Critical Essay - The Darjeeling Limited

 

The film The Darjeeling Limited is rich with its use of symbolism. Identify and elaborate the significance of at least FOUR (4) symbolism used in this film.

The Darjeeling Limited is an American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson. The film was released in 2007 and has won a few nominations since then. The film is basically about three brothers, Francis, Peter, and Jack who went on a “spiritual journey” a year after their father’s death only to find out that the whole reason Francis, the eldest brother, planned out this trip was to find their mother who did not show up at their father’s funeral year before. The film started as a businessman who missed his train, The Darjeeling Limited, and was beaten by one of the Whitman brothers, Peter, in the streets of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Most of the scenes in the film were shot in Jodhpur, but there were also scenes the were shot at the old terminal building of Udaipur Airport, Narlai and even Long Island City. The three brothers were personally having their own issues. Francis is recovering from a motorcycle crash, Peter can't cope with his wife's pregnancy, and Jack can't get past his ex-lover. Throughout their journey of finding their mother that soon they found out were in Himalayan convent, these three brothers slowly manage to deal with their issues with each other and the start of a new relationship between them begins to show. Wes Anderson uses visual elements, such as clothing, shoes and color schemes, throughout the entire film, to highlight each one of the personal problems for the character.

To catch The Darjeeling Limited's true beauty, one has to recognize the symbols shown throughout film. What the characters were wearing throughout the film has its significant meaning as one of them symbolisms that could be found in the film. The three brothers were all wearing the same pyjamas in the film but all in different colors. These pyjamas belonged to their father and this shows that all of them missed their father who has passed away in an accident around a year before they went on their journey.

Other piece of clothing that had a significant meaning was Francis’ belt that he had brought along and he very much loved. That belt symbolizes love. The belt represents all his loving memories and was very angry when Peter borrowed it without asking his permission. In a way, Francis was scared of losing his memories that he cherished so much to someone who he did not trust at that moment. Later on Francis decided to give the belt to Peter as a sign of moving on and ready to create more memories, he was ready to let go of the old memories that was holding him down. However whenever Francis was upset or disappointed he would immediately take the belt away from Peter, going back to what he was comfortable with, the belt that represented his old memories. Towards the end of the film, Francis gave his belt to Peter permanently as a symbol that now he truly was ready to let go of his old memories in the past and has created new loving memories with his brothers on that journey.

Francis’ head bandages were not only props to show that he was involved in an accident before their trip, but it also symbolizes how his life was falling apart. Aside from that he still had efforts to mend all his broken relationship. It is illustrated by his attempt of bringing his brothers together on the trip to mend their relationship and also the relationship with their mother together as a family. By the end of the film there was a scene when he removed the bandages on his head and continued to say that the wounds on his heads are getting better but still needed more healing. This scene in a way symbolizes how his life and his relationship has changed into something better but it could still be improved into something great.

The brothers' suitcases that they carried around everywhere are yet another aspect of symbolism in The Darjeeling Limited. These suitcases belonged to their father, so they were all very attached to them. During the film, they're constantly lugging around these suitcases containing all their father's belongings, showing how they are still not over their father. The suitcases represented the past memories of each of the Whitman brothers. Whether it was happy, sad or neutral memories, they were constantly keeping the suitcases nearby and bringing them everywhere no matter how much of a burden it seemed like to carry around huge suitcases as they were constantly moving around. After experiencing a character change, they did not need to hold on to the past anymore and that was symbolized towards the end of them film when they trying to catch the train, they threw all of the suitcases, leaving them behind.

The train that they rode also plays an important part. The first train that they rode at the starting of the film were dull in colors while the train they rode at the end of them film had bright colors. This symbolizes the lack of trust and love in the beginning and how that transformed at the end of the film, thus the bright colored train.

One of the important themes of the film is the effects of trauma. Discuss the event that caused the trauma and how it impacts each of the Whitman brothers and they managed to overcome the trauma by the end of the film.

The film The Darjeeling Limited portrayed many traumatic events and what it led to. For example the character Francis Whitman, the oldest brother among Peter and Jack Whitman, was covered in head bandages throughout the entire film. After was asked by Peter, he then revealed that he was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Clearly after that he was physically and emotionally traumatized by the incident that led him to plan a trip through India by railroad, reuniting with his two brothers in hope they can reconnect after a year since they saw each other at their father’s funeral. Francis was so determined to get along with his brothers through this trip to the point that he planned this trip in great detail, coming up with a strict itinerary and would be upset if one of his brothers would not follow how he planned. He was so scared of the trip not going as planned so when he found out one of his brother were planning to bail on the trip, he decided to confiscate and hold on to their passports. Towards the end of the film, Francis decided to give back his brothers’ passport but the brothers said that it would be safer if Francis hold on to them. This shows that Francis were no longer afraid of the trip not going as planned. He accepted the fact unexpected events would happen on trips even if it means one of his brothers would bail but turns out his brothers were not planning on to do so since they asked him to hold on his passports.

