ITALY: Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly bring Roman Polanski's latest film the comedy "Carnage"to the Venice film festival
Record ID:
1547492
ITALY: Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly bring Roman Polanski's latest film the comedy "Carnage"to the Venice film festival
- Title: ITALY: Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly bring Roman Polanski's latest film the comedy "Carnage"to the Venice film festival
- Date: 2nd September 2011
- Summary: VENICE LIDO, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 1, 2011) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) ACTRESS KATE WINSLET ARRIVING ON WATER TAXI ACTORS JOHN C. REILLY AND CHRISTOPH WALTZ STEPPING ONTO JETTY REILLY AND WALTZ POSING FOR PHOTOS WINSLET GETTING OFF WATER TAXI AND HUGGING WALTZ AND REILLY VARIOUS OF WINSLET, WALTZ AND REILLY POSING FOR PHOTOS CAMERAMEN / WINSLET SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS WINSLET SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS WINSLET POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH FAN AND WALKING AWAY
- Embargoed: 17th September 2011 12:45
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy, Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVACSKVXJ1FC618ULVSIN4NDB4KX
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: He may have been absent, but Roman Polanski made his presence felt at the Venice film festival on Thursday (September 1) with his comedy "Carnage", in which Oscar-winner Kate Winslet's projectile vomit prompted the biggest laugh.
Some of the adaptation of Yasmina Reza's stage comedy "The God of Carnage" was written by the Franco-Polish film maker while he was under house arrest in Switzerland last year.
The 78-year-old behind the classic "Chinatown" was freed after Swiss authorities decided not to extradite him to the United States, where he is wanted for sentencing for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 in Los Angeles.
Unsurprisingly, Polanski was not on the Lido waterfront to present the world premiere of his latest picture.
But three of the four cast; Oscar-winners Winslet and Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly were at the annual cinema showcase to promote the movie.
Jodie Foster, a two-time Oscar winner, rounded off the cast, but did not attend the film's news conference in Venice.
Polanski set the comedy of manners in New York but filmed it in Paris, and would have been warmed by the loud applause after a press screening which elicited plenty of laughs.
Shot in a single apartment in real-time, "Carnage" feels like watching a play on the big screen, which some critics faulted.
But the general reaction at the press screening was positive.
Winslet said her experience as a mother helped her understand the situation of the families.
"I suppose I have found myself subconsciously drawn to these types of stories that include everybody, they include every family member, they include the complexities of a family dynamic, especially involving children and being a parent myself I'm familiar with school playground politics and how complex that can be. And sometimes how ridiculous that can be and funny. And so when Roman approached me about being involved in God of Carnage, first of all, when Roman Polanski invites you to join him in any project, you really don't say no," she said.
Waltz, too, said getting a call from the famous film-maker had been exciting but added that his admiration for Polanski had only grown during the project.
"But then, after we've been busy with excitement for about a day and a half, we do the job and that's where I love Roman Polanski. And I really learned to admire this person," he said.
In the film, power couple the Cowans (Winslet and Waltz) visit the home of liberal writer and campaigner Penelope Longstreet (Foster) and her down-to-earth salesman husband Michael (Reilly) after their children are involved in a brawl.
What begins as a civilised exchange about the incident turns into an increasingly passionate sparring match between the two couples and later between the men and women.
Drink, and relationship problems buried deep, mean cruelty rises quickly to the surface, although comedy is never far away.
Alan Cowan's Blackberry, for example, never stops buzzing, and he constantly interrupts conversations in order to deal with a crisis at a drug firm he represents.
Winslet, playing investment broker Nancy Cowan, won the biggest cheer for her on-screen vomit, an experience she described as "hilarious".
"It was absolutely hilarious shooting the vomit sequence. We were all completely besides ourselves with laughter. Without going into too much detail, it was a fairly complex rig and there was some extremely clever CGI involved. But these guys got a real kick out of seeing me leaping about in a blue suit in which I looked like a sort of a cross between one of the Avengers and Barbarella. And my kids came to work that day, for the vomit day and I'm so thrilled that they were there because they literally haven't stopped talking about it since. And it really was utterly hysterical. And everything smelled of sick for days," she said.
"And then, it needs to be said that the vomit was prepared according to Roman's recipe," added Waltz, who plays her attorney husband Alan.
"I should also add that while Kate was the one who threw up, Jodie and I had to clean the vomit so in some ways we had the more disgusting involvement with the vomit," said John C. Reilly, adding: "It was made from the actual cobbler that we were eating. I'll leave it at that. It tends to ferment over time."
"Yes, as does mashed banana, which was my suggestion for the consistency and lumpiness, the sort of mucusy content," Winslet joked.
"Carnage" is one of 22 in the main competition line-up in Venice which runs until September 10. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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