‘Carnage’ World Premiere Press Conference Venice

The 78 year old, very controversial Roman Polanski would have been a massive draw but he is not here.  The beautiful, talented, multi-award winning Kate Winslet is along with cast members J. C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz, screenwriter and playwright Yasmina Reza and musician Alexandre Desplat.

It is a treat to have the screenwriter present because the script is the heart of any movie. If the story cannot be told well and is not believable then it will fail in any format. ‘Carnage’, the movie is based on the highly successful, award winning Broadway production, ‘God of Carnage’ by Reza as well.

This is a comedy, but a film of total pessimism. An intimate journey inside the ‘eye of the storm’ as parents and offspring enter that dangerous world of emotional conflict with each other. The ending differs from the play and is a pure creation of Roman Polanski. He wanted to give the movie a note of hope, to deflect the complete defamation that was missing from the play.

Kate Winslet carried the press conference with her intelligence, sensitivity and insight. The cast was unanimous in saying how overwhelming it was to receive a phone call from Roman Polanski offering a role in a movie of his. J.C. Reilly confessed that once you get over the fear of the enormity of the task of working on a Polanski film, you settle down to intense, rewarding work. It was interesting to hear that seasoned actors like Winslet and Reilly all shared a similar initial anxiety ‘am I good enough to work with Roman Polanski?” There was total admiration for Polanski’s methods and genius as a director.

The preparation for the acting roles for the movie was very unconventional for screen actors. The rehearsals were organized as one would a play. The process was very precise and tight, with great attention to every detail. The actors spent a lot of time doing ‘run throughs’ and each contributed very individual ideas. Roman Polanski maintained an amazing energy.

The vomit scene turned out to have been one of the more hilarious shoots. The vomit was prepared according to Polanski’s recipe – a concoction of mashed bananas and fruit cobbler. If this is too much detail, stop here. Kate said it also employed some CGI and J.C. admitted that he ended up cleaning it up which left the ‘vomit’ under his nails for days. Kate’s children happened to visit the set that day and absolutely loved the whole event.