CARNAGE aka CARNAGES

Year: 2002
USA: Wellspring
UK: Tartan Films
Cast: Chiara Mastroianni, angela Molina, Lio, Lucia Sanchez, Esther Gorintin, Marilyne Even, Clovis Cornillac, Jacques Gamblin, Feodor Atkine, Bernard Sens, Pascal Bongard, Raphaëlle Molinier, Julien Lescarret, Juliette Noureddine, Luc Delhumeau
Director: Delphine Gleize
Country: France
Language: French / Spanish (English subtitles)
USA & UK: 130 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains bloody images, strong language and moderate sex
USA Release Date: 5 September 2003 (Limited Release - New York)
UK Release Date: 12 March 2004

Synopsis

In a wildly original, intertwining story that almost defies classification, CARNAGE traces the bizarre, often magical effects a 1,000 pound Andalusian bull has on a disparate group of characters.

The tale begins in Spain as a young bullfighter is gored in the ring and the bull is killed. Overnight, various parts of the animal - horns, eyes, bones - make their way to recipients across Europe. A little girl named Winnie (Raphaëlle Molinier) gets one of the bones as a treat for her giant Great Dane; a struggling actress, Carlotta (Chiara Mastroianni), sells Winnie's parents the bone in a supermarket promotion; Jacques (Jacques Gamblin) a philandering scientist and his pregnant wife receive the eyes; a taxidermist gets the horns as a gift from his elderly mother; Alicia, a Spanish woman (Angela Molina), dines on toro en rioja in a restaurant.

With elegance, humor and a remarkable visual command, director Delphine Gleize weaves these stories together, creating a fresh take on one of the recurring obsessions of modern times: whether beneath the spontaneity, happenstance and chaos of our lives, there is some guiding principle that connects us all.