Ondine (2010)
Directed by Neil Jordan
Written by Neil Jordan
Starring Colin Farrell, Stephen Rea
Release Date June 4th, 2010
Published June 12th, 2010
Lethargy in a movie tends to be a bad thing and yet the lethargic feelings induced by Neil Jordan's fable Ondine feels just right. Lingering on the details of a fairy tale while seducing us with the beauty of the Irish coast and unknown star Alicja Bachleda's supple calves, Ondine is a stroll where most other movies are a sprint. Sure, by the time the film's climax arrives, with some attendant threat, we have been relaxed to a near coma state, but who cares when it's all so very pretty.
Colin Ferrell plays Syracuse, a former town drunk now 2 years sober. Unfortunately for Syracuse his drunken antics are so memorable that no one will let him forget it, lashing him permanently to the nickname Circus for his clownish behavior. Syracuse isn't exactly miserable but he is less than content when his life is changed forever.
Casting his fishing net with little plans on catching much, Syracuse pulls up the shivering body of a beautiful young woman. He saves her life but she refuses medical attention or any attention at all to save him. She begs to be hidden and he happens to have just the place, a seaside cottage that once belonged to his late mother.
Thus begins a very unique love story made even more peculiar by Syracuse's 9 year old daughter Annie (Alison Barry. After hearing her dad tell the story of the woman pulled from the water as a fairy tale, she comes to believe that the woman, soon called Ondine or woman from the sea, may be a mythical creature known as the selkie.
A selkie is a half human half sea which sheds its seal coat once out of the water. To stay on land the selkie must fall in love with a landsman and bury its seal coat. It's a wonderful fairy tale and as the romance blossoms you can't help but be drawn to the mysterious Ondine and believe that she is some kind of mythic creature.
Director Neil Jordan has a great eye for quirks that are endearing rather than just odd. Where other writers and directors often merely assign a behavior to a character in order to give them something to do, the veteran Jordan allows the actors to find the quirk along the way and play it almost unconsciously. For Ms. Bachleda the quirks are numerous and charming and never merely for effect. Not bad for an actress better known for being her co-star's arm candy.
Indeed, Mr. Ferrell and Ms. Bachleda were a couple when she got this gig but credit Neil Jordan and Ms. Bachleda for showing this what not merely a favor to a big star but just the right bit of casting. The casting of Ms. Bachleda may be the reason why Mr. Ferrell seems so relaxed and pliable in Ondine. Almost non-existent is any star posing, even with his model ready mane of black hair.
Farrell melts into the role of an outcast quite well considering he never stops looking like Colin Farrell. His discomfort and sadness is tapped so perfectly that you actually believe that women would avoid him and even a town this small would ostracize him, even if he is the best looking man in town. Farrell's soulfulness, in the hands of the wrong director could become dreary. In the hands of a master of grief, loss and sadness, like Neil Jordan, the soulful qualities are something to cling to amidst the sadness.
Nevermind what little inconsistencies exist in Ondine. This is a film about tone and beauty. Neil Jordan establishes a tone that ambles from one pretty scene to the next while the story drifts into the heart of the audience almost subconsciously until all are smiling and waiting patiently for a hoped for happy ending for this beautiful couple and the clever young towheaded daughter.
I am sure many will find Ondine boring but that’s their loss. The modern blockbuster has caused many to lose the ability to be patient and get lost in a story. If things aren’t moving a mile a minute they give up and start checking for text messages. Ondine is not for the impatient. It’s for the romantic, the indulgent, those who love a good director leading them on a strange wonderful journey. If that’s not you, skip Ondine.
