Carnage (2011)

Imagine this situation. Two kids. You are hanging out and joking around, just ... joking around. You both laugh, and you go on and on ... until that one point when one of you says the wrong thing or behaves the wrong way. Communication is a very complex thing. One wrong interpretation and a joke might feel like a mean insult. From that moment mood has ultimately changed the extreme and usually both parties then act the way that will only feed the conflict from there as both insist on their point of view. You may end up in violence and carnage or a little fight at least.
(Those of you who have brothers or sisters might know this kind of situation.)

Now take this and tranfer it to our four mature adults in Roman Polanski's new film.

The short opening scene shows what the plot is based on. In a wide shot we see a group of kids.
We don't hear or see what is exactly going on but one of the boys eventually hits another in the face with a stick.

That leads to a meeting of the two boy's parents. The victim's parents, Michael and Penelope Longstreet, are played by Jody Foster and John C. Reilly. They have invited Mr. and Mrs. Cowan (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet) to come and talk about what happened and how to deal with it. They are already about to agree, or at least pretend to, and the always busy lawyer (Waltz' character) urges his wife to leave but, already out the door, the conversation goes into the next round ... and then the next ... and the next.

Slowly things start to heat up and civilized behaviour is soon thrown overboard. It is a film that questions political correctness and exposes pretentious modes of overly polite correct behavior as a pathetic masquerade.

Not only the characters' mood changes over the course of the conversation also the conflict itself and its focus. It shows that there are much bigger problems here than the little fight of their children and also reveals the true nature of the characters. After a long time of marriage where monotony reigns and the parters have long drifted apart - if there ever has been harmony - this is the moment for truth and confession.

Lasting only 75 minutes it is a pretty short film and with its fast paced, quirky dialog it keeps its level of interest high all the time. For the subject matter that is just fine. But the ending is still a bit too sudden for me anyway and a bit disappointing. I was still right there waiting for the explosion, waiting for the carnage. What the end maybe tries to point out is that grown ups tend to overcomplicate things and play false games while the young innocent kids have simple solutions for simple problems.

The material is based on a play and also still feels a bit like one. The translation to the screen has worked really well though.

Sometimes there seem to be little gaps when the film feels like forcing itself to go on, to find a reason to stay, bringing up themes that seem a bit far fetched. But keep in mind that this is a comedy and doesn't play out realistically but rather exaggerated. There are very few moments that are not that convincing especially in the last segment. Still the film is quite insightful and shares some funny, cynical perspectives on relationships and culture.

Moreover it is very charming. Most of the gags work and the performances are really good. Especially Waltz and Reilly come across really natural and with good timing. I think Foster's character is a bit behind but she has the hardest role I guess. She is a bit isolated from the others and sometimes the way she connects one situation with another seems to be a bit of a stretch.
Also Winslet's part was written a little too predictably in the last segment.
Nontheless all the actors seem to enjoy themselves and it is a blast to see.

It is a very different project for Polanski I think. But we all know he is one of the great directors out there. Remember masterpieces like "Chinatown" or "The Pianist". "Carnage" offers not quite enough to be great but it is really good entertaining fun and you should see it!

Here is a question: Are human beings more civilized than animals?
I don't really know. At least animals don't complain all the time.