A Campus Press interview with the filmmaker
“But where do you go to my lovely
When you’re alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head”
With these lyrics, the short film “Hotel Chevalier,” was born. It eventually developed into “The Darjeeling Limited”, the latest venture from multi-faceted filmmaker Wes Anderson.
But what’s more intriguing is the filmmaker himself.
Who is this man, whose directorial debut “Bottle Rocket” was considered by Martin Scorsese one of the ten best films of the 1990s? He launched the careers of Jason Schwartzman, and both Owen and Luke Wilson.
He is a filmmaker who created a humorous perspective on dysfunctional families and a poignant depiction of heartbreak.
And he conceptualized the whimsical dream that is “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”
For “The Darjeeling Limited,” Anderson teamed up with cohorts Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola to write the screenplay.
“With this new movie, alongside Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, we made a particular effort to try to use our personal experiences in the story.” Anderson said. “So this one more than any of them I think is very close to home.”
As he mentioned, each of the three main characters in the film reflected different aspects of the writers’ experiences. However, they each connected with specific characters more than others.
“We went to India together to write and while we were there we would act out the story together,” Anderson said. “When we did that, Jason would play his character Jack, Roman would play Peter and I was Francis.”
Anderson-alum Owen Wilson plays Francis, the insecure eldest brother who instigates the brothers’ trek through India. The deeply troubled character may have reflected Wilson himself, who recently had a stint in the hospital.
“(“The Darjeeling Limited”) has things from all our lives and the lives of people close to us and we used that as the raw material for our movie,” Anderson said.
Anderson said his hands are in every aspect of the film from set design, to wardrobe, to the casting. This is a much easier process for with a repertoire of talented stars who have previously worked with him.
Adrian Brody, who plays Peter in the film, was the only lead actor who hadn’t previously worked with Anderson.
Also lending their talents were Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston and Jason Schwartzman who collaborated with Anderson for the script.
Similar to his previous films, Anderson said the soundtrack adds new dimensions to the story.
“When I wrote ‘Hotel Chevalier,’ I wrote it with that song (Peter Sarstedt’s ‘Where Do You Go to My Lovely’) in mind. The song plays several times in it and the scene was sort of written to that music,” Anderson said.
Anderson has built quite the catalog of artists featured in his movies including The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Iggy and the Stooges, Seu Jorge and John Lennon.
“Sometimes I have the music that is really a part of the film, really a part of how it’s conceived and sometimes I’ll find the music later,” Anderson said. “Sometimes I might have a song that I want to use in a movie, that I have set aside, then I’ll find the place to use it — I just try and use what works for the movie, what’s suited for the scene.”
The next project for Anderson is an animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl Classic “The Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
This will be Anderson’s the first animated feature. However, he will use the same stop motion animation technique as he used for the undersea animals in “The Life Aquatic.”
This will also be Anderson’s first film without using his own original screenplay.
“It’s fun because Noah (Baumbach) and I were able to invent a lot of the story,” Anderson said. “We wanted to try to write something that we thought Roald Dahl would like. But at the same time we were able to use his story — and it’s a very strong story — so it is an advantage for us to work with.”
George Clooney has already signed on to play the role of Mr. Fox, while several other anonymous actors are in talks to fill in the other roles. Production has just started in England.
“The design of the different characters, the design of the sets and everything has to be made from scratch, because you can’t really use a location since the film is animated,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he does have some other projects in the works, “but they’re top secret.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Devon Taylor at devon.taylor@colorado.edu
