Wes Anderson is known for obsessively controlling every smidgen of each frame of his films — “Bottle Rocket,” “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Life Aquatic.”
So what’s he doing making a film in famously disorderly India? On a moving train, no less?
Having a great time, apparently. And really making an effort to loosen up.
“I felt that India was a place where so many things were going to happen that would surprise us, that we should use those anytime we can,” the 38-year-old director says of his latest tragedy-laced comedy, “The Darjeeling Limited.” “That was sort of how we worked. We tried to incorporate things into the movie that we discovered.”
The tale of three estranged brothers — Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack Whitman (Jason Schwartzman) — reuniting on a train trip across the Rajasthan desert a year after their father’s death, “Darjeeling” bears many of the qualities we’ve come to expect from Anderson’s movies.
Depressed, quirky characters; ’60s British Invasion soundtrack; single-take scenes so symmetrical they’re kind of deranged — there’s no mistaking who made this movie.
In order to shoot fast and nimbly on the moving location, Anderson and his usual cinematographer, Robert Yeoman, had movie lights built into the ceiling of the cramped compartment where the three brothers get reacquainted and on each other’s nerves.
Little about the Indian adventure appears to have fazed Anderson.
“This, it was a real thing,” Anderson says. “Every day, we were taking a train into the desert, and there was something really happening that we all experienced together and that found its way into the movie.
“It’s always different when it’s real.”
More Top Picks Ego Power Plus Cs1815
– – –
Working with Owen
In “The Darjeeling Limited,” Owen Wilson’s Francis limps around with a cane, his head swathed in a web of bandages, all the result of a suicide attempt.
Suicidal mopes have popped up in director Wes Anderson’s previous films (as has Wilson, who has appeared in and/or co-written all of his buddy’s movies since “Bottle Rocket”). But in light of reports of Wilson’s recent attempt to take his own life, there are questions about the comic actor’s state of mind when making the film in India.
“He was wonderful to work with because he’s a good person, and he’s a fun guy to hang around with,” says co-star Adrien Brody, reinforcing the general, pre-Aug. 26 assumption that Wilson was one of Hollywood’s happiest playboys. “Whatever he gave to the film was partially due to his generosity of spirit. And he was always very prepared and focused.”
“That guy just made me laugh,” adds Jason Schwartzman, who played the third Whitman brother. “It really was crazy. In real life, he had me laughing so hard on the set that I was crying.”