Carnage Reviews

At this point, there is no adventure to agree that Roman Polanski is one of the most interesting and sharp cinematography storytellers today. Not only this, the most important thing is that he has not lost vigor and originality with the times. Not a veteran author, affluent and dedicated to simple adaptations of great works ("Oliver Twist" would be the recent exception) or History, as so often happens.

In "Carnage," the filmmaker continued with a steady, daring to adaptation of a play and telling a story that goes far beyond the seemingly conventional subject matter, giving several twists and turning it into a very personal vision complex than can be all human personality. The latter is best exemplified when isolates four characters-two couples-in the enclosed space of a living room, making them absolute protagonists of the film. Despite this, not only because of its short duration (less than 80 minutes), the resulting vision personality clash that occurs always entertaining, without decay in no time. Worth mentioning the remarkable performance of his players, especially a struggling Jodie Foster and extraodinary role of Christoph Waltz.

The movie is a perfect example of that good education and manners aren't inherent to mankind, but simply habits and conventions acquired along the centuries for better social functioning. Arguably, "Carnage" is a kind of Buñuel's "The Exterminating Angel" transplanted century and dissected by the skilful hand of Polanski.

Yasmina Reza's stage play was well adapted for this film. I've seen it a lot because of the seamless skill of the acting, direction and cinematography. It's easily one of the funniest and most entertaining films I've ever seen.

The dialogue is intelligent and the comedy has some very fine moments. The men play well. Most typically complacent, they are faster to shrug off the inconvenient truths about their relationships and views on life. Nancy gets drunk a little too quickly but she is a superb foil for Penelope who is the engine of much of the comedy and Jodie the dynamo delivers with angst and heartbreak through flinty looks, mini-meltdowns and brittle interactions that have such a powerful comic effect. After some misadventures (Flightplan, The Brave One, The Beaver) it's nice to see Jodie doing a stellar job with a great script.

The writing is great and the performances are rock-solid, reflecting the skill of the players. For me the women (actresses I deeply admire) really carry this film.

Nancy: "Bacon?" (of a book on the coffee table)
Penny: "Yes, Bacon."
Nancy: "Cruelty and splendour."
Penny: "Chaos, balance."

Adorably pretentious and a nice way to hint at how the women would like people to think they see their respective worlds. Jodie's reaction to the spew-covered Kokoshka art book is superb, as are her lines "Their son is a threat to homeland security" and her whiny "Awww! The Foujitaaaah!" Winslet is terrific, aside from the drunkenness thing, Reilly delighted me and Waltz worked well with him delivering a top quality performance.

When Penelope finally drops her mask and lets rip to Nancy I thought Jodie was going to pass out she was working so hard.

If you are/have been married, or even in a long-term committed relationship, there may be much familiar territory here that can be the source of many rueful chuckles and perhaps some ear-warming guilt flushes.

This compact and symmetrical film seems to improve with repeated viewings. I wish there were more films like this.

Twórca "Dziecka Rosemary" od zawsze słynął z poczucia humoru, ale poza "Nieustraszonymi pogromcami wampirów" oraz nieudaną pornoparodią "Alicja w krainie czarów" ("Co?" z 1972 roku) nie zapuszczał się na terytorium komedii. Tym razem zrobił jednak wyjątek i dobrze na tym wyszedł. "Rzeź" – ekranizacja głośnej sztuki Yasminy Rezy wystawianej w Polsce jako "Bóg mordu" – to nie tylko najzabawniejszy film w jego karierze, ale i koncert gry aktorskiej.

Pomysł na punkt wyjścia był prosty: dwa małżeństwa z Nowego Jorku spotykają się, by przedyskutować bójkę, do jakiej doszło między ich pociechami. Grzeczna początkowo rozmowa zamienia się bardzo szybko w siarczystą kłótnię. W jej trakcie bohaterowie zrzucają maski kulturalnych inteligentów i biznesmenów, by móc swobodnie wywlec na światło dzienne wszelkie brudy.

