Search - The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Various Artists :: The Darjeeling Limited

Evocatively Wes Anderson (...That's a Good Thing!)

SuperCourier | Miami | 12/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Please don't balk at the ringing cliché-o-meters when I call this soundtrack "evocative" since Wes Anderson's soundtracks are always appropriate to the settings and themes on display. Beautiful and emotional, the eclectic mix seems to intentionally involve music of a bygone era in settings that suggest no time has passed, when indeed much has. This sense is very real in India, and the tale of three neurotic, self-involved materialists gaining a vague sense of this along with a need to take corrective action through self-awareness makes this soundtrack appropriate to both story and setting.



For this reason, I think we can forgive the fact that this is less an original soundtrack than an original collection for a theme. Also for this reason, you may wish to see the film first to see if you gain any meaningful associations with individual tracks before committing to a download. I submit that you likely WILL find at least some connections (yes, a movie plug.)



It is, unsurprisingly, heavily weighted towards Indian music, particularly the poppy, Bollywood variety. This can drag on one's desire to replay the soundtrack in its entirety since not all of these tracks are easily connected in one's memory to a scene in the film. Notable exceptions are "Title...from...Jalshagar" as the soundtrack to Bill Murray's quirky "chase" cameo in the opening scene, and "Praise Him" which evokes mix of familiarity and now-foreign disconnects the characters experience upon finding their mother in a remote Indian orphanage.

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