Sagoyism: Movie Review ~ Ondine

Once a week, I will be sharing movies you might have never heard of but are worth watching. For this week, I will share to you Ondine.

Title: Ondine

Genres: Foreign, Drama, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

MPAA rating: PG-13 for some violence, sensuality and brief strong language.

U.S. Box Office: $548, 934

Written and Directed by: Neil Jordan

Plot

This movie is about a simple fisherman, who has been sober from alcohol for 2 years, named Syracuse, who finds a woman caught in his net. He offers to take the woman to a hospital but she refuses, saying she doesn’t want anyone to see her. He then hides her in his late mother’s house.

Now Syracuse, or Circus as the people from his town call him, has a daughter named Annie, a precocious child with kidney failure. In one of his daughter’s dialysis treatment, he tells her a story about a fisherman who pulled out a woman from the sea. Annie asks if she’s a mermaid. He says no. She then tells him that she could be a Selkie, a mythological creature that can shed their skin from seals to become human.

Syracuse takes the woman on his fishing trip. She then tells him her name is Ondine, which means “the girl from the came from the water”. When she starts to sing, Syracuse’s catch miraculously improves.

As Annie becomes curious, she follows her father and found Ondine. She confronts her and tells her she knows she is a Selkie who lost her silk coat and she cannot go back to the sea until she finds it. But when a Selkie finds her silk coat, she can burry it so she could live on land for seven years and cry seven tears. After crying seven tears, Selkie women will find unexpected happiness with a lands man.

Cast:

Collin Farell as Syracuse

Alicia Bachleda as Ondine

Alison Barry as Annie

Stephen Rea as Priest

Deryka Kirwan as Maura

Don Wycherley as Kettle

This movie had a limited release on June 4, 2010. Critics from rottentomatoes gave it a 70% fresh rating. I had a hard time finding this movie. It wasn’t even released here in our country. But I find this movie worth watching because the story is different from the movies we usually have these days, its fresh, its relaxing. The kind you want to watch in a rainy afternoon or when you are all alone. I like the twist in the end. I never thought it will end that way. Kudos to Mr. Neil Jordan. You caught me off guard.

Collin Farrell’s acting was good. The character of a recovering drunk suits him. Allison Barry’s performance also was strong. She did a great job playing the character of a curious sick child. She made her sickness and being on a wheel chair an adventure not a disability.

One negative thing about this film though is the very thick Irish accent. There were a lot of times that I have to play a specific scene again because I wasn’t able to get what they were talking about.

So if you ever get the chance to find a copy this movie, go ahead and watch it. It’d be better if you can find one that has a subtitle.