Carnage (2002)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

When I first started writing this comment it was full of spoilers and consisted of me writing its faults which run throughout the entire film but I'm going to save you that and just make my point. OK yes these people are linked by this bull fair enough but each character in the film isn't properly explained and their stories are utterly ridiculous so that you are left asking why did they do what they did? Why am I watching this? The film often raises a point for a character but then refuses to resolve it and there are a large number of scenes that serve no purpose. So why did I give it 2 stars rather than 1? Everyone now and then it managed to achieve extremely poignant moments and I'm sure its these combined with the fly on the wall look into peoples lives that has lead some to love it but I can't believe these characters, they seem poor fabrications that have little reason for existence in the first place.

Every now and then a film crosses my screen that deserves being lauded or decried. This one is for the latter category. This film begs the question - who cares? Who cares about any of the superficially and unrealistically drawn characters? Each one is eccentric to the point of silliness, and yet the director assumes the viewer will follow each story with some degree of emotional connectedness. The format is Altman-ish without the brilliance. People who's lives could not be any more different have a thread of a connection through a dead toro. And as the characters utter sentences that could be provocative, it seems more like dead-pan humor than anything else. Its a shame that the script with its "trying too hard to be deep" awkwardness never amounts to anything more than a mild freak show, including real burn victims made to sing a song about being burned. This film felt as though the director was trying to make it provocative without the benefit of substance.

CARNAGE is a stunning film - though from the outset it should be made clear that it is not a film for all audiences. For those who cringe at gore, those who are frustrated by nonlinear storyline, and those who feel uncomfortable with magical realism - beware. This is a two-hour plus journey that demands concentration and suspension of belief to glean all of the multi-layered meanings it holds.Stylishly opening with the elegant dressing and preparation of a handsome young bullfighter discussing his incipient time in the ring with his father, the film moves into a the bull ring in Spain and while the young bullfighter is gored, a young girl watches in horror on a television in France. Thus the sequence of coincidences begins. The dead bull is dragged from the ring, butchered, and his various parts (meat to restaurants, horns to a taxidermist, testicles, eyes, etc) are sent to unrelated places in Spain, Belgium and France. Along the way we meet the child who observed the goring on television and discover she is epileptic and draws pictures where dogs are larger than humans (because her's is!), an actress searching for her center, a therapy group bonding and yielding primal screams while nude in a pool, a taxidermist who lives with his mother (the wondrous Esther Gorintin of 'Since Otar Left') and his estranged anatomist brother married to a woman pregnant with quintuplets (neither brother speaks to their damaged father), and so many more. Each of these characters encounters one form or other of the dead bull as food, souvenirs, gifts, etc: each time the consequences of these coincidences add greatly to the story.Meanwhile our gored bullfighter lies in coma in need of a liver transplant and it is one of the various women touched by the bull's demise in some way that dies in an accident and becomes the saving liver donor to the young bullfighter. The manner in which all of these myriad coincidental effects of the original bullfight mesh (altered relationships, rejoined parent/child schisms, deaths, altered lives) are sewn tightly together by the end of this apparent conundrum of a story.The cast is uniformly exceptional. The camera work and pacing are mesmerizing, making the willing eye of the viewer see far more than previously thought possible. Writer/Director Delphine Gleize is truly a talent to closely observe. The audience for this artwork may not be large, but for those souls seeking unique films this one is Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

Formally and in terms of subject matter this movie is a really fine piece of cinema. The music is perfect and its direction and editing have moments of true brilliance. This film explores the events that surround the death of a bull. This film is inspired by the forms and the spiritual intent of ancient myth. The film begins with a bullfighter getting gored in the arena as he kills his first bull. The bull is then processed and divided into its respective products. As the these parts move out into the world they "affect" the lives of the film's characters. The struggles of each individual character seem resonant with the struggle between the bull and his bullfighter. Each story takes on the feel of a fatal dance.This film is not an attempt to describe the world as it is but rather it is the telling of a story that appeals to our mystical notions of the world. It is a retelling of an ancient myth of replenishment as it relates to modern symbols of grace. Our relationship with the animal master is intact and a covenant still exists between man and beast. It is an understanding that the bull will die and be consumed and that we will kill and reclaim him. It is a pact to participate in the business of life and recognize the inexhaustible source from which all life comes, to which all life goes. This is a great film but modern film goers may need some help with its reference.