Folklore

Neil Jordans latest, Ondine, uses an Irish folklore myth to tell a beautiful story of finding new love. When Colin Farrell's down on his luck, recovering alcoholic fisherman pulls a beautiful young woman named Ondine (Alicja Bachleda) onto his boat with his net, it sparks new life in his downtrodden soul. She sings in a strange language and all of a sudden he's catching more fish. His young daughter, bound in a wheelchair waiting for an unlikely kidney transplant, starts to believe she's some sort of mermaid. A selkie, to be precise. A mythical seal creature which can come to land and strip its seal skin for a certain amount of time. Selkie women are beautiful and often take a husband on land, but their selkie husband will always come to find them. As Colin Farrell's fisherman falls more and more in love with Ondine, what she is starts to become less apparent, and his surroundings again start to fall apart.

If there is only one thing you can love about this movie, it would have to be Christopher Doyle's beautiful photography. His moody lighting and visually astounding underwater sequences leave a lasting impression. And there is apparently something inherently photogenic about small-town Ireland. Between this and Eclipse from a few months ago, it's amazing I haven't just bought a plane ticket already.

Luckily there's more to Ondine than just the visuals. Colin Farrell comes out with an extremely affecting performance. He balances the mix of love-induced joy and prolonged inner sadness very admirably later in the film. Unfortunately, Alicja Bachleda's performance doesn't match Farrell's. It's her first feature film, and she's not too bad, and she's very beautiful, but I really struggled with her towards the end of the film when the intensity really amped up but her performance didn't so much.

But that's not all the bad. Despite the promising setup and overall beautiful story, Neil Jordan's script tends to sag a bit in the middle. And as striking as Doyle's cinematography is, I don't think Jordan can match his talents. Parts of the film feel only adequately directed. But minor setbacks aside, Ondine really is a satisfying and beautiful love story.

8.1/10



I happened to watch another film based in folklore the same day I watched Ondine. Catherine Breillat's Bluebeard is an adaptation of Charles Perrault's famous 17th century story of a monsterous lord whom habitually marries and then murders his young wives exactly one year later. A young woman put against the impossible power of a colossal man seems like it could be right up Breillat's ally. Her films I've seen have involved some form of this theme in some way.

A newly poor family is forced to marry their young daughter (Lola Creton) to the firghtening lord Bluebeard (Dominique Thomas), even though everyone knows his wives always disappear after one year. After the marriage, Creton does her darndest to stave off the fate she knows is coming. Weaved into this is a two sisters reading the story of Bluebeard in an attic in the present day. Fears and emotions begin to sync up and foreshadow each other in a fantastic climax I wouldn't dare spoil.

The bride constantly trying to get one over on the monster is one of the more interesting games of cat and mouse I've seen. It's all very quiet and subtle, as Thomas plays Bluebeard with supreme patience and gentle menace. I also loved what went unsaid throughout the movie. Creton's family gives her away for a marriage they all know will kill her, and the silent knowing is very powerful.

Just like she did with her last film The Last Mistress, she films her period piece the opposite of what almost every other director does. Bluebeard is made to look very plain. She has no interest in beautifying anything in her frame. This isn't say it's not well directed, because it is, impeccably so even. She exerts great control over her compositions.

Bluebeard is special also because it marks the first Breillat film that I've all out enjoyed. I respect the craft and depth of The Last Mistress and Fat Girl, but their emotional coldness has kept me at arms length. I wouldn't call Bluebeard radically different, but the combination of the familiar story, the present day tie-in (which is very emotional), and the great performances make this work on a higher level for me.

8.5/10

Ondine is currently on Cox On Demand
Bluebeard is currently on Netflix Instant.