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The Darjeeling Limited: Musically yours!

Just saw Wes Anderson’s latest fratricidal fun-on-the-run The Darjeeling Limited! Totally loved it. Love the meandering (and seeking) nature of the narrative, which is similar in structure to the Coens’ comedy work but yet so different. And that’s got a lot to do with Anderson’s dialogues, which sound profound if put on paper but in the context of his films are completely redundant.

Like this scene towards the end of the film when Francis (Owen Wilson) unwraps his bandage to reveal the wounds he suffered in an accident (maybe attempted suicide). The three are all looking at the bathroom mirror, with brothers Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) checking out Francis’s bloody face reflected on the glass.
Francis: I guess I’ve still got a lot of healing to do.
Jack: Gettin’ there, though.
Peter: Anyway, it’s definitely going to add a lot of character to you.

It’s completely sumptuous but what makes Darjeeling Limited my favourite Anderson film is the production design and the music. Credited to production designer Mark Friedberg, with art direction by Aradhana Seth, the interiors of the train and the real locations of Rajasthan, the mise-en-scene is a lovely balance of exotic and essential. It’s like the India the foreigners want to see and yet the India we don’t mind watching.

But the music, oh the music, is the killer experience. Largely using themes from Satyajit Ray’s films and Merchant Ivory productions, Anderson swings around with moods just on the power of music. It’s like one theme fading into another and setting up a completely different ambience. Right from the first frame, when Bill Murray (special compulsory appearance) the businessman criss-crosses the busy streets of Rajasthan in his taxi, the music of Jalsaghar’s credit sequence gets the pitch absolutely right.

Then the scene where Rita (the sexy stewardess played by newcomer Amara Karan) tries to serve savouries to the Whitman Brothers but is smuggled to the loo by Jack for a super quick some-smooch-some-sex session. She doesn’t enter the Whitman compartment, turns around and then after a quick dash of thought starts walking towards Jack. It’s the Charulata theme playing in the background and trust me, it works wonders.

Watching - and hearing - Anderson using Ray so judiciously in his background (there are also themes from Joy Baba Felunath, Shakespearwallah, Baksha Badal) I remember how we used to debate which song or theme to use in our film school. We didn’t have the budget or resources to get original music done and would hunt for the perfect 30-second loop for a particular scene. And that brings me back to the Coens, who on receiving the Best Director Oscar said we used to make films with our digital camera when we were kids… even today it feels like the same.

It’s a great, great quality if film-makers can retain their a bit of their innocence and not be afraid to have fun… at a time when we film-buffs take every frame so seriously.

8 Responses to “The Darjeeling Limited: Musically yours!”

  1. 32 on February 28th, 2008 9:37 am

    :d

    Looking 4wrd to see it! Whn it’s cmng to INDIA????? anybody knows?

  2. ArSENik on February 28th, 2008 10:41 am

    Yes, you are right. The music definitely adds effectively, yet minimalistically, to the film, and only ends up enhancing Anderson’s visuals. No mention of Kishore-Asha’s hilarious ‘Typewriter Tip Tip Tip’? I hadn’t heard of the song before watching the film, but it is comically beautiful. I own the OST of the film.

    Read somewhere (and I can’t find it now) that Anderson dedicated the film to Ray, who was a major influence on him, especially with the Calcutta Trilogy (my personal favorites) and Charulata. The whole yellowish filter feel to the film is an ode to Sonar Kella in my opinion, also shot in the austere landscape of Rajasthan.

  3. Sheikhchilli on February 28th, 2008 10:56 am

    Wow, thanks for the info. I saw this film with my mother and didn’t really pay much attention to the indian music. my mom liked it though and now i know why. :P

    Even though I *like* Wes Andersons quirky creations, I was afraid that this film would be full of stereotypes and unfunny jokes about india. But Andersons treatment turned out to be quite sensitive.

    I think that no Indian film maker has so aptly captured the essence(?) of Indian railways in recent memory. The train sequence in Johnny Gaddar comes to mind, but that’s it.

  4. Tushar on February 28th, 2008 11:26 am

    Welcome to the Club, boss.
    an article after long I see :)
    good to see you talking about this film, I loved it when I saw it 2 months back, but wanted to crack the musical references. I am in the process of getting the OST, but it was nice that you spelled out the moods so well with giving the film names out as well. Anderson is a personal favorite, much like Coens. This film is like a song. enough said. :-)

  5. Anand G on February 28th, 2008 3:07 pm

    I just saw this movie last night and was searching this website for reviews. So great timing! It was indeed a very pleasant watch. The dialogues, the acting, the music… ah the music!! I am still humming the tune at the ending of the movie and the movie even has a bit of Beethoven. Yea there were no stereotypes (except ofcourse the poisonous snake)! A must watch for Anderson fans. I wonder if people who haven’t seen Wes Anderson’s previous works would like it though?

  6. Sarang on February 28th, 2008 5:25 pm

    Thanks for pointing out the references. I did not pay much attention when I watched the movie a couple of months ago. I am going to see this all over again now!

  7. rxtreme on February 29th, 2008 12:06 am

    Wes Anderson combined absolute hilarity (snakes on a train, Owen Wilson’s one expensive loafer getting stolen) with a serious look at relationships in this great film. It was funny that the boys came half way around the world to bond with themselves and meet the mother who had abandoned them, only to be abandoned by her all over again. The short film Hotel Chevalier was interesting too - loved counting all of Natalie Portman’s ribs!

  8. Pratim D. Gupta on February 29th, 2008 1:43 am

    Bhai Tushar, yes a post has been long overdue… Darjeeling Ltd propelled me to write it. You know you grow up on all these films and you know their background scores and suddenly the best of them are amalgamated and put in a completely different film in a different language, different setting and different context. It’s mindboggling! Purists would snigger at how Ray has been played around with. But I truly treasured every single note of it. Will have to watch it again soon.

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