I had a big smile on my face during the end credits because I thoroughly enjoyed this French movie from 2012! Yes, it's essentially a stage play, almost the entire film is set in the upper-middle class Parisian living room of the couple who have invited another couple and a single friend over for dinner. The dialogue is exceptional, the acting is superb (it's my understanding they performed this as a play with the same cast in Paris before making the film; this is why they seem so cohesive).
Two of the cast members were known to me: Charles Berling and Patrick Bruel. Three of the cast members were new to me: Cesar winners Valerie Benguigui and Guillaume de Toncquedonc; and Judith El Zein (as Anna, Vincent's wife, who is very late arriving at the party, so she can reveal that they aren't really naming the baby Adolphe/Adolf, but rather Henri). Francoise Fabian has the small role of Vincent and the wife's (Babu) mother.
I didn't like the film version of Carnage at all, and this film resembles it very closely. This one is MUCH better.
I was surprised the film didn't feel static. It moved right along without any sagging. It's almost all talk but interesting talk. I would be interested in other plays by Matthieu Delaporte, who co-directed and co-wrote the screenplay.
I love French cinema. It's a cinema of actors and dialogue more than cinematography. Films often look similar but feel different.
The one suspenseful moment is that I thought Claude was going to declare his love for Babu. We are misled into thinking it's Anna he's having an affair with, but it's actually Francoise, the mother! Nice touch! Especially since everyone, including the audience, thinks he's gay! (:
Two of the cast members were known to me: Charles Berling and Patrick Bruel. Three of the cast members were new to me: Cesar winners Valerie Benguigui and Guillaume de Toncquedonc; and Judith El Zein (as Anna, Vincent's wife, who is very late arriving at the party, so she can reveal that they aren't really naming the baby Adolphe/Adolf, but rather Henri). Francoise Fabian has the small role of Vincent and the wife's (Babu) mother.
I didn't like the film version of Carnage at all, and this film resembles it very closely. This one is MUCH better.
I was surprised the film didn't feel static. It moved right along without any sagging. It's almost all talk but interesting talk. I would be interested in other plays by Matthieu Delaporte, who co-directed and co-wrote the screenplay.
I love French cinema. It's a cinema of actors and dialogue more than cinematography. Films often look similar but feel different.
The one suspenseful moment is that I thought Claude was going to declare his love for Babu. We are misled into thinking it's Anna he's having an affair with, but it's actually Francoise, the mother! Nice touch! Especially since everyone, including the audience, thinks he's gay! (: