Ondine

Ondine

Writer / Director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Brave One) has done something different with his latest film. Ondine tells the story of a divorced father, once-alcoholic, fisherman and town fool Syracuse (Farrell). Out fishing, the man dubbed “Circus” by the town-folk pulls a woman from his net and resuscitates her. She says her name is Ondine. Both disheveled, he takes her home.

He later tells his daughter Annie (a 10-year old with kidney disease played by Alison Barry) about the woman in the guise of a fairy tale and the movie lends itself to the idea that Ondine is a selkie, a sea-lion of Scottish myth able to shed its skin and live on land. Jordan never plays at getting to the truth insomuch as Ondine tells a story of its own: a lonely, unsuccessful man’s having the chance for fulfillment.

With the help of award winning cinematographer Christopher Doyle and a mild yet high-functioning cast, Jordan creates real atmosphere with a quite simple story. The film plays out softly without any instances of real tension but it succeeds in projecting a sense of curiosity surrounding the players involved. As cheesy as that sounds Ondine hits most every mark for what it tries to accomplish and that, in and of itself, is refreshing to see.