Carnage
Directed By: Roman
Polanski
Written By:
Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza, based on the play by Ms. Reza
Starring:
Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Riley, and Christoph Waltz.
Director of
Photography: Pawel Edelman, Editor: Herve de Luze, Production Designer: Dean
Tavoularis, Original Music: Alexandre Desplat
Rated: R for
nasty things said among adults
The title Carnage seems like an appropriate title for any film by the
international auteur Roman Polanski. Not that his films are particularly
violent, though they have their occasional horrific moments, but the word “carnage”
seems to apply to the psychological state of characters making it through Mr.
Polanski’s unsettling worlds. When we think of Mr. Polanski as a filmmaker, we
think of Jake Gittes staring blankly at a dead woman, Rosemary embracing her
son of Satan, or a writer maliciously hit by a car, his life’s work flying into
the air.
So Carnage, shortened from the Yasmina Reza play God of Carnage,
seems like an appropriate for Mr. Polanski to take on. Ms. Reza’s play was a
hit in Paris, London, and here in New York on Broadway, and like Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is a 4 person actor’s showcase more than
anything else. But Carnage doubles
the Georges and Marthas, who slowly break down social order into manic chaos
seems ripe for Mr. Polanski to play with visually and build into another one of
his cinematic satires. Which is where the problem lies for this adaptation: the
director doesn’t even begin to bite the apple. Mr. Polanski has some eye for
composition, but he never really takes the play and makes it his own.
Part of the problem
perhaps comes from that Mr. Polanski adapted the play with Ms. Reza
herself, and besides a couple of bookended shots, the film keeps the narrative
space of the play the same. Not that it should necessarily—Mr. Polanski has
created some of the most terrifying small spaces in films like Repulsion
and Knife in the Water. And thus we open in progress as Alan and Nancy
at the Brooklyn home of Michael and Penelope. As we learn, Alan and Nancy’s son
has smacked a couple of teeth out of Michael and Penelope’s son. We quickly
pick up on their quirks, all of which are first seen as minor. Alan (Christoph
Waltz) is a somewhat absent lawyer who can’t avoid his Blackberry. Nancy (Kate
Winslet) works in finance and seems to avoid any sort of conflict. Michael
(John C Riley) sells hardware appliances and seems nonchalant about the issue. And
Penelope (Jodie Foster) is working on a book about Darfur and sees herself as a
righteous do-gooder.
