Maelström (film)
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''Maelström'' is a 2000 Canadian absurdist psychological drama film written and directed by
Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...
. It stars
Marie-Josée Croze Marie-Josée Croze (; born February 23, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She also holds French nationality, which she obtained in December 2012. Early life Croze was born in Montreal, Quebec, was adopted, and grew up in Longueuil with four other c ...
as a depressed young businesswoman who becomes romantically involved with the son of a man she killed in a
hit-and-run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the criminal act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there ma ...
accident. Employing
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
and
comedic Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...
elements, ''Maelström'' is narrated by a talking fish. Villeneuve conceived of the story, basing it on his interest in
car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
s and modelling the protagonist after various women he knew. He cast Croze, then a novice actress, in the lead role. Filming took place in Montreal in 1999, with animatronics to depict the fish narrator. The film premiered at the
Montréal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...
, including
Best Motion Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film an ...
, and the
FIPRESCI Prize The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the worl ...
at the 51st Berlin International Film Festival. ''Maelström'' was announced as Canada's submission for the
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
at the
73rd Academy Awards The 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 2000 in film and took place on March 25, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pacif ...
, but it was not nominated.


Plot

While being gutted alive by a
fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, ...
, a dying fish chooses to share a story that took place in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
during the autumn of 1999. A 25-year-old businesswoman named Bibiane Champagne, head of three clothing boutiques, has an
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
. She is interviewed by a journalist about her success and being the daughter of a famous person named Flo Fabert. Bibiane claims business is good, but her partner and brother, Philippe, accosts her for numerous failures. She is supported by her friend, Claire, but struggles with drugs and alcohol. One night, while driving, Bibiane accidentally hits a 53-year-old Norwegian Canadian fishmonger, Annstein Karson, and subsequently flees the scene. Injured, Annstein stumbles back to his apartment, where he dies at the kitchen table. While at a restaurant, Claire and Bibiane order octopus but discover it is stale. The restaurant investigates the poor quality of octopus and realize the usual octopus trapper, Annstein, is missing, and the police find him dead. Bibiane reads confirmation of the death in a newspaper, and considers turning herself in; she confides in a stranger on a subway and consults him about turning herself in, but he tells her this will not bring the victim back. She eventually decides to dispose of the evidence, driving her car into a river. She survives, and interprets her survival as a sign that she deserves to recover her life. The fishmonger's son Evian, a diver who was recently inspecting the
Manicouagan River The Manicouagan or Manicuagan River, often clipped to Manic, is a river in Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada. The river originates in the Manicouagan Reservoir and flows approximately south, emptying into the Saint Lawrence River near Baie- ...
, learns Annstein was cremated. This went against his plans for
burial at sea Burial at sea is the disposal of Cadaver, human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship, boat or aircraft. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries. Burial-at-sea services are conducted at many di ...
. He encounters Bibiane by chance, and she poses as his late father's neighbour, helping Evian sort through Annstein's possessions. Evian falls in love with her, and she takes him away from a planned flight to have sex at her apartment. He later learns the plane crashed in
Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...
with no survivors, and Bibiane tells him that she killed his father. Conflicted about his love for his father's killer, a stranger in a bar (the same man from the subway) tells him to marry her and never tell anyone. Bibiane accompanies Evian to
Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...
to dispose of the ashes. Finally, the fish narrator decides to conclude his story by revealing the
meaning of life The meaning of life is the concept of an individual's life, or existence in general, having an intrinsic value (ethics), inherent significance or a Meaning (philosophy), philosophical point. There is no consensus on the specifics of such a conce ...
, but is killed mid-sentence.


Production


Development

Director
Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...
conceived of a story, that would revolve around a
car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
: For Bibiane, Villeneuve modeled the character after numerous women he knew, one of whom he described as a " mythomaniac", like Bibiane. He began making notes on the story in spring 1998, while finishing his film '' August 32nd on Earth'', but set it aside as "too difficult", given its detached heroine. He began working on the ''Maelström'' screenplay again later that year, due to his persistent visions of the story. He began pitching the screenplay, and later said some readers told him it gave them nightmares, and that it was "too dark and heavy", though Villeneuve regarded it as nearly comedic. Downplaying the dark subject matter, he described the story as "a playful call to be responsible and to be careful". In his efforts for "balance" in respect to the abortion scene, Villeneuve said he was
pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...
but the operation "should never be taken lightly". The inspiration for the narration was a
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
he had for dinner, which gave him
food poisoning Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...
. This led him to choose a fish as the storyteller, which he also liked because it would add "a purely fictional element" to an otherwise realistic story. He had also contemplated the alternative of a talking dog, based on a puppy his family had recently adopted, but preferred the metaphor of "a fish out of water". In his story, the fish is being gutted and repeatedly dies only to
resurrect Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...
and resume narration. Villeneuve explained this, saying, "For me it was the kind of image which was like all the storytellers from the beginning of humanity trying to tell a story, the same story over and over again. I think it's an image that is like my relationship with cinema. And then I think there's a link between storytelling and death".


