• To me, the short, Hotel Chevalier is part of Darjeeling the larger feature. It’s a prologue- and I found it to be a stunning opening to the film—Schwartzman’s character is watching Stalag 17 and it shows that even in 2007 Wes is thinking about gorgeous and plush European Hotels (Grand Budapest)
  • Slo-motion used heavier here than in all his previous work- he uses it in the hotel and Bill Murray’s slow-mo trying to catch a train
  • Music is truly inspired throughout- I love “The Kinks” with “This Time Tomorrow” and then we have original music from the Satyajit Ray films
  • Those who gave the film a poor review (and there are many) are deaf to the onslaught of beautiful film visual style- this film is oozing in it. Even if it doesn’t “gel” for them (which is a cop-out) the visual ambition alone make for a top 10 of the year film—I have it higher
  • Laminated itinerary, father issues, comradery… Wes’ auteuristic traits
  • There’s form and repetition in the screenplay I appreciate with Owen Wilson ordering for everyone
  • The film’s mise-en-scene and décor are exploding in colors: Teal, Yellow, Green—and Wes is rolling the tracking shots back and forth in the carts with gorgeous wallpaper in all of it.
  • He uses the train window as frame within a frame device
  • I’ll admit these are tougher characters to get behind than some of his better work—they’re affluent, smug/rude—in need of change- see later
  • Many critics mistake wes for going to India to get spiritual enlightenment which is exactly what he’s debunking—his point is you can’t force spiritual moments like the Owen Wilson character tries to—the real moment comes unexpectedly when the attempt to save the drowning children—- I’ll admit that moment came in and it wiped me out emotionally
  • There 1-2 Zooms like he always has
  • The film has a lot to say on death and grieving. The characters all make phone calls later to make amends
  • I think it’s a complete film at 70 minutes—the last 15 with Anjelica (and she’s not the problem- she’s great) are a little rough—it’s not awful (the marvelous tracking shot through the walls of the train showing the various people in their life with stunningly detailed backgrounds on each is a film highlight) it’s just not as tight as it would’ve been with the 70 minute film.
  • Symmetry and the bookmarks– catching the train at the end—literally can’t make the train if they continue to hold onto their dad’s baggage (luggage- designed by Louis Vuitton) weighing them down—slow-mo again- gorgeous
  • The production designer Mark Friedberg—far from heaven
  • The slow-motion shot of the three men walking to the kid’s funeral is amongst the career highlights for Wes—such a brilliant auteur—it’s a moving painting with the characters in profile—it flows well into the flashback of their father’s funeral. It’s a fantastic moment. There’s elements of Greenaway with the mise-en-scene tracking//moving painting and certainly elements of Scorsese with all the gorgeous slow-motion to inspired soundtrack (The kinks here mainly)
  • Must-See film- top 5 of the year quality