Meat is Murder: "Carnages"

Vegetarians should look away now. Lovers of just a good, old story might want to do the same. 'Carnages' is a debut film by the young French film director Delphine Gleize which seems to lie somewhere between the surrealist work of Luis Bunuel and Anderson's 'Magnolia' (although this might be a tad over-generous).

'Carnages' revolves around the concept of dead flesh and it's ability to effect human behaviours, although if you go looking for a plot its hard to tie down any specifics. The film seems deliberately to avoid any narrative structure, instead playing with various themes and motifs which defy any coherent synthesis. The only seemingly unifying thread in this near surrealist vision is the circulation of a dead meat and the random yet interconnected patterns of people's lives....

After a Spanish matador, played by Julien Lescarret) is gored by a bull, the bull is killed and taken to an abattoir. The body of the bull is cut up into parts and sent to various destinations and uses around Europe.

The eyes are sent to an unfaithful scientist (Jacques Gamblin) who is having an affair while his wife is pregnant. One of the bull's bones is sold by an Italian actress to a couple with a huge great dane and an epilectic little girl (Raphaelle Molinier). The horns are given by an elderly, doting mother to her taxidermist son (Bernard Sens) as a birthday present. Parts also end up in a restaurant meal eaten by a middle-aged woman (Angela Molina) with a secret kept from her daughter - who happens to be the epilectic little girl's teacher.

Somewhere in all this the viewer might sense there is something going on with secrets, human communication and identity. There is also an interesting portrayal of motherhood through some of the characters, ranging from the intriguing elderly mother who dotes almost incestually on her son, to the pregnant woman who doesn't reveal the nature of her multiple pregnancy to the Spanish mother who hides her own personal secret and one woman's trips to her local swimming pool for adult re-birthing classes (played by Catherine Deneuve's daughter Chiara Mastroianni). Unfortunately, these glimpses of any possible cohesion vanish as quickly as they emerge. While some directors might have turned this into a key feature, one senses that it might be a step too far too soon for Gleize, whose film ends up loosing its momentum and purpose.

That said, there is some beautiful photography, and there are several impressive performances. It's the kind of ambitious film that does stay with you afterwards, even in its apparent failures, and I would certainly keep my eye out for the next Delphine Gleize offering.