Anderson Countdown Part 5 - The Darjeeling Limited

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's newest Countdown miniseries: the Wes Anderson Countdown. To honor one of the great still-working indie writer-director auteurs, who's next film ASTEROID CITY comes out later this year, Scott, Scott, and Jay will be watching all 10 of the American filmmakers' works to-date, from his origins with the '90s heist-comedy BOTTLE ROCKET, all the way to his latest feature, 2021's star-studded anthology drama THE FRENCH DISPATCH. Join us each week over the next 10 weeks as we progress through Anderson's full oeuvre in the buildup to ASTEROID CITY!

 

On part 5 of the Anderson Countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay return to talk all about Wes Anderson’s 2007 family comedy-drama, THE DARJEELING LIMITED. Directed by Anderson and co-written by Anderson with now-frequent collaborator Jason Schwartzman and with first-time co-writer Roman Coppola, THE DARJEELING LIMITED stars Anderson regulars Owen Wilson and Schwartzman, alongside Adrien Brody as 3 estranged brothers: Francis (Wilson), Peter (Brody), and Jack (Schwartzman), who meet aboard a train in India, The Darjeeling Limited, for the first time in over a year since their father’s funeral. All three men are still mourning their father’s death in various ways, and having recently survived a near-fatal motorcycle accident, Francis wishes to reconcile with his brothers during a journey of spiritual self-discovery through South Asia. His motives are not entirely pure, however, as he also is covertly searching for their mother, Patricia (Anjelica Huston) whom all three brothers have not seen for many years since she abandoned them and their father for convent life. Francis’s controlling nature emerges quickly, as he plans a strict itinerary for the three of them and confiscates their passports to prevent either Peter or Jack from leaving early. As the train journeys through the Indian countryside and to various spiritual sites, tensions rise between the trio, and in order to regrow their fraternal bond and properly mourn their father’s death, Francis, Peter, and Jack will have to look past their differences and accept each other for who they are. The countdown crew give their thoughts on Anderson's fifth film, including the performances of its three leading men, the twists and turns their journey takes through India, and whether the themes of family and loss ultimately coalesce well together.