Opening sequence Analysis.

The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson.

The Darjeeling limited is about three American Brothers who have set off on a train voyage across India to find themselves, and piece back together their relationship after the death of their farther.
The Film begins with an anonymous character (played by Bill Murrey) being hurtled through an Indian City in a taxi. The camera focuses on his scared yet hopeful (to get to the destination alive and on time) and the Indian drivers concentration.
The film uses temporal editing to skip the less important bits of the character buying a ticket as its creates a larger sense of urgency and shows how fast the character is rushing to catch the train.
There are Birdseye view shots showing the traffic and the colourful setting on India. This shows the setting that should be expected in the film, a colourful vibrant India.
The theme however is not yet apparent. At the train station we find this character running for a train, here a new character is introduced. It uses slow motion to slow him overtake Bill Murreys character, showing there facial expressions and introducing Jason Schwarzmans character as a snide yet nervous person.
Jason Schwazmans character beats the other person to the train showing the colourful train named the "The Darjeeling Express" showing one of the important settings for the film.
Throughout the opening sequence we see the colours and setting of the film, a third world country with a vibrant culture.
There is also very little dialogue, only Bill Murreys character talking to the taxi driver telling him instructions. During the scene where they are running for the train they use non diegetic soundtrack to make the scenario sound more dramatic.
The costume used on the Caucasian actors shows that they are wealthy westerners as they are wearing tailored suits with designer luggage, giving us an idea of the characters background.
Notably, there are no women in the opening sequence suggesting that the film will be very male orientated.
The sequence ends with a close up of the train sign saying "The Darjeeling Limited."



By Dan Ashcroft.