In the lead up to the 7th Canadian Film Festival in Australia (August 2012), join us as we countdown the Top 100 Canadian Films of the past 30 years. We'll be posting one film a day leading up to Canada Day on July 1st 2012. Do you agree with our team favourites? Let us know your thoughts!
Don’t let the fact that this French-Canadian movie is narrated by a dead fish put you off: Maelström is a complex ambush of a film that is as ambitious as it is accomplished.
Bibiane Champagne (Marie-Josee Croze) is a sexy and successful 25-year-old businesswoman whose sleek yuppie existence unravels into an acute spiritual crisis after a series of personal disasters. Finding herself overcome by guilt for aborting her pregnancy, she plunges into a downward spiral which ends up costing the life of an innocent bystander. Bibiane is forced to re-evaluate her life and find a new sense of purpose before the chance for redemption can rear its head.
Writer-director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies) goes out on a limb here and confidently takes all the filmmaking risks in the book. His stylish vision borrows from Lynch and Von Trier before settling for something truly original. It’s matched by the sheer intelligence of a complex screenplay shot through with twisted black humour. Symbolism, surrealism and clinical realism all mesh into a bold canvas, lusciously photographed by cinematographer André Turpin.
Giving herself over to the role entirely, Marie-Josée Croze delivers a vibrant, layered performance imbued with vulnerability and honesty.Maelström is a smart, strange descent beneath the glossy surface of what society deems a successful life, to uncover the raw and sometimes shocking building blocks of existence.
“We all have an amazing built-in system of personal and social defence,” says Denis Villeneuve. “We interpret the world and construct for ourselves an image of it, which comforts us and eases our conscience, and we do this instinctively.” He calls Maelström, “a playful call to be responsible and to be careful”.
Villeneuve’s meditation on responsibility will leave you pondering the morality of the choices made in your own life long after the credits roll.
- Matt Ravier
“Maelström is a splendid instance of a surrealist vision that serves to heighten the impact of genuine emotions experienced by believably real people.” – LA Times
To see the other films in the countdown so far, click here.