Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling
Limited Scene “Play Witih Fire
One of my favorite movies of
all time would have to be Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. The movie is
about 3 estranged brothers who just lost their father, are reunited on a trip
to India. In this particular scene, the 3 brothers are on a quest to find their
mother, played by Anjelica Houston, who has become a nun in a convent in the
foothills of the Himalayas. In this particular scene, I entitled “Play With
Fire” , has editing that makes a significant contribution to the story and feel
of the piece. The scene starts off with, Anjelica Houston (who plays the mom)
turning off the lights in the room. The sound of her flicking the switch, makes
the frame go completley black. When she turns the lights on again, the 3 boys
are surround by her. She then suggests that instead of talking through their
issues, she wants them all to communicate with their eyes.
This scene is incredibly
strong. The 3 family members are sitting in a circle. A nondiegetic sound
starts the scene, playing a song by the Rolling Stones entitled, “Play With
Fire”. The color and lighting in this scene all have a similar sepia tone. The
lighting is not natural and depends on lamp lighting, and throughout the scene
it remains consistent, indicating that it might be set in the evening or at
night. The relationship between the images and the sound of the song is
extremely compelling. As the song plays, the scene begins with a close up shot
of Anjelica Houston, who’s eyes are closed. As she opens here eyes, wide open,
the lyrics start.
What is remarkable about this scene is that
the first shot, is a continuous shot. As Anjelica Houston eyes point to the
right, The camera pans from Anjelica Houston over to the right and lands on the
first born son, Francis (Owen Wilson), then for 5 seconds, pans over again to
Peter (Adrian Brody), 5 seconds goes by then pans over to the right to the
youngest brother, Jack (Jason Schwartzman). The Close Up shots in this
particular frame are very compelling and powerful, each shot focusing on the
eyes, as if we are looking into the souls of each member of the family.
The scene then jump cuts to
another part of the monastery showing the orphans in their room. This part was a perfect example of Graphic match, matching color, and frame compositions to tell the story.The camera
pans to the right, and jumps to another separate shot, a match action edit,
where we are back on the Darjeeling Limited train. Each train car represents a
memory to the boys, or a thought, that they are expressing to their mother. The
remaining shots on the train, continue in the same style of panning. For 3-5
seconds, the camera focuses on each subject in the train car, pans right to the
next car, and so on. The scene ends with a dim shot of a tiger, then jump cuts
to the monastery room’s window. The camera tilts down and we find the mom, a
close up shot, almost as if she’s taking in all the images that were shown
before, and ends the scene. The purpose
of this particular shooting technique was to emphasize what is going on in the
minds of all three of the brothers. It is a deep and complex way of providing
meaning to the story, all done with simple shooting techniques. I think what’s
great about this scene is that if feels continuous, and seamless. It is obvious
when the camera cuts to the train that the shots were out of order and not shot
at the same time but still contributes greatly to the plot of the story in a
metaphorical way.
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