'The Darjeeling Limited' Film Analysis

Continuing with the Andersons series and going back to Wes, Anderson’s film “The Darjeeling Limited” follows three brothers who embark on a spiritual journey to India in hopes of finding connections they have lost. This film could feel bothersome at first, given the fact that three brothers from a privileged family believe the only place they can achieve spirituality and find peace is the one place they think of that is associated with prayer and spirit, India. Almost as if they believe that is all the country is known for and is not even remotely similar to North America. Nonetheless, this aspect is proven false early on when the oldest brother, Francis, reveals the real reason he has planned the trip is to see their mother who has become a nun in the country. With that, the film becomes a mid-life crisis story for the brothers, brought on by parental absence and lost relationships. The brothers are mourning from the death of their father, the absence of their mother, and their parents’ divorce at a presumably young age. It has caused disconnection in their relationships with each other and with their subsequent partners. The journey beginning on The Darjeeling Limited train is meant to bring them closer together since they have been separated for some time and have become independent. The film takes them through conflict, bonding, tragedy, and eventually redemption and peace, when they find their mother and become re-connected as brothers, while also filling the void they felt inside of them.