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Maelstrom

Maelstrom (2000)

tomatometer

83

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

80

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 1,864

My Rating

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

R,

Art House & International, Drama

Apr 8, 2003

Arrow Releasing

Cast

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All Critics (38) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (7) | DVD (1)

Strange it is, but delightfully so.

August 1, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
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Darkly funny and frequently insightful.

June 6, 2002 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News
Dallas Morning News
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An original little film about one young woman's education.

May 10, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
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This is a nervy, risky film, and Villeneuve has inspired Croze to give herself over completely to the tormented persona of Bibi.

April 5, 2002 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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Maelstrom is strange and compelling, engrossing and different, a moral tale with a twisted sense of humor.

March 29, 2002 Full Review Source: Miami Herald
Miami Herald
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Sensual, funny and, in the end, very touching.

March 22, 2002
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Antiseptic and distantly intellectual.

August 26, 2003 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Not too far below the gloss you can still feel director Denis Villeneuve's beating heart and the fondness he has for his characters.

December 8, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

Most fish stories are a little peculiar, but this is one that should be thrown back in the river.

June 6, 2002 Full Review
Des Moines Register

An oddity, to be sure, but one that you might wind up remembering with a degree of affection rather than revulsion.

May 28, 2002 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion
One Guy's Opinion

An oddly affecting and often darkly funny drama about the randomness of life and the possibility of redemption.

May 10, 2002
San Francisco Examiner

The main story ... is compelling enough, but it's difficult to shrug off the annoyance of that chatty fish.

May 9, 2002 Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times

'Sophisticated' viewers who refuse to admit that they don't like it will likely call it 'challenging' to their fellow sophisticates.

May 8, 2002 Full Review Source: Internet Reviews
Internet Reviews

Offers the flash of rock videos fused with solid performances and eerie atmosphere.

April 4, 2002
New Times

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.

March 9, 2002 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor

Villeneuve spends too much time wallowing in Bibi's generic angst (there are a lot of shots of her gazing out windows).

March 7, 2002 Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul Pioneer Press

The overall story is one of intriguing insight and emotion, well-acted by the cast and ambitiously directed by Villeneuve.

February 9, 2002 Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com
EricDSnider.com

Sucks you into its vortex with offbeat humor, moody photography, and -- despite some stylistic gimmickry -- scenes of surprising honesty.

February 1, 2002 Full Review Source: E! Online
E! Online

Audience Reviews for Maelstrom

A young woman's life unravels when she has an abortion, then a few days later hits a pedestrian with her car and flees in a panic. MAELSTROM is not for anyone seeking a traditional narrative: it's an arty, surrealistic, impressionistic portrait of guilt, narrated by a fish telling the story with his last breath as he waits to be gutted and turned into seafood.
May 8, 2011
366weirdmovies
Greg S

Super Reviewer

As narrated by a fish with its head on the chopping block, "Maelstrom" starts with Bibi(Marie-Josee Croze) having an abortion. Afterwards, her best friend Claire(Stephanie Morgenstern) cares for her while she prays at the porcelain temple. Bibi's work life is not that much better as the Montreal boutique she owns with her partner Philippe(Bobby Beshro) has been having its share of thefts, causing them to hire security guards. That's not to mention the large amount of money she owes. And if you think she is having a bad day, imagine that of the guy(Klimbo) she hits with her car on the way home from a bar.

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.
June 4, 2012
Harlequin68
Walter M.

Super Reviewer

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