Bardzo często zdarza się, że gdy jakiś reżyser bierze na warsztat materiał ze scenicznym rodowodem, to na planie próbuje go za wszelką cenę uczynić bardziej "filmowym". Przenosi sceny z wnętrz na świeże powietrze, dodaje efektowne ujęcia, podkręca tempo. Polański nie poszedł tym tropem. Akcja "Rzezi" rozgrywa się w czasie rzeczywistym w czterech ścianach mieszkania jednej z par. Poszczególne sceny trwają nawet po kilkanaście minut, a wypełnia je wyłącznie dialog. Polański nie nakręcił jednak teatru telewizji – prowadzona przez Pawła Edelmana kamera nie lubi pozostawać w bezruchu, zaś kolejne rekwizyty (m.in. bukiet pięknych żółtych tulipanów i telefon) zostają bezbłędnie wykorzystane w budowaniu napięcia. Zobaczcie tylko, jak dzwonek należącej do jednego z bohaterów komórki potrafi na moment zawiesić akcję albo sprowokować gwałtowne zachowania pozostałych interlokutorów.

Polański zasługuje na uznanie za sposób, w jaki odczarował ekranowe wizerunki swoich gwiazd. Po sukcesie "Bękartów wojny" wydawało się, że Christoph Waltz do końca życia będzie wcielał się w kolejne wersje Hansa Landy. W "Rzezi" Austriakowi udaje się wreszcie uciec od demonicznego pułkownika – gra na niższych tonach i unika markowych spojrzeń psychopaty ze szklaneczką odtłuszczonej latte. Reszta aktorów też nie próżnuje: Jodie Foster już dawno nie miała w sobie tyle ognia, John C. Reilly – choć początkowo wygląda na poczciwego misia – pokazuje kły, a Kate Winslet (chyba pierwszy raz od czasu epizodu w "Statystach") popisuje się talentem komicznym.

W trakcie blisko 80-minutowej pogawędki bohaterowie co raz zmieniają fronty, zawiązują nietypowe sojusze i regularnie obrzucają się inwektywami. Dowcipne dialogi przypominają zazwyczaj serie z pistoletu maszynowego. Jak ktoś chce, będzie mógł wyłowić z tego filmu parę niewesołych obserwacji dotyczących kondycji zachodniej klasy średniej. Reszta widzów powinna się po prostu dobrze bawić.

I have no proof otherwise, but I have a sneaking suspicion about Carnage as a work of theater: it plays better onstage than it does as a film. Why? Because if we’re trapped inside a theater as it plays out in front of us, we’re being made complicit in the actions and arguments. And there’s a certain energy involved in live theater that can’t be replicated in film. But Polanski turns in a very smooth and fine film. The wraparound segments featuring the two boys involved in the fight showcases that much of the fighting is about something very superficial, if anything had been slightly different maybe the families would have been reversed. And he is blessed with an absolutely stellar cast that in any other year would have been nominated all around at the Oscars. Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster in particular deliver typically fantastic performances. Considering everyone involved, it could have been better, but what is here is pretty damn good.

Carnage already had almost instantly become an immediate attraction to all audiences due to its sophisticating ensemble cast who have delivered some of the best performances in various films over the past 20 years, and of course, an iconic director behind it all who makes an altered change in comparison to his other films as he makes something entirely different after being best known for crime-mysteries, horror and dramas throughout his career. So, with all these beneficial aspects behind it and having not much valuable experience with the comedy genre, Carnage is truly a hilarious but extremely underrated black-comedy that very closely resembles the comical ingenious qualities of situation-comedy television shows.


Due to the very short duration of the film, that it is set in one entire day and is in pretty much one particular location and the numerous sparks between the characters, the aspects within the genre of situation-comedies really begin to kick in with Carnage. These aspects particular include the fact that although they go in and still try to get out of the situation that they are in with some good news or some kind of positive outcome, there is literally nothing within the film that can be done civilly without pure hell breaking loose. Plus, including the laughs and the disasters that occur within Carnage, hidden secrets begin to unveil about each of the characters that slowly begin to reflect their true nature and leads to questions.


