Ever since Fox Searchlight announced it would not be screening Wes Anderson’s prequel, “Hotel Chevalier,” in front of it’s companion feature-length film, “The Darjeeling Limited,” Anderson had promised that he would somehow find a way to get the short into audiences hands.
And he’s kept his word. This Wednesday, the 13-minute prequel short will be available for free on Itunes and it’s a wise and far-reaching manner for the film to be distributed [ed. Kind of fitting since the Ipod gets some rather large product placement in the film.]
Having seen both films, we think it’s basically crucial that you see ‘Chevalier’ before you see ‘Darjeeling’ as they go hand in hand and the short informs the full-length film. Anderson himself envisioned the prequel as a short piece of fiction and the film to act as a full-blown novel. I like short stories,” Anderson told the Los Angeles Times by phone from. “I like the form. And I liked the idea of a short film as a companion piece to a movie.”
Much has been made about supposed nudity and sexuality, but like a lot of overeager writers, a lot of the talk is overstated. And yes, ‘Chevalier’ has a sort of sex scene and is more sexual than any of Wes’ other films, but it’s sort of like saying ‘Darjeeling’ has more India in it than his other films, duh, it’s part of the story, stop making a fuss out of it already.
Anderson also confirmed what many had already speculated about “Hotel Chevalier” that it was shot in late 2005 – nearly a year before “The Darjeeling Limited” began shooting and the short became sort of a working draft of the eventual film. It was also done off-the-cuff in two days, with a very small crew and financed entirely by Anderson. “I was financing it myself, so there was no money to raise,” he said. “We got a little crew together — 15 people — and shot quickly. We dressed it with stuff from my apartment. It was like making a student film.”
“Hotel Chevalier” is meant to take place two weeks before “Darjeeling’ is meant to begin and was shot on location in Paris. Portman for her part was well aware of the semi-nudity in the film and only wanted one thing in the script changed. “She didn’t want to smoke,” Anderson said. That’s why, in the final scene, “we changed it to Jason giving her a toothpick. I think it’s better.”
She also didn’t want herself used in the marketing posters or previews in ‘Darjeeling’ (though she does appear in the film in the briefest of moments). “I’m in “Chevalier,” which you can see on the Internet, I’m not really in Wes’s movie,” Portman told the Wall Street Journal. “I asked Wes to make sure that I’m not in the previews because I really think it’s false advertising.”
If somehow you can’t get the short on Itunes or at least want to see it on the big screen, Anderson still hopes to roll the prequel out with theatrical showings of the feature after it has run for a few weeks.
“We were unsure how this needed to be presented,” he said. “We felt they should be connected and searched for how to do that. In the end, I liked the idea that one person could see it in one way, and another could see it in totally another way.”
“Hotel Chevalier” features the Peter Sarstedt ’60s folk hit, “Where Do You Go My Lovely” and a song by Maurice Ravel (and one other track that went by too fast in the credits, we’ll all find out on Wednesday. Actually we’ll see it again on Tuesday, stay tuned.). The ‘Darjeeling’ soundtrack is out on Tuesday (it features the Sarstedt song as well).
Watch: Peter Sarstedt – “Where Do You Go To My Lovely” (on British TV)