Other traumatic events that the film portrayed was the death of the Whitman brothers’ father. All of them had different ways of coping with their father’s death. One of the scenes from the film was a flashback of the Whitman brothers and Peter’s wife, Alice, in the back of a limo on the way to their father’s funeral. Peter asked the limo driver to stop by a mechanic shop for him to pick up their father’s car even though Alice said that they were running out of time. Peter was so determined to bring his father’s car to the funeral even after the repairman said his father’s car has not ready and fully fixed yet. It is revealed that their father's death was a result of him being hit by a taxi, and that their mother did not attend the funeral. One of the ways how Peter cope with his father’s death is with using most of his father’s belongings and these included his father’s razor and glasses. Francis was annoyed with the fact that Peter was taking all of their father’s belongings as if Peter was closer to their father than any of them and that led them into a physical fight and got kicked out of the train. Francis made peace with that as it was later not mentioned anymore until the end.

In the film, Jack was going through a breakup and that was a traumatic event for him as he had a hard time moving on from his ex girlfriend. Earlier in the film it showed that Jack was on the phone and when asked by Francis, Peter said that Jack had access to his ex girlfriend’s mailbox and he would frequently check who left messages for his ex girlfriend. As Francis and Peter was not such a big fan of Jack’s ex girlfriend, Francis asked Jack to make a deal that whenever Jack felt like checking his ex girlfriend’s mailbox, he was to go through Francis and Peter first, no matter day or night. On the train, Jack also had sexual contact with the Indian stewardess, Rita. Maybe it was his way of trying to move on from his ex girlfriend. Even when times Rita showed that she was uninterested or felt guilty because she had a boyfriend, Jack still insisted of wanting to be with her. After they were kicked out of the train, Jack still had a hard time separating with Rita. Jack’s ex girlfriend even put her perfume in his bag for the trip but at one point of the film Jack smashed the perfume as a sign of him slowly moving on. Towards the end of the film, Jack was on the phone and told Francis that Jack’s ex girlfriend will be meeting him in Italy. In the end, Jack even wrote one of his stories with the ending “He will not be going to Paris” and did not even try to deny Peter and said the characters were fictional like he usually would in the earlier scenes of the film, instead he just said thank you or in other words agreed that the character in his story is himself.

The biggest traumatic event for all the Whitman brothers would be the absence of their mother. In the scene where they were having flashbacks of the day of their father’s funeral, Francis received a call from Alice, Peter’s wife, while Peter was busy trying to get his father’s car to start, saying that their mother is not making it to the funeral and that she did not board the plane. Since then the Whitman brothers were very upset and disappointed with the fact that their mother did not make it. When Alice said in the limo that the mother will be boarding the plane to their father’s funeral shows that their mother were not staying with them or their father even before his death. The fact that their mother did not make it to their father’s funeral was one of the reason why Francis planned the whole trip. Francis initially did not tell Peter and Jack about finding their mother because he knows they would not agree and they would not follow Francis on the trip. This shows that Peter and Jack still has resentment towards their mother’s absence. The scene when they finally found their mother and she immediately left the next morning, the were not even upset or disappointed, instead they ate their breakfast and did the feather ritual together as a sign that they have put the past and what their mother did to them behind.

REFERENCES

Debby Lynn Elias, 2007, The Darjeeling Limited, Behind The Lens, http://behindthelensonline.net/site/reviews/the-darjeeling-limited/

Brian Eggert, 2007, The Darjeeling Limited, DEEP FOCUS REVIEW, https://deepfocusreview.com/reviews/the-darjeeling-limited/

Richard Corliss, 2007, Owen Wilson: Art Imitates Life, TIME, http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1658495,00.html

Phillip French, 2007, The Darjeeling Limited, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/nov/25/comedy.drama1

Steve “Frostie” Weintraub, 2007, Jason Schwartzman Interview, Collider, https://collider.com/jason-schwartzman-interview-the-darjeeling-limited/

Shortflix, 2018, Hotel Chevalier, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MICi9_sZK84&t=678s

Charactour, 2007, Francis Whitman, Charactour, https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Francis-Whitman.The-Darjeeling-Limited

Cyntia Fuchs, 2007, The Darjeeling Limited, PopMatters, https://www.popmatters.com/the-darjeeling-limited-2496205554.html