The first thing to notice is what the subtitles don’t translate. Early in the film, the brothers arrive at a remote Himalayan village. A local priest, speaking rapid Hindi, delivers a monologue about the logistics of the funeral they have requested. The subtitles appear—but only partially. We get the gist: “The river is high… the body will be taken at dawn.” But the nuance, the warmth, the priest’s gentle exasperation—that is lost.
The most prominent use of text in the film is the chapter segmentation. The film is divided into chapters with title cards presented in a distinct, bold, yellow font—reminiscent of the title cards in Anderson’s previous film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou . the darjeeling limited subtitles