Rounds of applause and riotous laughter met Roman Polanski’s grotesque comedy of manners “Carnage” at the press screening in Venice on Thursday ahead of the world premiere in the evening. The screen adaptation of playwright Yasmina Reza’s acclaimed Broadway play “The God of Carnage,” Polanski’s film tells the tale of two sets of parents who meet up to talk after their children get into a fight at school. Electric comic timing and star performances from an A-list cast of Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly and Christopher Waltz drive the film, shot in real time as the adults try settle the dispute with unpredictable twists.
“Waltz, as the rudest man in the room, gets the best lines. It’s well-acted and giddily enjoyable, if slightly less so once the characters start to analyse their descent into barbarism.” – says the Telegraph
“Little attempt is made to disguise the fact that this is the film of a play. And the dramatic gears grind a little during certain shifts of allegiance along couple and gender lines. But making the audience feel claustrophobic is central to Carnage’s method: we’re penned in, unable to leave this airless apartment with its collection of liberal gewgaws from component hi-fi to African totems to real logs (presumably never used) stacked by the marble fireplace.” – says the Evening Standard
“W.E” and “Carnage” are in the running for the Golden Lion award at Venice this year against a host of other films, including Wei Te-Sheng’s “Seediq Bale,” a fierce Taiwanese epic featuring warring tribes.
Stars Winslet and Foster wowed paparazzi at the premiere, joining a host of other Hollywood greats who are arriving on the Venice Lido by water taxi, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and Keira Knightley.