2012 in Film: #75 – 76 – Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited

Posted on March 21, 2012

2012 in Film: #75 – 76

Hotel Chevalier and The Darjeeling Limited (2007) | Directed by Wes Anderson

Grade: Both – B+

Thoughts: Yet again, we encounter Wes Anderson’s twee storylines about family dysfunction. The storyline itself isn’t very revolutionary – one person in a group or family forces the others to undergo spiritual cleansing etc. – but it is at least pulled off with Anderson’s cute humor and beautiful sense of visuality. The three leads, Brody, Wilson, and Schwartzman, are all very good. Granted, it’s not nearly as novel as The Royal Tenenbaums, but to expect that is a little unreasonable. Anderson’s prelude to the film, Hotel Chevalier, is surprisingly more nuanced than Darjeeling as a whole. With a 12 minute space to work in, both Schwartzman and Portman bring some emotional believability to their roles. Also, Portman looks good with short hair. As always, Anderson’s taste for music is impeccable, especiallywth the subject matters he tends to deal with.