Review: The Darjeeling Limited

Trying to write a review of a movie you saw a week ago is a considerable burden upon the memory banks. I need to see this film again. Until that time, here's what I've got so far:

The most interesting thing about the film for me was not the film itself, but rather the totally inconsistent reviews it received. People loved it, people hated it, people were apathetic about it. Go ahead, check out the reviews. This obviously says that Wes Anderson's latest work is going to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So be it. I would say everyone needs to see it to make up their own mind.

The film is about three brothers, played by Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, and Owen Wilson, trying to rekindle their relationship after not speaking to each since their father's funeral over a year ago. The three have an obvious chemistry, with Wilson fitting well into the role of the overzealous, controlling older brother, Schwartzman playing the forlorn youngest brother, and Brody (who was my personal favorite and a welcome addition to Anderson's otherwise repetitive cast) as the middle sibling coming to grips with the life he has made for himself.

I intend to review the movie based on analyzing each of the three brothers, which I shall insert

HERE

when I have a bit more time to really contemplate each character a little more.

Some other points on the movie:

• Anderson is much more direct in addressing most of his themes in this film than in some of his previous works. He's still addressing a variety of the dysfunctional family issues that he often delves into, but I thought he did a decent job of addressing different themes through each of the brothers.
  
• In keeping with the rather blunt style of the film, there are several 'slap-in-the-face' metaphors, such as Brody losing the child in the river, Wilson's removal of his facial bandages, and the incredibly blatant dropping of the luggage as they run to catch their train at the end of the film. While some of these may have been a little too contrived, I thought they worked well within the film, and appreciated Anderson's attempt to 'keep it simple', if you will.
  
• The soundtrack, of course, if phenomenal. Great use of The Kinks 'Powerman', 'Strangers', and 'This Time Tomorrow'. His blatant placement of Schwartzman's old-school iPod was interesting, and the repetitive use of Peter Sarstedt's 'Where Do You Go To' during Schwartzman's attempted romantic encounters was both funny and a bit heart-wrenching due to his obvious desperation.
  
• I've read a couple of reviews where people complained that Anderson merely used India as a backdrop and didn't truly appreciate the country, blah, blah, blah... I think those people completely missed the boat here. So many Westerners view India as some sort of mythical, spiritual land. They visit various temples, interact with the 'locals', and think they're finding themselves. I thought Anderson's setting was a bit of commentary on these kind of folks who think they're going to 'find' themselves due to their geographic location, and I think the plot really reflected this.
  
• Not that I can really think of a place to fit him, but I love Bill Murray so much, his brief cameo was just a painful tease.
  

Based on one viewing, I'd say this was a better performance for Anderson than The Life Aquatic, and it certainly seems more mature, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable saying it topped Rushmore or The Royal Tenebaums. Not yet anyways. Another viewing is certainly in order, as it always should be.

Review: Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut is fast becoming my favorite novelist. His ability to tackle the broadest of themes, yet address them on a very human and personal level is uncanny. Personally, I really appreciated his invented Bokononist terms karass, referring to a group of people that, knowingly or unknowingly, are working together towards some predestined achievement, and granfalloon, essentially a false karass, a group that people imagine they belong to but that is devoid of real meaning or purpose. Vonnegut uses the example of 'Hoosiers' in the novel, hinting towards the larger characterization of all 'nations' as being granfalloons. We invent these groups to feel wanted, needed, or part of something larger than ourselves. In our quest to create this fantasy for ourselves, Vonnegut points out, we often miss the truth that is staring us in the face.

He uses the island society of San Lorenzo as a stage for his commentary on the destructive power of both science and religion. Using Ice Nine to portray the cold, destructive power of science, he contrasts this with the religion of Bokononism, whose text's opening sentence is, "All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies." Bokononism displays Vonnegut's belief that while religion may not save from destruction, it can make the road to oblivion that much more enjoyable, until the tornadoes come.

From the pages whose corners I folded over during the course of reading:

Fold 1/Page 15 - "They won't fight unless you keep shaking the jar." Newt Hoenikker referring to how the bug fights that his brother Frank staged inside glass jars distracted him from the terror his father caused him. I thought this said a lot about the nationalistic, prejudicial conflicts that our society engages in to distract us from the real dangers, such as those posed by the weaponization of science.

Fold 3/Page 63 - "As Bokonon says: 'Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.'" Pretty self-explanatory. If your karass is illogical and ignores religious, nationalistic, and other man-made boundaries, it must also defy geography.

Fold 4/Page 92 - "Other examples of granfalloons are the Communist party, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Electric Company, the International Order of Odd Fellows - and any nation, anytime, anywhere." So when I said that Vonnegut 'hints' at nations being granfalloons earlier, I was making a gross understatement.

Fold 6/Page 101 - "Pay no attention to Ceasar. Ceasar doesn't have the slightest idea what's really going on." Bokonon's paraphrase of Jesus' suggestion, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's."

Fold 7/Page 190 - "I rolled out of bed at the first bang and ran to the heart of the house with the brainless ecstasy of a volunteer fireman." I just really liked the imagery. It made me laugh out loud.

Fold 8/Page 198 - "Maturity, the way I understand it, is knowing what your limitations are" says Frank Hoenikker. "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything" says Bokonon. I would say that knowing your limitations must be a bitter disappointment. I intend to avoid maturity at all times.


I other folds seemed irrelevant upon further review. There were probably many pages that should have received folds, but sometimes I read when I'm high.