We’ll admit, getting to see Natalie Portman’s bare ass, as perfect as it is, isn’t the only reason you should check out Wes Anderson’s new short Hotel Chevalier. But it’s a pretty damn good one. Serving as a mini prologue to the soon-to-be-released The Darjeeling Limited, the 13-minute short depicts an awkward lovers’ goodbye between Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and his ex (Portman). Filmed entirely in room 204 of a fictional Parisian hotel, the story gives viewers a sideways glance into Jack’s mindset prior to embarking on a spiritual journey through India with his brothers following their father’s death.Viewable for free at iTunes (we were featuring a clip borrowed from You Tube that has since been taking down by Fox Searchlight), it’s important to note that Portman’s birthday suit is a gift that can only be seen in Hotel. In fact, her character barely has any screen time in the feature film. Film-goers should also know that Hotel will most likely not be appearing with Darjeeling. For now, only select theaters or film festivals will be showing the two together. Which is A-OK with Anderson, who has explained in recent interviews that the pairing was originally unintended. A major supporter of short films, Hotel was initially going to be a stand-alone piece and was completed nearly a year before production began on Darjeeling. It wasn’t until later that Anderson realized Shwartzman’s character could easily fit into the full-length film which he had only began to conceptualize. Sound confusing? It is. But the Wall Street Journal does a great job of tiding everything up.
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