Posted on Friday, 30 December 2011

CARNAGE (Polanski, 2011) - Regardless of what you (or I) might think of Polanski, he sure can direct a movie. This one manages not to feel stage-bound despite taking place (opening and end credits aside) in one apartment, and it’s calmly ruthless, meticulously stripping away civilization layer by layer, and analytically showing the shifting of allegiances, both between characters and between the audience and the characters. It is also - before I forget to mention it - really really funny, in a bleak, almost-too-close-to-home way. Ironically enough, it illustrates both that civilization is just a thin, vulnerable layer, that can be stripped off in an hour or so, and also just how necessary that layer is. And - much as I try to separate art and artist - you may need to be a callous asshole (at the very least) to make this film. 

CARNAGE (Polanski, 2011) - Regardless of what you (or I) might think of Polanski, he sure can direct a movie. This one manages not to feel stage-bound despite taking place (opening and end credits aside) in one apartment, and it’s calmly ruthless, meticulously stripping away civilization layer by layer, and analytically showing the shifting of allegiances, both between characters and between the audience and the characters. It is also - before I forget to mention it - really really funny, in a bleak, almost-too-close-to-home way. Ironically enough, it illustrates both that civilization is just a thin, vulnerable layer, that can be stripped off in an hour or so, and also just how necessary that layer is. And - much as I try to separate art and artist - you may need to be a callous asshole (at the very least) to make this film. 

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