"Ondine - The girl from the sea"
(Ireland-USA 2009, directed by Neil Jordan)
There was once a fisherman who went out to sea every day. He was a quiet, lonely man who felt alone at sea and most comfortable. When he caught one day, his net, because he found a fish instead of a young, beautiful woman. His fishing had no name and no memory of her past life and they jointly chose the name Ondine. And as the woman who came from the sea, was shy, timid or afraid as the fisherman and other people, they stayed with the fishermen, who quickly found a liking to her. Soon he took the woman from the sea with the lake and if they for him in their foreign language singing, then his nets were no longer empty but filled with lobster and salmon. Soon the fisherman did not want his new companion to miss more and his daughter, who suffered from a terrible disease, won the women's love of the sea. But the woman from the sea was not a mermaid, but a normal woman with a non-ordinary past. And so it happened that one day a man dressed all in black from a distant land far to the east of Europe in the small fishing village came to look for the woman from the sea. And now our fishermen had to summon all his courage to defeat the demons of the past, to heal his daughter and to protect his new family. And when the fishermen and his new wife, as they have their hands stained with blood. With each addition of a good disaster came upon them.
Neil Jordan is not a director of unique Genrezuordungen. Even "Angel" ("Street of Fear"), his directorial debut in 1982, was a wild mix of thriller, melodrama and vigilante movie. "The Company of Wolves" ("The Company of Wolves"), Jordan's two years later were mostly work, bundled a selection of feminist fairy tales of the British writer Angela Carter, crossed them with the horror film, and framed all things through eroticized fever dream of a pubescent Girl. Also "The Crying Game" (1992), Jordan's biggest commercial success next to "Interview with the Vampire" (1994) fluctuated between political thriller, love story and melodrama, not without accommodate a gender twist in the middle of the movie that many viewers the ground under the feet moved away.
Even with his latest work, 16 Feature film in 28 highly productive years, refused to Jordan every localization by genre rules. The filmed entirely in Ireland, including at Bere Iceland on the west coast of County Cork film begins as a fairy-tale love story with mythological references - from mermaids, nymphs and to Selkies monsters ranging from Romania to the creative chain. The names of the protagonists are "talking with" Ondine (Alicja Bachleda-Curus) proves to be a Johanna, our fishermen Syracuse (Colin Farrell) operates in the village as "Circus, the Clown" (holy?). And after the midpoint Jordan changes the pitch slowly, towards the thriller, and then unexpectedly close with a fabulous Volte.
Christopher Doyle, the most talented cinematographer for Wong Kar-wai immersed the film in cool green and blue, sprinkled with pale blue light fog and mist, just as if the history of false Ondine and her fisherman husband under water play. Even Colin Farrell gives an honest effort to represent the sad satisfaction of Syracuse - with baggy clothes, designer stubble, long, greasy hair and plenty of courage to neglect. But it is the little-known female performers, who have this movie: The 11-year-old debutante Alison Barry as Syracuse's the wheelchair-bound daughter, and in particular with Farrell married since 2009, Polish actress Alicja Bachleda-Curus, with grace and naturalness convinced. Stephen Rea, Jordan's regulars since his first film, is also charming village as a tormented priest, a lack of alternatives as an audience for Syracuse's weekly Alcoholics Anonymous-Meeting must serve, the spiritual advice is never asked.
Why is it then that "Ondine" ultimately a little disappointed? Perhaps the fact that Jordan is to great lengths to stage a compatible also for a wide audience the film by abschmirgelt quite existing corners and edges of the fabric. Not that get me wrong: a bad movie is "Ondine" was certainly not, actually, a pretty good one. But in terms of Jordan's best films - "The Company of Wolves," "The Crying Game," "The End of the Affair" ("The End of the Affair", 1999) - he is only good average. What is doubly sad, as the Writer / Director / Producer Jordan after the unspeakably reactionary "The Brave One" ("The Brave", 2007) finally in a production of all the threads even held in his hand. But the beginning of autumn is "Ondine" is certainly a film that is perfect for a rainy movie night.
is This text first appeared on www.filmgazette.de
"Ondine - The girl from the sea" ("Ondine") - Ireland / USA 2009 - Director: Neil Jordan - Screenplay: Neil Jordan - Production: Ben Browning, James Flynn, Neil Jordan - Camera: Christopher Doyle - Editor: Tony Lawson - Music: Kjartan Sveinsson - Distributor: Concorde - Rating: from 12 years - Cast: Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Alison Barry, Stephen Rea, Tony Curran, Dervla Kirwan, Don Wycherley, Carrie Crowley, etc. - theatrical release (D): 21/10/2010 - Length: 111 min.
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