by Frank Calvillo
Box Office Alternative Column
Box Office Alternative is a weekly look into additional/optional choices to the big-budget spectacle opening up at your local movie theater every Friday. Oftentimes, titles will consist of little-known or underappreciated work from the same actor/writer/director/producer of said new release, while at other times, the selection for the week just happens to touch upon the same subject in a unique way. Above all, this is a place to revisit and/or discover forgotten cinematic gems of all kinds.
With each James Bond film comes another juicy villain to relish watching as they try, almost always in vain, to take down cinema’s most famous spy. This time around, it’s Christoph Waltz taking on villain duties in the eagerly-anticipated and already bona-fide hit, Spectre.
The addition of Waltz to the Bond villain hall of fame was a decision that makes perfect sense since the actor has always had an irrefutable intensity that has made all of his past turns on screen such a thrill to watch.
Perhaps the best example of this is when he was paired alongside some of the most revered actors of his generation for the dark comedy, Carnage.
Directed by Roman Polanski and based on the acclaimed play, Carnage tells the story of two New York couples who meet to discuss an incident which took place between their two school-aged sons. Penelope and Michael Longstreet’s (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) son Ethan refused to let Nancy and Alan Cowan’s (Kate Winslet and Waltz) son Zachary join his schoolyard gang, resulting in the latter hitting the former with a tree branch. The two sets of parents agree to meet in an effort to peacefully discuss and resolve the situation without any unpleasantness. However, slowly but surely, things begin to escalate and before anyone knows it, social prejudices, gray morals and even man’s natural instinct for destruction, come to light as the four find themselves questioning who they actually are.
Within the first few minutes of Carnage it becomes more than clear that the audience is in for a real fireworks show after meeting the two extremely diverse couples. On one side is Alan and Nancy in all of their corporate America trappings. Alan, a lawyer (currently defending a pharmaceutical company whose drugs cause life-threatening side effects) and Nancy, an investment broker, have agreed to meet with the Longstreets out of courtesy to discuss the situation, but really just want to have the whole thing over and forgotten about without much effort on their part.
On the other side is Penelope and Michael (a writer about crises in third world countries and a housewares salesman, respectively), who are hell bent on exploring all aspects of the incident, from discovering what triggered it, to having the two boys talk things out. Painted as “bleeding heart liberals”, Penelope and Michael live a comfortable lifestyle in a nice apartment, yet still cling to a more alternative way of life, especially through their peaceful ideals.
Though the meeting between the parents starts out cordial enough, things expectedly escalate when terms such as “disfigured” and “maniac” get thrown around in relation to the two boys. Adding hilarity to the proceedings are great devices such as Nancy’s stomach bug, and Alan’s ever-ringing blackberry. As pleasantries and relations between the two couples begin to disintegrate, the facade of each individual begins to break down to reveal a truly savage personality which takes no prisoners in the process.
Watching the transformations of each character is where the true joy of Carnage comes into play. In terms of Michael and Nancy, both share a similar breaking down of the characters they present. The two are as far apart as can be in terms of upbringing and tastes, yet they both present themselves in a way to make themselves match with their respective spouses. Michael, friendly and affable in the beginning, becomes crass and blunt, while Nancy, polite and poised, becomes disenchanted and combative.
Alan and Penelope meanwhile, prove the film’s two most standout characters. Unlike the rest of the group, Penelope tries desperately to hold on to her belief in humanity, decency and civility throughout all of the proceedings. Alan meanwhile proves the only one of the four who remains virtually unchanged in terms of ideology. He’s believed the world to be dog eat dog all along and he bears no sadness or remorse as he tries to convince Penelope that her life philosophy has been a total farce.
As a Polanski film, Carnage was certainly an interesting choice for the director, especially after coming off the critical and commercial success of his previous effort, The Ghost Writer. And while the filmmaker certainly isn’t known for his comedic flair or his stage-to-screen adaptations, his take on the material is never anything but in tune and precise. His famous attention to detail when it comes to set ups takes away most of the piece’s staginess to give it a purely cinematic feel while his co-adapting of the source material makes sure all of the comedic moments in Carnage are known and felt.
It’s almost a given that Carnage is a universally well-acted film. Each actor has been revered in the past for his or her approach to the craft and it’s a joy to watch such a diverse collection of performances share the same screen. While the men do a great job (in particular Waltz, who lets his maniacal side come out in carefully timed increments), its Foster and Winslet who command the audience’s attention. Winslet shows a looser, more fun side to herself as a proper society wife who finally lets go of her charade, while Foster enjoys her best latter day leading role as a woman fighting to convince herself that the moral code she’s sworn by for so long remains true.
Though Carnage wasn’t much of a profitable film by any means, even by art house standards, the film still managed to wow most of the critical media. Many felt the film was a reminder of just how strong a director Polanski could be and agreed it was a sheer joy to watch the movie’s group of performers act together. Besides a pair of Golden Globe nominations for its leading ladies, Carnage scored a number of awards and nominations, including Best Ensemble from the Boston Film Critics Association.
When first released, Carnage was billed as “a comedy of no manners;” a funny play on the traditional phrase used to describe works of film, stage and literature which specialized in finding the humor within societal norms. Though it may only be a tagline, for me Carnage IS a comedy of manners in the sense that it takes all of said norms and illuminates just how ridiculous and stifled they have made us. The characters in Carnage may be as far from perfect as people can get, but there’s definitely something admirable about not being afraid to embrace one’s inner savage.
Originally published at cinapse.co on November 10, 2015.
