The Darjeeling Limited

    King of the Sadbois, Wes Anderson generates stories that are unique visually and, especially earlier in his career, walked a line between amusingly absurd and deeply troubling. The Darjeeling Limited is his most perplexing and exotic film. 

     The film stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman as brothers who are taking a train ride through India to reconnect after the death of their father. The characters deal with complex relationships that center around the mental health issues their patriarch's passing has caused. 

     Like any Wes Anderson film, the visuals seem almost like a picture book. Robert Yeoman composes the shots so they are symmetrical and balanced and the characters seem to move along distinct planes. What makes this movie slightly different from his other works is that a lot of the film is extremely crowded. 

     The train is a naturally confining space which pushes and compresses the brothers closer together. Additionally, Anderson consciously burdens the scenes by putting all three brothers in the frame at the same time. 

     The Darjeeling Limited has the most distinguishably production design of any Wes Anderson film, the colors are almost entirely blue and orange.

     Until the very end and the emotional climax when Anderson switches to a more neutral green. 

     This may be Anderson's most strikingly pretty film. However, it fails to be his best due to story and structural failings. There are several obstacles that the brothers face that could be considered end of Act Two moments. Whenever the brothers are faced with conflict they back down and when they are offered an option to leave they turn around and go back. This creates a meandering journey in which each brother has his own emotional climax rather than the family having an emotional climax together. Additionally there is a long flashback scene that doesn't add to the plot or the character development.

     The Darjeeling Limited is not Wes Anderson's best film but is one of the most poignant. Complex characters and visuals create a interesting dynamic. However, its structural issues bring the movie down. Wes Anderson, instead of doing his usual and making an amusing movie that is also sad, makes a sad movie that is amusing.

Mozart in the Jungle

Mozart in the Jungle is an Amazon original series that follows the lives of the members of New York Cities most prestigious symphony. This show, based off of the novel Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, is created by Paul Weitz, Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman. The plot follows a young new maestro by the name of Rodrigo (Gael Garcia Bernal) as he attempts to bring a new sense of wonder into the slowly dying orchestra. Along the way newcomer Hailey (Lola Kirke) is doing her best to make a name for herself in the cut-throat industry.

The first thing that I have to say about this show is that it is unlike any series that I have ever seen before. The style that the show is shot in is eye-catching; however it is not so well shot that the cinematography is a sole factor for the show to rely upon. Where this series truly flourishes is the character developments alongside the dialogue these characters have. The show truly sticks to its tagline "what happens behind the curtains at the symphony can be just as captivating as what occurs on stage." We follow all of the characters as they spend their time performing with the symphony as well as their individual lives outside. For example we follow the 1st chair Oboist. She is introduced as an uptight, older woman who would do anything to win but the moment we leave the orchestra house her personality is the polar opposite. We realize she is a heavy drug user who enjoys spending her days getting high while listening to music.

Overall I believe that this show is interesting and has a lot of positive traits in it. The actors are all very strong, perfectly portraying and adding depth to their characters. It is shot very well and the story kept me watching for the entire first season. I would definitely recommend everyone give this show a try due to the creative and interesting story.