I love Rushmore! I saw it in 1999 and was immediately smitten with it. The director’s name was Wes Anderson and he wrote the script with this other guy called Owen Wilson. They did another movie previously called Bottle Rocket; I rented that next and was delighted to find myself just as smitten. Fast-forward to 2001 and the released of Anderson’s follow-up to Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, which, admittedly, was not without its charm, but I found it somewhat lacking as compared to the director’s first two hits. Then came The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which seemed a little too in love with itself and its cleverness to be an engaging film for the general public.

So now here we are almost ten years later and I’m happy to say that Wes Anderson has got his mojo back. The Darjeeling Limited is a funny, character-driven, quirky kind of road trip through the confusingly enchanting country of India. The film follows the three Whitman Brothers, who after a year of estrangement are reunited by middle brother Francis (Wilson) for a spiritual journey before finding their mother at a nunnery. The oldest brother Peter (Adrian Brody) is expecting his first child and the youngest brother Jack (Jason Schwartzman) is trying to get over a bad break-up and they reluctantly join Francis on the titular train. Although Peter and Jack are constantly looking for a way out, Francis keeps the festivities moving with the help of his assistant Brendan (Wallace Wolodarsky).

The great thing about Darjeeling is that it maintains the director’s marvellous sense of detail but unlike Anderson’s past two efforts, he doesn’t drown in them. Now there’s nothing usually wrong with attention to detail, much of the DVD special feature industry is built on the notion that some people will obsessively spend hours searching for some bit of minutia, but in Tenenbaums and Zissou even the slightest sight gag had a background story. In Darjeeling things are kept simple: 11 pieces of luggage, a laminating machine and a poisonous cobra. For what this all means; see the movie.

The great effect in Darjeeling though is the trifecta of Brody, Wilson and Schwartzman. They’re wonderfully convincing as bickering brothers; Peter having seemingly raided their late father’s possessions collecting sunglasses and a razor while Francis is really upset about it. Jack meanwhile, ever the little brother, is just trying to get his fair share of the attention, writing short stories which are thinly veiled reiterations based on actual events, yet somehow he thinks he made them up. His brothers get into a fist fight, he trumps them by using the mace them both. In a short but sweet role, Angelica Huston plays the boys mother, who despite living a spiritual life is even more messed up than her boys.

Although the film is a comedy, there is still a strong undercurrent of spirituality and self-discovery in the script. The screwball antics of the Brothers’ journey gives way to a more profound discovery in a very subtle way, kind of like the kite flying scene in Rushmore. By the time you get to the end, you do get the sense that the Whitman Brothers have not only come to some understanding, but have also come to some spiritual peace. As per his trademark, Anderson’s heroes leave us in slow motion departure, not necessarily resolving their life’s problems but definitely with a feeling that maybe these characters are on their way to something better. Hopefully.

The screening of The Darjeeling Limited I saw featured the short film Hotel Chevalier before the feature presentation. It’s a story about Jack just before he met his brothers in India, and is a bizarrely inspired effort that’s worth seeing on its own.