CARNAGE (Germany/Poland/France 2011) *****
Directed by Roman Polanski

This is Roman Polanski at his wicked best, in a film with arguably the BEST cast living today.  CARNAGE is based on the Tony award winning play ‘Le Dieu de Carnage’ (The God of Carnage) by Yasmina Reza.  (It is best to view the trailer below to better appreciate this review.)

Starring Oscar winners Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and Oscar nominee John C. Reilly, Roman Polanski’s CARNAGE is a razor-sharp comedy centred on parental differences.  After one son hits the other with a stick in a public park, the parents of the “victim” invite the parents of the “bully” over to work out their issues.  A polite discussion of childrearing soon escalates into verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their true colors.  None of them will escape the carnage.  Polanski co-wrote the script.

Performances are, needless to say top-notch and the best that can likely be seen in a single film this year. Reilly holds his own against his 3 Oscar winning co-actors.

The film contains choice countless quotes.  The film’s best line is delivered by Reilly.  Finally blowing his fuse, he screams: “I am fed up with all this touchy feely bullshit!  I am just a short tempered son of a ***censored***!

Polanski brilliantly manipulates the mood of his film and hence escalates the tension of his audience.  The film begins sensibly with both couples polite and patient.  As the conversations progress and more facts about the incident revealed with careless words exchanged, the ambience grow tense with everyone agitated.  When drinks start flowing (a single malt whisky), the mood of the meeting changes from defensive to total outrage.  At one point, fully drunk Winslet screams at Foster: “I wipe my ***censored*** on your human rights!”

Meetings as corrosive as this one do not end well.  But Polanski ends his film with a neat ironic twist which criticizes the hypocrisy of the human race.  This is not doubt his direct but subtle attack on the American judicial system.

CARNAGE deservedly won the Leoncino Prize at the 2011 Venice Film Festival.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxX02-KdsXM