Customer Reviews

Maelstrom [IMPORT]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My favorite film at Sundance in 2001. Rare is the film that can confront death and alienation with humor, and with a profound lightness. Maelstrom is also incredibly romantic. An uncategorizable gem, beautifully shot.

This is the new wave of Canadian movies, intense, smart, and incredibly wicked. Croze's act is flawless, and watching the original french version of the movie adds a twist to her performance.

Maelstrom earned best film, best director, and best actress in canada for good reason. Highly imaginative and original, this is a story about life and death. A story about a young woman told by a 'cronenbergesque' fish on a chopping block.

Right, so if you've heard anything about Maelstrom, it was probably "Yuck/wow/hmmm, it's narrated by a series of fish on the chopping block."

Yep, it is. That's not why you should see it, though.

Bibi is a successful fashion designer in Montreal whose personal life is in a shambles; she can't escape from her famous mother's shadow, nor from the shock and guilt of the abortion she has in the first scene of the film. She gets drunk one night and kills a Norwegian fisherman in a hit-and-run accident. From that moment, what's left of her life becomes entwined with what's left of his.

Bitterly funny moments abound: the soundtrack in the abortion scene plays "Good Morning Starshine"; an obnoxious journalist tries to interview an uncooperative (and hungover) Bibi; she very bluntly declares her love (ok, lust) on an airport runway; she is forced to drink to a toast calling for her own disembowellment; her best friend loses track of how many abortions she's had, and unwittingly sings a gory Norwegian battle song as a lullaby . . .

As the list of "jokes" may indicate, this is often a very dark film. But in the end, it goes a long way toward making you think about the nature of fate, life, death, love, and redemption - and in its odd little way, it's quite uplifting. The cinematography is breathtaking.

And, hey, there's a talking fish.

This is probably one of the more original films I've seen in a long while. The director has clearly drawn influence from the Blue White Red trilogy, but that don't take away it's originality or it's power.It's about abortion, death, love, philosophy, and a talking fish. Go figure, one of the greatest films of the year.

A film about a talking fish who tells the tragic story of a woman's experiences with alienation, abortion, and death? It sounded like my sort of thing. i like French films, indy films, surrealist films; why wouldn'd i like this? i thought wrong. Just because a films original dosn't mean that it's any good. And Maelstrom proves that, all right. Definitely, this movie is on my top ten list of the worst movies i've ever paid to see, including The Matrix Reloaded, Bubble Boy, Punch Drunk Love and Star Trek: Nemesis. Don't waste your time.

This movie ruled!