Carnages (2002)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Delphine Gleize

Writer:

Delphine Gleize (writer)

Release Date:

13 November 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

After a bull dies in an arena, its remains are transported throughout Belgium, France, and Spain, where various characters cross its path.

Plot Keywords:

Bull | Spain | Taxidermist | Steak | Actress

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Chiara Mastroianni	...	Carlotta
Ángela Molina	...	Alicia
Lio	...	Betty
Lucia Sanchez	...	Jeanne
Esther Gorintin	...	Rosie
Marilyne Even	...	Lucie
Clovis Cornillac	...	Alexis
Jacques Gamblin	...	Jacques
Féodor Atkine	...	Paco
Bernard Sens	...	Luc
Pascal Bongard	...	Henri
Raphaëlle Molinier	...	Winnie
Julien Lescarret	...	Victor
Juliette Noureddine	...	Monica
Luc Delhumeau	...	The Deaf Man

Also Known As:

Carnage (International: English title)
Carnages (Spain)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Spain | Switzerland

Language:

French | Spanish | Italian | Polish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | France:U | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | USA:Unrated | UK:15 | Brazil:16 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Company:

Balthazar Productions

Trajectory: The Pulsing Global Balls of Coincidences

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