Great Film overall

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I was rather excited to watch this film, and the first hour or so did not disappoint. It reminded me a lot of Kieslowski's Blue, and also a little bit of Red, in the character interaction, the cinematography, the use of colors, and just the overall mood. However, I thought that the last half went downhill. It suddenly switched from a journey into depression and internal conflicts to a cliched, improbable love story, almost as if the ending had been tacked on. The emotions of the main characters in the end shift too dramatically, and it seems as though no healing or reconciliation takes place (although apparently some does). The very ending, with the last words of the fish were too out of context, and I swear that they were borrowed directly from some other source. Perhaps my least favorite part of the entire movie comes at the ending on the boat, only because the song being played does not fit the mood at all, and changed my outlook entirely. All in all though, a feature worth watching, if only for the first half alone.

The film opens with an apology to all Norwegians affirming that the film is based on imagination. If you dislike fish, you had best not watch this film for it is decidedly fishy from beginning to end. Indeed even the narration is given by a North Atlantic fish about to have his head lopped off in a fish processing factory. Not a pretty sight (quite ugly in fact) with the fish and the process worker all covered in blood.I never dreamed that a fish would have a philosophic outlook on life and anxious to deliver prophecies such as "He who kills shall be killed" . Yes this is certainly an imaginative film...rather nightmarish in fact with its scenes of hallucinations and gore. Whatever next, you may ask. Let it be said, this film is never dull.Misfortune they say never comes singly as Bibiane ( Marie-Josee Croze) soon discovers. In the depths of despair through most of the film, she finally falls in love with the son of the fisherman she accidentally kills. This is a strange turn of events. But then there are many surprises in this film. For example, would you dare ask a stranger at a railway station what you should do if you killed some one accidentally and no one else knew about it? Hardly. But there is an interesting twist to this later in the film. Indeed the film is all twists and turns and convolutions together with lots of fish and fishy smells and water everywhere. But after all this is a story taking place in Norway.If imagination is a measure of quality, this film is it! Highly commended.

Maelstrom is a beautiful film told in a unique way. The director uses the unlikely narrator of a fish (with it's head perpetually about to/being cut off) telling the story of a beautiful woman who's life is a complete wreck. After meeting the man of her dreams, she realizes she has killed his father in a drunken car accident. Full of hilarious plot twists and non-chronological narrative jumps, this movie is amazing. If you ever get a chance to see it, do it. It will not let you down.

There's not much you can say about a movie narrated by a bloody, dying fish. Quirky and wry, this French-Canadian film tells the story of a young woman who is not having the best week: she's suffering with guilt over the abortion she's just had, her career as a boutique-chain owner is threatening to flush down the toilet, and she's just run over an innocent pedestrian with her car without stopping to see if he was alright. Enter the victim's handsome Norwegian son to assist her towards redemption and happiness. The story tries for poignancy, but as it takes half the film's running time just to figure out what it's all about it fails to really make its mark. What you are left with, though, is gorgeous cinematography of Montreal locations and an excellent lead performance by Marie-Josee Croze. Winner of the Canadian Genie Award for Best Picture.