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CARNAGE discussion thread

post #1 of 4
12/2/11 at 12:55pm
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http://www.chud.com/75383/review-carnage/

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post #2 of 4
12/3/11 at 7:39am

It's tough to review a movie like this, because the instant temptation is to brush it off as a "minor" work, considering the four actors, the short run-time, the low stakes and single location. But, I disagree with you on two points.

 

One, the inherent disposability of the material, which suggests the victim-perpetrator dichotomy is explored in fairly humorous ways, a debate that seems rational on either side despite being posited by total cranks like these four.

And two, the cinematic qualities of the film. It never once feels like it's taking place in the exact same location. I think Polanski lets it breath enough so that the film is never visually dull (and I happen to think when you stage a movie in one small apartment, it's bound to get pretty boring visually). I think every conversation, and every movement, has this sort of building suspense and dread, whether malicious or, more often, comical.

 

I didn't think it was one of Polanski's best, but it was certainly pretty funny. Though I am a sucker for ANYTHING that lasts less than ninety minutes.

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post #3 of 4
12/3/11 at 10:41am

I had the fortune of seeing this when they did six weeks at the Ahmanson in LA with the original cast. As much as I love the director and the performers, I don't think anything could compare to watching James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels, and Hope Davis do it live. I don't imagine I'll ever watch this.  

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post #4 of 4
3/27/12 at 3:37pm

 

I was entertained by it it, but then again I also like the point that this is why Edward Albee didn't make both couples like Martha and George.
 
The combatants switch sides constantly and into every conceivable configuration.  The film seems to be saying that conflict is inevitable, that all alliances are temporary, and everything else is just window dressing. But is it saying that custom exacerbates the problem?  That if the pretense of civility is dropped, and people were honest, we could make progress more easily?  The end shot would seem to indicate that, as the two kids who were previously fighting appear to now be getting along without going through any of the histrionics their parents did.  But the movie is so flip about everything that it's hard to tell if it's making any kind of a point.  And what are we to make of the constant referencing of atrocities in Africa?  Yes, it's mentioned in the sense of being a pet cause for Penelope, but is the film drawing any kind of parallel between these modern American hissy fits and that level of real human tragedy?  I'd hope not, but at the same time, if the film was actually successfully saying anything about the nature of conflict, it probably wouldn't be that uncomfortable to think so.
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