Mad Ship

Very few films are made in Manitoba and Mad Ship is such a small independent film that you will probably never have the opportunity to watch it. That’s too bad, because, for a Manitoba film, Mad Ship is very good.

Mad Ship tells the story of a Norwegian family trying to survive on a prairie farm during the 1930‘s depression. For the mother and wife, it means a slow descent into desperation and despair; for the father and husband, it means a slow descent into madness; and for the two children it means growing up very fast if they are not to stand by and watch helplessly as the world crumbles around them.

Written and directed by David Morton, Mad Ship stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas as the father and he does an excellent job. Line Verndal is also quite good as the mother. The rest of the acting is best described as uneven. The cinematography is amazing. This depressing quiet film from my home province gets a solid ***. My mug is up.