Estranhas Ligações

A movie about various characters in three countries and a dead bull? This could easily be one of those tedious, plotless, arty French films I hate so much. In fact, it isn't. Carnages is an intriguing, well-made and sometimes funny movie, well worth seeing. The storyline centres around the remains of a dead bull, that one way or another turn up in the lives of the main characters, sometimes with dramatic consequences. This alone makes pleasant viewing for superficial moviegoers, but behind the main storyline are many layers the director invites us to explore. One of them is the parent-child relationship. One of the first scenes shows a bullfighter talking about his father, the movie ends with two brothers reunited with their long-lost father. One of them is father of quintuplets, the other lives with his mother. Another theme is the life-death contrast, and no doubt there are others I didn't discover. Feel free to do so yourself. Despite these themes and the various interwoven storylines, the movie isn't hard to view. There are many little jokes and funny situations. When one of the main characters orders eight pizza's for three people, this seems ridiculous. Only later the viewer realizes his pregnant wife was expecting quintuplets at that moment. What makes the movie even more enjoyable are the beautiful shots and the outstanding acting. In this film a shot of a little girl watching a bullfight on TV is an exciting scene. That's a difficult job to accomplish.

So far the posted comments are mostly negative and appear to take the stance that the six degrees of separation syndrome is bull. I enjoyed it. Sue me already. Okay, it was the name Jacques Gamblin that 'sold' me. He's a solid, reliable actor who I've never seen give a bad performance whilst I HAVE seen him give some doozys. About a year ago he shared a screen with Clovis Cornillac in A Small Week and they're both here again except they never have a scene together. I was also interested in whether or not Lio could act - previously I'd seen her only in concert singing Prevert (not all that well, if anybody asks you, but then she did have to follow Montand). If as a film maker you are interested in telling the stories of several disparate characters there are worse ways to do it than to connect them via a dead bull. Okay, most of the characters are straight from Central Casting Weird but they do perform well and entertain. As a debut I'd say this was pretty impressive. 8/10

Formally and in terms of subject matter this movie is a really fine piece of cinema. The music is perfect and its direction and editing have moments of true brilliance. This film explores the events that surround the death of a bull. This film is inspired by the forms and the spiritual intent of ancient myth. The film begins with a bullfighter getting gored in the arena as he kills his first bull. The bull is then processed and divided into its respective products. As the these parts move out into the world they "affect" the lives of the film's characters. The struggles of each individual character seem resonant with the struggle between the bull and his bullfighter. Each story takes on the feel of a fatal dance.

This film is not an attempt to describe the world as it is but rather it is the telling of a story that appeals to our mystical notions of the world. It is a retelling of an ancient myth of replenishment as it relates to modern symbols of grace. Our relationship with the animal master is intact and a covenant still exists between man and beast. It is an understanding that the bull will die and be consumed and that we will kill and reclaim him. It is a pact to participate in the business of life and recognize the inexhaustible source from which all life comes, to which all life goes. This is a great film but modern film goers may need some help with its reference.

"Carnage" is a foreign contribution to the many recent films which explore the lives of people with some interconnectedness. In "It's the Rage" the common denominator was the hand gun. In "Magnolia", it was a game show. In "Five Senses", it was a human sense. In "Carnage", it's part of a bull. Killed in a bullfight, a 1000 pound beast makes it's way to a rendering plant where it's dissected. A handful of characters in the film eventually acquire part of the bull while we voyeuristically watch their plebeian lives as they trudge from day to day and, we're supposed to believe, are affected by the bull. Well, this flick is just so much bull and, in spite of some positive critical commentary, just doesn't work. The film is a solid production which bombs on it's ridiculous story making for a slick but boring watch which seems to be building but in the end just fizzles. With subtitles and a 2 hour duration, "Carnage" isn't worth the time or effort. (C+)

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