special Features

Ranking:

All of the extras present on this Blu-ray are also on the double-disc DVD that is being released concurrently by the good folks at Criterion. Those disappointed with the bare bones DVD that was released the first time around will be very pleased with this new edition.

  • Hotel Chevalier (HD, 13:13) This short film, which was shot a year before principle photography began on 'The Darjeeling Limited,' is seen as the first chapter of the film, and stars Jason Schwartzman and 'Black Swan' princess Natalie Portman. It's an interesting little oddity, striking in its beauty and emotional depth, and it looks and sounds as good as the film proper. You have the option of watching the movie with the short film attached or on its own. When I saw the film theatrically in New York, the two were attached, and Anderson now claims that's the definitive version of the 'Darjeeling Limited' experience. There's also commentary with Anderson available on the film that's a good listen.
  • Commentary by Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola This commentary was actually kind of a let down; you'd think with three very funny people that this commentary would be, you know, very funny. But it's not. It's often dry and awkward and not terribly informative or fun, but rather rambling and only occasionally interesting. Honestly, I'd skip this.
  • Documentary by Barry Braverman (HD, 40:50) This is a free form kind of documentary that took place during the filming of 'The Darjeeling Limited.' It's not compelling from beginning to end but it is well worth a watch, if only to pick out the really wonderful stuff. Take a look.
  • Conversation with James Ivory (HD, 20:45) This is a really wonderful little bit, recorded this year, in which Anderson talks to James Ivory about the influence his movies had over 'The Darjeeling Limited.' Loved this.
  • Essay by Matt Zoller Seitz (HD, 11:48) Seitz has a fairly big thing for Anderson's quirky pod of films (see his remarkably pretentious "The Substance of Style" video series for the Museum of the Moving Image), and his central conceit in this piece is that 'The Darjeeling Limited' is Anderson's '2001.' Whatever that means. This is worth a watch, if only for Seitz's unique perspective.
  • American Express Commercial (HD, 2:02) A funny and self-referential American Express commercial, co-starring a couple of 'Darjeeling Limited' actors. This was made when American Express did a whole series of these things with famous directors (remember Marty's?) Makes me laugh.
  • Sriharsh's Audition (HD, 2:39) This is footage from an audition featuring a very cute young Indian kid. Not exactly essential, but still fun.
  • Oakley Friedberg/Packer Speech (HD, 3:34) This is a really weird inclusion – it's basically home video footage of a speech made by one of the production staffer's children, about what they learned in India. It's cute and it's full of some really nice, altruistic moments, but you could easily skip this.
  • Deleted Scene and two alternate takes (HD, 3:21) Boy, this is barely enough material to warrant inclusion on this disc: it's one deleted scene, in which Brody plays cricket with a tennis ball with some local Indian kids, and alternate versions of a scene where the three brothers descend a sand dune and another one at the airport (the latter scene captured beautifully in one fluid shot).
  • Sketch by Roman Coppola (HD, 2:29) Another brief collection of behind-the-scenes footage by the film's co-writer. Sort of redundant, with what's captured elsewhere on the disc, but also kind of funny and the music is pretty weird.
  • Waris' Diary (HD) This is a collection of 11, very brief little documentaries recorded by co-star Waris Ahluwala. They cover things like "Fitness" and "Special Effects" and "My Costume," but my favorite one was the first in this collection: "Animals," which more or less is just a bunch of completely random shots of animals, with the name of the animals and an arrow, pointing to said animal. Funny and weird, in equal measure.
  • Trophy Case (HD, :41) This is a really great little text-based feature about how 'The Darjeeling Limited' won two awards – each granted by a very funny age demographic. I won't ruin it here, but you should definitely watch it, and not just because it's less than a minute long.
  • Still Galleries For those that care, this is a collection of photos by James Hamilton, the full-time on set photographer for 'The Darjeeling Limited' ('Royal Tenenbaums' too), as well as pictures taken by Laura Wilson (mother of Owen Wilson) and Sylvia Plachy (mother of Adrien Brody) when they visited the set.
  • Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:17) Not the world's greatest trailer, I'm not going to lie.

'The Darjeeling Limited,' like its protagonists, certainly isn't perfect. It's a messy, sometimes slack, oddball comedy that doesn't reach the heights of Anderson's earlier movies (or his genius animated film that would follow). Still, this disc looks and sounds terrific, with enough special features that could last you from now until you reach India. Even though I wasn't sold 100 percent on the film itself, it's very easy to Highly Recommend the Blu-ray for 'The Darjeeling Limited,' especially if you're a fan of the director's work.