Maelstrom (2000)
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 35
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 1,864
Movie Info
Love, death, and fish all mingle in this offbeat comedy-drama from award-winning Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Bibiane Champagne (Marie-Josee Croze) is the daughter of a well-known fashion designer who dabbles in modeling when she's not busy helping to run the family business with her brother Phillippe (Bobby Beshro). But Bibiane has not been especially happy in her work lately, owing in part to an unexpected pregnancy that led her to have an abortion. Bibiane tries drowning her sorrows
Sep 15, 2000 Wide
Apr 8, 2003
Arrow Releasing
Cast
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Marie-Josée Croze
Bibiane Champagne -
Stephanie Morgenstern
Claire Gunderson -
Pierre Lebeau
The Fish -
Marc Gelinas
Stranger in Subway -
Marie-France Lambert
Marie-Jeanne Sirois -
Sylvie Moreau
Photographer -
Clermont Jolicoeur
Jean -
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All Critics (38) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (7) | DVD (1)
Strange it is, but delightfully so.
Top CriticDarkly funny and frequently insightful.
An original little film about one young woman's education.
This is a nervy, risky film, and Villeneuve has inspired Croze to give herself over completely to the tormented persona of Bibi.
Maelstrom is strange and compelling, engrossing and different, a moral tale with a twisted sense of humor.
Sensual, funny and, in the end, very touching.
Antiseptic and distantly intellectual.
Not too far below the gloss you can still feel director Denis Villeneuve's beating heart and the fondness he has for his characters.
Most fish stories are a little peculiar, but this is one that should be thrown back in the river.
An oddity, to be sure, but one that you might wind up remembering with a degree of affection rather than revulsion.
An oddly affecting and often darkly funny drama about the randomness of life and the possibility of redemption.
The main story ... is compelling enough, but it's difficult to shrug off the annoyance of that chatty fish.
'Sophisticated' viewers who refuse to admit that they don't like it will likely call it 'challenging' to their fellow sophisticates.
Offers the flash of rock videos fused with solid performances and eerie atmosphere.
I'll put it this way: If you're in the mood for a melodrama narrated by talking fish, this is the movie for you.
Villeneuve spends too much time wallowing in Bibi's generic angst (there are a lot of shots of her gazing out windows).
The overall story is one of intriguing insight and emotion, well-acted by the cast and ambitiously directed by Villeneuve.
Sucks you into its vortex with offbeat humor, moody photography, and -- despite some stylistic gimmickry -- scenes of surprising honesty.
Audience Reviews for Maelstrom
Super Reviewer
A short time ago, I mentioned that "Rubber" was the oddest movie I had seen in quite a while. That probably has something to do with the lack of Canadian movies I have seen lately. Because "Maelstrom" has it all, including occasional intertitles, a diverse musical score that leans Scandinavian, and a complex chronal storyline which adds perspective. All of which is not as heavy as it sounds.
At first, I was prepared to connect Denis Villeneuve's more recent feature "Incendies" to "Maelstrom" through a common theme of how all life is sacred. However, the truth could not be any more different, as the movie is edgily profound in how it states we are all part of the same cycle of life and death, so relax. Notice for example, how matter of factly the abortion scene is filmed, without any judgment, no less. That fits in well with the movie's intelligent thoughts on guilt and forgiveness, as Bibi has a hard time getting completely clean.
Super Reviewer
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Movie: ID: 16059 Title: Maelstrom Release Date: 2000-09-15 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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