the black angel's death song

Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman in Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier (2007).

Hotel Chevalier, Wes Anderson’s prologue of sorts to his 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited, marks an interesting departure for a director whose strengths usually revolve around his ability to fashion compelling characters out of conventional—and literate—narrative arcs. Here, the best Anderson can do with his two actors (Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman) is evoke a mood of melancholy longing; on that basis, this 13-minute piece works incredibly well. To the strands of Peter Sarstedt’s inimitable “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” Anderson crafts a sexy, funny, and ambiguous film about one couple’s encounter at the titular hotel. If nothing else, the image of Portman wearing a yellow robe, staring out from a balcony (pictured above) makes Hotel Chevalier worth watching.