Casting

In summer 1999, casting began. Villeneuve sought "someone with a very specific energy" for the lead, and during casting met novice actress
Marie-Josée Croze Marie-Josée Croze (; born February 23, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She also holds French nationality, which she obtained in December 2012. Early life Croze was born in Montreal, Quebec, was adopted, and grew up in Longueuil with four other c ...
for the first time. He chose her with no pressure from the financiers to choose a better-known star. Jean-Nicholas Verrault was cast with experience in television, while
Stephanie Morgenstern Stephanie Morgenstern (born December 10, 1965) is a Canadian actress, filmmaker, and screenwriter for television and film. She has worked extensively on stage, film, and television in both English and French. Her most widely seen feature film ...
was known for appearing in the 1997 '' The Sweet Hereafter''.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
started in Montreal in September 1999, lasting until November. The fish narrator was portrayed via
animatronics An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...
; while inspired by a trout, the model was designed to resemble a prehistoric species "with big black eyes and a sad, gaping mouth".


Release

''Maelström'' premiered at the
Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019. before opening the Perspective Canada section in the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
in September 2000. The film had its U.S. debut at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
in January 2001, where it received a positive audience response. In early 1999,
Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Los ...
chose to distribute the film in Quebec and internationally, while
Odeon Films Cineplex Odeon Films (later known as Odeon Films) was the film distribution unit of the Canadian cinema chain Cineplex Odeon Corporation. The company was originally named Pan-Canadian Film Distributors. In 1998, the company was purchased by Allia ...
would release the film in the rest of Canada. It went to Canadian theatres on 15 September 2000. In July 2001, it opened on three screens in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and 11 total in France, to a small audience of 300 people on its first day.


Reception


Critical response

The
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website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported that 79% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critical consensus states: "A peculiar breach of morality that leads with pretension: Denis Villeneuve guides ''Maelstrom'' through teetering absurdity without malicious intent". On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''
Voir ''Voir'' was a francophone alternative weekly newspaper in Montreal, Quebec, published by Communications Voir. ''Voir'' was founded by Pierre Paquet in November 1986. The first issue of the newspaper was published on 27 November 1986. Later o ...
'' critic Éric Fourlanty positively reviewed the photography and direction, comparing it to a dream, but found the writing lacking in places. ''
The Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newspap ...
''s Jay Stone gave it three and a half stars, and wrote it "aches with allegory" but had humour. For ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', Dennis Harvey called the first two-thirds " enjoyably idiosyncratic", with a "slightly supernatural, fate-ridden atmosphere". Vincent Ostria wrote in ''
Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prim ...
'' that the production initially disappointed, but it featured whimsy and an ironic use of music, and Villeneuve was among the better Canadian directors behind
Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...
.
Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
assessed it as "a meditation on the disconnection between the glossy surfaces of high-end urban existence and the life-and-death realities they camouflage", with
Dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
elements. In ''
The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...
'', Kevin Thomas hailed it as a "stylish, breathless film, very much the dynamic work of a young man illeneuveof talent, passion and brashness". ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
''s Ed Gonzalez dismissed it as "instantly forgettable". ''
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'' critic Ann Hornaday called it "beautifully composed" in parts but ultimately disappointing. In 2001, an industry poll conducted by '' Playback'' named it the ninth best Canadian film of the preceding 15 years. In 2017, '' IndieWire'' ranked ''Maelström'' as Villeneuve's worst film, though not so much "a bad film so much as it is a half-baked one".
The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a privately-held company, pr ...
recalled it that year as an "off-beat parable" that "showcases Villeneuve's more
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
sensibilities".


Accolades

''Maelström'' received 10 nominations, more than any other film at the
21st Genie Awards The 21st Genie Awards were held in 2001 to honour films released in 2000. The ceremony was hosted by Brian Linehan. Nominees and winners The Genie Award winner in each category is shown in bold along with nominees. References {{Canadian Scree ...
. It won five, including
Best Motion Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film an ...
. Canada submitted it for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
, but it did not receive a nomination. Producer Roger Frappier and Croze, hoping to secure an Academy Award nomination, also unsuccessfully campaigned for a
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by Dick Clark Productions to reward theatrically-released feature film not in the English language. It was first introduced at the 7th Golden Globe Awards f ...
nomination, screening the film for 60 members of the
Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who reported on the American entertainment industry for predominantly foreign media markets. It is best known for founding and conduc ...
in Los Angeles in winter 2000.


See also

* List of submissions to the 73rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film * List of Canadian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maelstrom (Film) 2000 films 2000 romantic drama films Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian avant-garde and experimental films Canadian independent films Canadian romantic drama films Films about fishing Films directed by Denis Villeneuve Films set in Montreal Films shot in Montreal Films with screenplays by Denis Villeneuve 2000s French-language films 2000s avant-garde and experimental films Canadian psychological drama films 2000s psychological drama films Best Film Prix Iris winners French-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films