Dir. Roman Polanski
(2011, R, 79 min)
Carnage is a sour, misanthropic slog through bourgeois recriminations. It’s directed by Roman Polanski and written by Polanski and Yasmina Reza, based on her Tony-winning play God of Carnage. It stars Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly as an upper-middle-class New York couple, and Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as an upper-upper-middle-class couple, who meet after their respective sons are involved in a playground fight. I believe we’re meant to take Foster and Reilly as the poorer pair, because she’s a writer and he sells plumbing supplies (Waltz and Winslet are in civil law and finance, respectively), but given the size and style of their New York apartment, where the film takes place, and her obsession with limited edition, out-of-print art books, an air of affluence hangs over them as well. They all pride themselves on their maturity in the face of their kids’ violent altercation, but before long their strained pleasantry breaks down and they reveal themselves to be bitter malcontents.
Filmic 