Saturday 25 February 2012

Carnage

Yasmina Reza is the writer of a French play titled Le Dieu du carnage. If the posters are to be believed this loosely translates to Gods of Carnage (do correct me if I am wrong). After the movie, I am eagerly looking forward to the opportunity of watching the play – even if it were to be done locally. The script itself has so much weight that even average acting can sail through with the least of worries.

And therefore, if you have a foursome of Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly & Christoph Waltz, then the only words that could come close to describing the end result would be “Sheer Brilliance”. Add to that the talent of the likes of a Roman Polanski and you have around 90 minutes of unadulterated pure Dark Comedy. One that will leave you with a feeling of sheer respect for not just the cast but for Reza who has thought about a concept that is as real as life can get.

Carnage is a brilliant example of how a movie or a play can be made with just 4 characters spanning a period of less than an hour and a half in real time. The Longstreets – Penelope (Jodie Foster) & Michael (John C Reilly) are very troubled by the beating that their 11 year old son Ethan (Eliot Berger) has received from Zachary (Elvis Polanski). Zachary is the 11 year old son of the Cowans – Lucy (Kate Winslet) and Alan (Christoph Waltz). Zachary beats Ethan with a ice hockey stick after a minor altercation at the local park leaving Ethan with 2 lost teeth and a gross looking face – something that most parents will not take kindly to. After a lot of convincing, Ethan finally “snitches” on Zach. And so the Longstreets decide to call the Cowans over for a “healthy” discussion. What happens in the discussion is the story of Carnage

I was disappointed when I left Australia because Carnage was slotted for release 4 days after my departure. So imagine my glee when I saw the paper last morning calling it out. I just had to see it. Watch the trailer before you go to see the movie if you can. Its on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2855116313/. The trailer does enough to give you a complete essence of the movie as well as generate enough intrigue to want to watch it. Superb example of what a trailer should actually be. But with a topic like Carnage I guess the job of the guy was also very easy.

There are so many categories where I would have considered Carnage for this years Academy Awards. Tough call in the lead actress category but I thought both Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet were a tad better than Rooney Mara (Dragon Tattoo). And identical thoughts for Christoph Waltz against Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor). And most definitely better than Ides of March in terms of Adapted Screenplay. And I am going to stick my neck out here to have added this to make the list of best movies into 10 and not 9. One of the best in my list this year folks. 8 on 10. Don’t miss it. In fact watch it on screen and then buy the DVD when it releases. Collectible.

No comments:

Post a Comment