Carnage

The fact that “Carnage” is based on a stage play is very evident in the way in which the film is presented to its audience; if it weren’t already based on a play, I’m sure I’d be recommending that a stage production be based on the film. The play in question here is the Olivier Award-winning black comedy “God of Carnage” by French playwright Yasmine Reza. I’m afraid I haven’t seen any of the play’s many productions, but if the play contains as much wit and character as the film it’s spawned then I can certainly see why it and Reza have enjoyed such a plethora of critical and commercial success since the play’s debut in 2006.

The film is directed and co-written (the other writer being Reza) by Roman Polanski, a supremely talented filmmaker. In its four leading roles are four very talented A-listers, each of whom have been bestowed at some point in their career with either an Oscar nomination or an Oscar win. These are Jodie Foster (“The Beaver”), John C. Reilly (“Cyrus”), Christoph Waltz (“The Green Hornet”) and Kate Winslet (“The Reader”).

Foster and Reilly play Penelope and Michael Longstreet, a married couple whose young son has had two of his teeth knocked out by a schoolmate with a stick during a recent confrontation in a park. Waltz and Winslet play Alan and Nancy Cowan, the parents of the boy who threw the stick. Alan and Nancy have come over to the Longstreet’s Brooklyn apartment to settle what is to be done with the two boys. Penelope and Michael wish for Alan and Nancy’s son to meet with their son and apologise for what he has done; Alan and Nancy agree, sort of.

So, Alan and Nancy prepare to leave, they head towards the door, they walk out to the hallway, and within seconds they’re back in the apartment, sitting on the Longstreet couch, eating from a bowl of freshly made cobbler. This reoccurs time and time again, until the couple find themselves practically incapable of leaving the confines of Penelope and Michael’s luscious apartment. This is a result of, among other things, politeness, good manners, arguments, disagreements, general conversation and projectile vomiting.

Lasting a short but sweet length of 76 minutes, “Carnage” is shot pretty much in real-time. It’s 98% confined to the setting of Penelope and Michael’s spacious apartment, the other 2% consisting of the hallway outside the apartment and the opening and closing titles, which take place in a park. The apartment is a splendid and comfortable-looking home, and yet after a while it begins to turn oddly claustrophobic. Sure, it’s not quite as claustrophobic as the six-feet-under setting of Rodrigo Cortés’ “Buried,” but as it turns out, being confined to pretty much the same room for well over an hour can prove rather suffocating.

The film is an acting tour-de-force, an inevitably with such a prestigious cast. I wish I could name the actor who shines the most in their role, but alas, I cannot; none of the four stars stand out from the rest, nor do any of them fall behind. They each have intriguing characters to play, none of which we are specifically told to root for. Foster is a loving mother communicating with frequently unsubtle and occasionally unnecessary passive aggression. Reilly is a man trying to keep everything on the positive side, and ultimately failing miserably. Winslet is a seemingly gracious woman unsure if her son really is in the wrong. And Waltz is a work-obsessed attorney forever yelling into his cell phone and apparently indifferent to the situation at hand, although he nonetheless stays put.

It’s highly enjoyable watching these four actors and their diverse characters interacting with one another, even if the reasons for them staying in the same room together become somewhat far-fetched after a while. It’s also devilishly amusing watching their pearly-toothed politeness slowly but surely descend into immature bickering, thunderous yelling and foul-mouthed drunkenness. Voices are raised, scotch is gulped, tears are shed, fists are swung and priceless art books are vomited upon; perhaps “carnage” is an overstatement, but it most certainly is not civil.

Whether or not Reza’s play necessarily needed a big-screen adaptation is not for me to say; either way, it’s made for a splendid film that is wonderfully entertaining, smoothly directed, written with uncommon wit and intelligence and is superbly acted. While it may prove to not be particularly memorable, it’s joyously riveting and morbidly fun while it lasts.

8/10