Drawing room drama
From politeness to hysterics, Roman Polanski’s Carnage is 70-odd minutes of non-stop entertainment

Carnage is a black comedy of manners in which two couples, at first with civility, and later overtly, rip each other apart under the influence of whisky over a confrontation between their sons.

Based on God of Carnage, a delightful drama by French playwright Yasmina Reza, it is set in New York by Polish veteran Roman Polanski and it’s 70-odd minutes of non-stop entertainment, veering from politeness to hysterics and replete with scintillating lines and high drama. Most of the action is indoors and only the opening and closing are scenes shot in New York because the Polanski has been banned from the United States.

Alan (Christoph Waltz) and Nancy (Kate Winslet) Cowan visit Michael (John C. Reilly) and Penelope Longstreet (Jodie Foster) in what was intended to be a rapprochement of sorts but bludgeons into an almighty no-holds-barred character-slanging bout fuelled by an 18-year-old single-malt Scotch.

The couples begin by turning on each other and finally on each other, bringing skeletons out of the cupboard and in a way baring their true selves. To add to this drama, Nancy starts vomiting in the drawing room while Alan is often interrupted by his "yes, Walter" calls from his office till a distraught Nancy puts the offending cellphone in the vase of tulips.

Alan and Nancy often try to leave the house but are cajoled to continue, first for coffee and snacks, which Alan downs happily. They go to the lift and come back, and then, the booze is another temptation. Finally, it is cigars. Soon, they are meddling in each others’ jobs and causing needless more friction. Michael, too, gets calls from his mother concerning her health. "Why does life have to be so exhausting," says Penelope at her hysterical best.

There are amusing asides. Like the Longstreets, after their honeymoon in India, call each other Darjeeling (because of the tea) instead of darling, and Michael’s revulsion over a hamster to say nothing of his gem "you don’t say a Hail Mary while having sex".

Most of the film is in one long take and this French-German-Spanish-Polish production makes Hollywood look nearly obsolete with the ensemble cast working wonders, each in their own way.

If Jodie Foster shows the veins in her neck during hysterics, Kate Winslet is no less effective and the two men. Waltz and Reilly vie with each other for the honours.

It is drawing room drama in the best "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" tradition.

In fact, it is the 21st century version. Do not miss it for anything under or over the sun.

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