The added spice to the film is the ensemble cast that features three out of four Academy Award winning actors. Firstly, Jodie Foster is perhaps the leading and most vital character from the quadruple as she is the passive-aggressive wife and mother. Foster goes into two whole new depths whilst portraying Penelope as she goes from this emotionally confused and worrying mother to a rather psychologically deranged woman with some anger and mentality issues. Secondly, any film starring Kate Winslet (especially alongside a well-known and famous director), you’d always expect her to give a grand performance and gladly she achieves this once again. Kate has mostly been part of emotional dramas throughout her career thus far but there is a wildly funny side to her that has been born and would crave to see her continue to do in the future. Both Foster and Winslet rightfully deserved their Golden Globe nominations but perhaps should have gained even more fame for their performances in Carnage.


Ever since his Academy Award winning role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz is really becoming a new Hollywood star as he collaborates with another notable director in a role that is different but somewhat familiar to what we have seen him be most famous for in the past. What is meant by this is that although Waltz’s character Alan in Carnage, he is still quite the dark, manipulative guy but is still very funny and brings forth such strong chemistry with on-screen wife Kate. Now, last but not least, Oscar-nominated actor John C. Reilly is perhaps the most sophisticated one of the four regarding the comedy genre and he delivers a grand performance in the film as well that fulfils the complete package of successful acting from an ensemble cast.


From the likes of his greatest films throughout his 50+ year career such as Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Tess, The Ninth Gate, The Pianist and most recently The Ghost Writer in 2010, Roman Polanski alters from his vintage genres of horror, thriller and drama to something that we hadn’t seen frequently from him: black comedy. Polanski’s work in Carnage identically resembles what Mike Nichols bought forth in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? back in 1966 with the extremely argumentative attitudes between the characters, the time settings with them mutually being set in a single day and most importantly, a somewhat related style of humour. Polanski collaborates with the original writer of the play – Yasmina Reza to write the script and together they write it absolutely brilliantly, which is another strong aspect within the film that has been snubbed by the various award organisations.


Overall, Carnage is a film that is beyond anything than what you’d expect and how it looks. You’d really expect some kind of normal suburban drama with one or two slight laughs in store but when you watch it, the laughs simply do not stop until the film ends. It is a fine jumble of suburban drama, disaster/slapstick comedy and situation-comedy, so if you’re a fan of any one of these, then Carnage and everything that it consists of, is a solid recommendation for you that you’d find incredibly fun and that you’d laugh until it hurts. Polanski and the ensemble cast make this a special treat that is definitely one of the funniest black-comedies you’ll and replies to some unanswered and unrecognisable forbidden characteristics of human nature and both their individual and social behaviour.

Some people claim to hate dramas that consist entirely of characters sitting in a room talking to each other. That hatred sometimes goes so far as to make the person say they will NEVER watch films like that, and to a certain extent, I understand the feeling. After all, if a camera has the ability to capture SO MUCH, and technology has taken us to a point that the possibilities of what film can show us are basically infinite, why make a movie that limits itself so much? "If I wanna hear people talk, I can just go somewhere where there are people talking and listen to them." My personal take on this, though, is that it depends entirely on the context and on the dynamics of what goes on in the film. It's my opinion that dialogue, when handled expertly, can have the same searing impact as an explosion-filled action sequence or a bombastic musical number, even if the dialogue occurs entirely within the confines of a room - just watch 12 Angry Men if you don't believe me. Roman Polanski's most recent cinematic effort, Carnage, had all the potential to be equally great, considering the subject matter and its top-notch cast. I'm still recommending the film, because it's engaging enough, it's economical in length, and it features a very strong performance from Jodie Foster, but in several ways, this is kind of a missed opportunity.

Penelope (Jodie Foster) and Michael (John C. Reilly) are a married couple who live in an apartment with their kid, who recently got into a fight at school with the son of another couple, Nancy (Kate Winslet) and Alan (Christoph Waltz). So, the two couples convene in the apartment to discuss the situation and to figure out alternatives to resolve the conflict. The meeting seems to end quickly and amiably enough, and just as Nancy and Alan are about to walk out, something happens that leads them to go back into the apartment, and thus, the discussion between the two couples gets protracted. Awkward niceties, sarcasm and bickering ensue.

What shocks me the most about Carnage is that, considering the fact that, similarly to 12 Angry Men, it's a film in which characters are in a room together talking about events we didn't witness, this was a terrific opportunity to give us dialogue drenched in moral/ethical debates in terms of whether it's correct for a child to respond in a particular way in a situation at school and in terms of the roles of parents in the resolution of conflicts of this sort... but Carnage dedicates about 15% of its dialogue to that. What does the remaining 85% focus on? The frustration over having to dry soiled pants. The reasons that may have led a character to throw up. An argument over whether a cake had gone bad or not. A cellphone that won't stop ringing. Yes, the most mundane stuff you can imagine. See, this is the type of thing that will bolster the argument of people who believe dialogue-driven dramas are worthless - they might say of Carnage "If I wanted to see this, I can just go watch my parents argue with the neighbors whenever I want." But like I said, it all depends on HOW the plot is exploited. I believe that realistic situations in films can be every bit as engrossing as long as the right amount of edge, spice or dramatic heft is heaped upon them. But in the case of Carnage, to make matters worse, the realism isn't even handled particularly well. This film is based on a play, and it shows - and the WAY in which it shows is pretty dispiriting. The film features an excess of the staged fakeries that tend to characterize plays. It has too many of those moments in which a character is asked a question and he/she will answer by changing the subject entirely thus leading to a complete shift in the nature of the conversation that the characters are having. It's also got an exaggerated amount of those moments in which a character will be sitting down, make a decision, and immediately stand up in order to convey his/her resoluteness. The fact that there are so many REPETITIONS of this sort of thing makes it all feel kind of artificial, which is, of course, a detriment in a film that's aiming for authenticity.

This should've easily been a vehicle that gave all four of these actors the potential to earn acting nominations, a la Doubt. It's too bad that the great Kate Winslet does nothing but look constipated the entire time, Christoph Waltz's character spends most of the film answering his cellphone (a gag that's funny the first four times, but by the fourteenth time, it gets kind of ridiculous), and John C. Reilly does too much REACTING to what everyone else is saying and doesn't get a chance to convey much from his end, which makes it impossible for his character to ever register as someone with thoughts and emotions of his own. The lone bright spot in the acting department is Jodie Foster, who nicely acquits herself here after her double-duty failure at directing and acting in The Beaver earlier this year. Foster is truly given the space she needs to shine, as she has about three scenes in which her character gets emotional, and she gets the chance to display anger and frustration effortlessly. This is incredibly refreshing, considering the fact that it's been a long time since we've seen Foster at the top of her game.

I'm giving what you may call a "reluctant" passing grade to Carnage because it's elevated by Foster's performance and by the fact that, while it focuses too much on mundane trifles, at least it does it for less than 80 minutes, which means it never quite reaches the point of annoyance. Also, I fully admit that the film has occasional bursts of humor. Still, I would've almost liked it if some of the silly humor had been sacrificed to make this a film that featured serious, thematically complex verbal jabs between these two couples. The fact that each of the couples was basically there to serve as the lawyer for their kid should've made for a script full of moral questions and quandaries, and with at least an insight or two on parenthood, but that's largely absent from Carnage. I won't go as far as to tell you not to see it, but I'll warn you that, if you're expecting something with the dramatic/acting caliber of the typical Oscar-bound drama that gets released around this time of the year, you may be disappointed.

I'm amazed by the reception this film has received. I watched it knowing nothing beforehand regarding plot. After seeing it one would struggle to sum up this movie elaborately. Nothing happens four decent actors just talk to each other for an hour and a bit. There's the occasional chuckle to be had sure, I couldn't recommend anyone wasting there time watching "carnage" though.