Ride the nerd-train to Connection City!
In April 2005, I wrote a
post on this blog comparing John Cassavetes'
Husbands and Satyajit Ray's
Days and Nights in the Forest. Two weeks ago, I watched Wes Anderson's
The Darjeeling Limited, and noticed that he used several pieces of music from Satyajit Ray's films. I also noticed, during the film's only flashback sequence, that the three leads (Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson) wore the exact same suits as the three leads in Cassavetes'
Husbands (John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, and Peter Falk). In both films, these identical suits are worn in scenes that feature the three leads in the back of a limo going to a funeral. Doing some Internet research when I got home, I discovered that Anderson's major inspirations for his new film were
Husbands, Satyajit Ray, and Jean Renoir's
The River. The Renoir film was introduced to Anderson by Martin Scorsese. Anderson has become friendly with Scorsese in a master and apprentice sort of way and seeks out his career advice. Scorsese sought advice and friendship early in his career from Cassavetes. In addition to music from Satyajit Ray's and Merchant-Ivory's films,
The Darjeeling Limited draws heavily from The Kinks' album
Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One. This album contains the song, "Apeman," which my wife and I have decided is our song (as in "they're playing our song.") The album also contains the song, "Lola." A character in
Husbands is named Leola. (That one's a stretch, I know.) Seymour Cassel is a frequent cast member in both Anderson's and Cassavetes' films, but he doesn't appear in either
Husbands or
The Darjeeling Limited. Wally Wolodarsky plays Owen Wilson's assistant in
Darjeeling. In the early-to-mid-1990s, Wolodarsky was a writer and producer on "The Simpsons." The character of Apu on "The Simpsons" is named after the character of Apu in a trilogy of films by Satyajit Ray, music from which is on the soundtrack of
Darjeeling. For more information, consult the Illuminati.
Visual aids (feel free to print out and connect with Magic Marker, or the writing utensil of your choice).
Picture these guys in the suits below (I can't find any stills from the flashback scene.)
(
Days and Nights in the Forest, left, and
The Darjeeling Limited)
The Two Apus:
