"Carnages" is a very weird and bizarre movie, taking place in Spain, Belgium and France and with the stories linked through meat, bones, eyes and horns of a bull killed in a bullfight. Most of the stories are intriguing, sometimes funny and even surreal, with very odd characters; although original, the whole is irregular. The cast has good performances, and this overrated film was awarded with five prizes, plus three nominations in some festivals. The cover of the Brazilian VHS indicates that this movie won also the Best Film in the FICBrasília 2003, which is not listed in IMDb. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Estranhas Ligações" ("Weird Connections")

This movie freaked me out at times. It really made me think about how people from all over the world interconnect. I liked how it switches from one character to the next, each time giving a little information about them. Each character is a little weird and at times seems...unbelievable. I like how everything starts at a Bull's death and as it moves around the world the characters reveal themselves more and more. Overall I liked this movie for its gritty feel and all the thought put into it unlike many other films I have seen recently. This movie is worth seeing at least once, for me many times. It is a great example of film making and a creative screenplay.

So far the posted comments are mostly negative and appear to take the stance that the six degrees of separation syndrome is bull. I enjoyed it. Sue me already. Okay, it was the name Jacques Gamblin that 'sold' me. He's a solid, reliable actor who I've never seen give a bad performance whilst I HAVE seen him give some doozys. About a year ago he shared a screen with Clovis Cornillac in A Small Week and they're both here again except they never have a scene together. I was also interested in whether or not Lio could act - previously I'd seen her only in concert singing Prevert (not all that well, if anybody asks you, but then she did have to follow Montand). If as a film maker you are interested in telling the stories of several disparate characters there are worse ways to do it than to connect them via a dead bull. Okay, most of the characters are straight from Central Casting Weird but they do perform well and entertain. As a debut I'd say this was pretty impressive. 8/10

"Carnage" is a foreign contribution to the many recent films which explore the lives of people with some interconnectedness. In "It's the Rage" the common denominator was the hand gun. In "Magnolia", it was a game show. In "Five Senses", it was a human sense. In "Carnage", it's part of a bull. Killed in a bullfight, a 1000 pound beast makes it's way to a rendering plant where it's dissected. A handful of characters in the film eventually acquire part of the bull while we voyeuristically watch their plebeian lives as they trudge from day to day and, we're supposed to believe, are affected by the bull. Well, this flick is just so much bull and, in spite of some positive critical commentary, just doesn't work. The film is a solid production which bombs on it's ridiculous story making for a slick but boring watch which seems to be building but in the end just fizzles. With subtitles and a 2 hour duration, "Carnage" isn't worth the time or effort. (C+)