The Movie
From IMDB.
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, & Jason Schwartzman
Release date: October 26, 2007
Genre: Adventure / Comedy / Drama
Plot: 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.
Rating: R for language
Runtime: 91 minutes
Cast
Owen Wilson as Francis L. WhitmanAdrien Brody as Peter L. Whitman
Jason Schwartzman as Jack L. Whitman
Amara Karan as Rita
Wallace Wolodarsky as Brendan (credited as Wally Wolodarsky)
Waris Ahluwalia as The Chief Steward
Irrfan Khan as The Father
Barbet Schroeder as The Mechanic
Camilla Rutherford as Alice
Bill Murray as The Businessman
Anjelica Huston as Sister Patricia Whitman
Trivia
Natalie Portman, who appeared in a cameo, traveled to the film's location in Jodhpur, India, to shoot for about half an hour and then spent 10 days exploring India afterward.Wes Anderson said that part of his inspiration for The Darjeeling Limited was The River, and more specifically that he owes a debt of gratitude to Martin Scorsese for screening the film personally for him.
Director Wes Anderson chose not to have an original score for his film, opting, instead, to borrow original music from Indian films including those from legendary Indian auteur Satyajit Ray's films.
In order to achieve a constant limp while filming, Owen Wilson placed a small lime in his shoe.
Most of the props used on the train sets were handmade or decorated, including the entire dining room set.
The character of Vladimir Wolodarsky in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was named after Wallace Wolodarsky, who played Brendan.
Throughout the whole movie, none of the characters actually smoke a full cigarette.
The 11 suitcases seen in the movie are created by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and they are decorated with giraffes, rhinoceros and antelopes designed by Eric Chase Anderson, the director's brother. They all have the initials JLW.
Towards the end of the film, on the train 'Bengal Lancer', the painted portrait on the wall of the compartment is of director Satyajit Ray.
Bipasha Basu rejected a role in The Darjeeling Limited because she feels the need to act in roles where she is not stereotyped as a typical Indian.
Adrien Brody is the only one of the three leads to not have been in a Wes Anderson movie prior to this. Jason Schwartzman was in Rushmore while Owen Wilson has participated in some way to every Anderson feature film.
The film was mostly shot in the Rajasthani desert, in northwest India.
There are no such trains as The Darjeeling Limited or The Bengal Lancer in India.
The abbey towards the end of the film was originally a royal hunting lodge belonging to the Maharana of Mewar in the Rajput era. It is located in Udaipur. To redecorate it, production designer Mark Friedberg was inspired by Michael Powell's Black Narcissus which takes place in an abbey in the Himalayas.
Wes Anderson had never been to India prior to May 2006, when he went there to polish his script.
Adrien Brody remarked that during the river scene, Wes Anderson's instructions were the exact opposite of what he had intended to do, making the scene sadder in his opinion.
Though no such train actually exists, The Darjeeling Limited was still filmed inside a moving train which went from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer and through the Thar desert, and proved a daily challenge for cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman as nothing could be fixed to the ceiling and filming equipment couldn't be more than a meter out of the windows. To achieve this, Wes Anderson and production designer Mark Friedberg went to see the Northwestern Railways company and told them they needed ten rail-cars and a locomotive which they would redecorate entirely and then move around their railway. This was the first time Northwestern Railways received such a request, and though it took a lot time and effort, it was eventually evidently granted.
In creating the look of the train, production designer Mark Friedberg inspired himself partly from the 20th Century Limited, a train which linked New York to Chicago from 1902 to 1967.
The third collaboration between Wes Anderson and Anjelica Huston after The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
The fourth collaboration between Wes Anderson and Bill Murray after Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
SPOILER: The house into which the dead boy is brought, was not supposed to be blue, but rather have the same natural red color as the others. It was painted blue by a member of the village during the course of time from which it was selected until the crew returned. Anderson chose to use it anyway.
Soundtrack
The film is the first of Anderson's not to feature music by Mark Mothersbaugh. Instead, it features film score music composed by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray and other artists from the cinema of India.
Tracklisting
1. "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" (Peter Sarstedt) 4:38
2. "Title Music" (Vilayat Khan) 2:25 from Satyajit Ray's Jalsaghar
3. "This Time Tomorrow" (The Kinks) 3:25
4. "Title Music" (Satyajit Ray) 1:25 from Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya
5. "Title Music" (Jyotitindra Moitra) 1:37
from Merchant Ivory's The Householder, performed by Jyotitindra Moitra and Ali Akbar Khan
6. "Ruku Room" (Satyajit Ray) 0:49 from Satayajit Ray's Joi Baba Felunath
7. "Charu's Theme" (Satyajit Ray) 1:01 from Ray's 1964 film, Charulata
8. "Title Music" (Shankar Jaikishan) 2:33 from Merchant Ivory's Bombay Talkie
9. "Montage" (Satyajit Ray) 1:15 from Nityananda Datta's Baksa Badal
10. "Prayer" (Jodphur Sikh Temple Congregation) 1:07
11. "Farewell to Earnest" (Jyotitindra Moitra) 1:59 from Merchant Ivory's The Householder
12. "The Deserted Ballroom" (Satyajit Ray) 0:46 from Merchant Ivory's Shakespeare Wallah
13. "Suite Bergamasque: 3. Clair de Lune" (Claude Debussy) 4:57, performed by Alexis Weissenberg
14. "Typewriter Tip, Tip Tip" (Shankar Jaikishan) 4:37 from Merchant Ivory's Bombay Talkie
15. "Memorial" (Narlai Village Troubador) 1:26
16. "Strangers" (The Kinks) 3:20
17. "Praise Him" (Udaipur Convent School Nuns) 0:43
18. "Symphony No. 7 in A (Op. 92): Allegro Con Brio" (Ludwig van Beethoven) 6:48, performed by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
19. "Play With Fire" (The Rolling Stones) 2:15
20. "Arrival in Benaras" (Vilayat Khan) 1:44 from Merchant Ivory's The Guru
21. "Powerman" (The Kinks) 4:19
22. "Les Champs-Ιlysιes" (Joe Dassin) 2:39